The wisdom of passing the baton at family firm

“Look carefully how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless but as wise (sensible, intelligent people) - Ephesians 5:15 AMP

When former Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi introduced young Uhuru Kenyatta to the world as his potential successor in 2001, what was later described as a “Project” was dismissed by many as an exercise in futility; an attempt by an old man to continue his rule into the foreseeable future.

In response to allegations that Mr Kenyatta was too young and inexperienced, Mr Moi retorted that “he is a man with a wife and children; how can you say he is too young?” This did not help and Kanu lost the elections.

Fast forward to the 2013 General Election; while many allegations were made, none was raised about Mr Kenyatta’s age (50) and running mate William Ruto (47). They as strong contenders and eventually won the polls.

In his book, Contrarian Guide to Leadership, Steve Sample writes of applying for positions of university president in his late 30s and of being dismissed in spite of displaying a high level of competence in previous assignments.

When he turned 40, he was surprised by the number of inquiries he got from institutions that were looking for leaders.

The age between 40–60 years is widely acknowledged to be the phase in which one’s decisions have a significant effect on the general society.

Sadly, it is also the age at which success in career, business and vocation create an evil confluence of cash, influence and opportunity to engage in morally questionable acts often resulting in shattered families and reputations.

Family businesses are rife with leaders who have outlived their usefulness in executive positions but who refuse to hand over, mostly fearing becoming irrelevant. This ought not to be so.

People should make the most of every phase of their lives to ensure that they have the maximum possible impact on society.

Leaders of family business must carefully consider the times in which they live and the effect they wish to have on the business and the general society.

In accepting that they may be considered too young for some positions, they should patiently bide their time, learning as much as they possibly can before taking up positions of senior leadership.

Once in the prime of their lives, leaders of family business, male or female, should look out for the traps that put them in danger of shipwrecking their lives and permanently damaging their reputations.

Once they come to the end of this prime period of time, leaders of family business should gracefully move aside to allow younger individuals to take up positions of prominence in the family business.

When they do, they become highly sought after sages with an immense network. When they do not do this, their organisations age and eventually die with them.

Leaders of family business who are between 40 and 60 years of age ought to maximise on this unique period in which there is a near perfect balance between ability to deliver, influence with those in power and the need to leave a legacy.

During this phase, they can do great works that have an impact on the family business, the micro/macro entrepreneurial operating environment and the way the entire country does business. Wasting this stage leads to missed opportunities, regret and ineffectiveness.

For reasons not well understood, industries generally tend to accord respect to highly competent individuals by 40 before which they are deemed too green for leadership.

At or around 40, most individuals effortlessly catch the eyes of those who are searching for leaders; sometimes even those who had casually overlooked them a few months previously for being “too young”.

Without a deliberate strategy, few individuals can carry their influence with them into old age; usually, they are forgotten and, in the worst case, irrelevant.

Mutua is a Humphrey Fellow and a leadership development consultant focused on family businesses. His email address is [email protected]