The Elephant Parade: Confronting What’s Killing Your Succession Plan

There it is—the elephant in the boardroom. Ignored, unspoken, and slowly destroying your succession plan.

Let’s be real for a sec.

You know there’s an elephant in your boardroom or on your team.

>>>>>That massive gray beast taking up oxygen, knocking over chairs, and low-key destroying your succession plan.<<<<<

And yet...

Here we all are. Pretending not to see it. Whistling past the graveyard like it’s our job.

...

It happened again this week.

A board member taking potshots at the CEO. But never during meetings. Always in hallways, parking lots, whispered phone calls.

A talking to C when they should have been talking to B.

Sound familiar?

...

The chair had been “burying his head in the sand” for MONTHS.

(We’ve all done it, no judgment)

But this week? Something. Finally. Snapped.

“ENOUGH,” he said.

And that’s when things got interesting.

...

He called the board member and CEO together with another lead director.

“We need to focus on our mission and purpose,” he said, voice steady but firm. “What is it that we need to talk about today? Let’s get this out because I’ve heard from both of you.”

>>>>>And with that, the dam BURST.

The dead fish on the table that no one would acknowledge suddenly had everyone’s attention.

Your challenge: What elephants are you allowing to live rent-free in YOUR boardroom and on your teams?

...

The chairman’s mistake?

He let that elephant grow too BIG.

As we say in our book: “Any person who demonstrates behavior that hinders your development and team building must be addressed. People with difficult behavior have often been rewarded for their difficult behavior.”

High-key truth bomb: Entrepreneurs must have the courage to deal with these people.

The plot twist?

That night, the CEO called the board member: “I was wrong and I apologize.”

When the CEO explained what had offended him, the board member actually listened—really listened—and responded:

“I’m sorry that I called you down in the room in front of customers and vendors. I was wrong to do that.”

Four hours later, the CEO called back: “I want to work with you. I was wrong. I’m glad we got this out.”

...

The real issue?

The CEO didn’t want direction from the board. A classic case of “the problem hiding in plain sight.”

Both were out of line. But addressing the elephant? That cleared the air.

Did you know?

>>>>> 70% of businesses fail to make it to their second generation of leadership.<<<<<

And it’s not usually finances that kill them.

It’s these unaddressed elephants that TRAMPLE succession plans.

...

In our Breakthrough Mastermind groups, we’ve learned: When you meet, don’t start with the answers. Start with thought-provoking questions.

This transforms boardroom dynamics from “collective denial” to collective wisdom.

In our next seven posts, we’ll explore the most dangerous elephants lurking in boardrooms and teams worldwide.

My hope. Maybe... Just maybe... You’ll finally point to that elephant in the room.

One of the greatest legacies you can leave behind is a business that continually makes a profit and blesses its community for generations!

But that can’t happen when there’s an elephant blocking the door.

Want to find your breakthrough TODAY? You can get started TODAY with my new asset “Jumpstart Your Succession Planning IMMEDIATELY With These 7 Conversations.”

It’s free to you today: CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Harry T. Jones

P.S. Your legacy deserves better than being trampled.