Five Ways to Make Handing Over the Reins Easier

4. Watch the candidates' presentations. The candidates should make a presentation that includes the following:

• Management philosophy: A description of their management style.
• Transition plan: How they plan to work with the founder to transition power.
• Personnel development: Their process for developing management
• Product development: Their process for developing products and services.
• Personal shortcomings: Candid discussion of things they are not good at. In my case, I don't always communicate what I am thinking, because I assume people know what I am thinking.
• Communication style: How they communicate with all levels of a company. Are they open-door or chain-of-command?

5. Meet the team. Candidates should be brought in to meet and speak with the management team and employees so the existing workforce is invested in the process. The atmosphere should be relaxed and open. I went through this personally four times at my own instigation, and I found it worked very well in that I didn't have to prove myself to the employees. They felt that they were part of the process and that I wasn't shoved down their throats.

Everyone in a transition must be sensitive to the founder's feelings and the employees' concerns for their future. A founder, regardless of how much of the company he owns, is doing himself a disservice by not involving a variety of people in the search and selection process. Smart founders take the emotion out of the selection and are objective, which will lead to a great outcome for all involved.