This archive report was first published on 21 November 2019.
November 21, 2019
Business succession plans are crucial for ensuring the longevity of a company, but many entrepreneurs fear being swindled or taken advantage of. Wale Akinyemi, chief transformation officer at PowerTalks, argues that this fear should not hold them back from developing proper structures.
According to Akinyemi, the ability to know oneself and read the times is one of the most vital for business sustainability. He draws on the philosophy of Socrates, who said, 'Man know Thyself,' and notes that life has seasons and phases.
Just because one was great at a task at one particular time of their life does not guarantee that years down the line they will still be great. Akinyemi emphasizes the importance of understanding one's limitations and recognizing when it's time to pass the baton to others.
He classifies business roles into two temperaments: the 'Founders Temperament' and the 'Growers Temperament.' Founders are often driven by the bottom line and are characterized by impatience, while growers are administrators par excellence who have the patience and attention to detail to nurture and water what has been planted by others.
Akinyemi notes that plenty of evidence shows that when a founder overstays their tenure and does not engage the services of growers, they are more likely to run their dreams to the ground. He cites history as full of examples of companies started and destroyed by visionary founders who did not know when their season as planters needed to give way to a new season of waterers and nurturers.
Today, the greatest companies in the world like Microsoft, Google, Apple, and Coca-Cola are run by intrapreneurs, people who have identified their gift to nurture and water what has been planted by others. Akinyemi argues that we need to shout loudly about intrapreneurship as much as we shout about entrepreneurship, and that the upper middle class in most nations are not made up of entrepreneurs but of intrapreneurs.
Wale Akinyemi is the chief transformation officer at PowerTalks.
