We have built a strong leadership team, but we are worried that during the intensive due diligence phase, the buyer will bypass our managers and discover that we are still secretly involved in daily operational troubleshooting. How do we use our weekly Level 10 Meeting structure on our runway to completely sever this connection before the buyer starts auditing us?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Prospective buyers will test the depth of your leadership team during the due diligence phase. They will look past your polished pitch decks and closely observe how your business operates on a daily basis. If they see that your managers are still coming to you for final approvals, or if they notice you stepping in to resolve internal conflicts, they will quickly realize the business is still owner-dependent and discount your valuation.

To prevent this, you must completely sever your involvement in daily operational troubleshooting on your exit runway. Your weekly Level 10 Meeting™ is the perfect tool to build this operational independence. Use the IDS® portion of the meeting to force your leadership team to identify, discuss, and solve their own issues without your input.

If an issue is escalated to you, resist the urge to solve it. Instead, redirect it to the appropriate seat on the Accountability Chart. By the time buyers start their operational discovery, your team should be running their own meetings, managing their own Scorecards, and hitting their Rocks independently. When the buyer sees a leadership team that operates as a self-correcting unit, they will have the confidence to pay top dollar for a truly independent business.