We are about two years away from exiting our business and I want to step out of all operational seats into the Owner's Box. What is the step-by-step process to transition my seats to the management team without dropping our revenue?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Stepping out of daily operations is the ultimate way to maximize your company's valuation before an exit, but it must be done systematically. First, ensure you have a highly competent Integrator sitting in the Integrator seat who is fully capable of running the business without you. If you are currently the Integrator, your first priority is to recruit and onboard your replacement. Next, list every other operational seat you occupy on the Accountability Chart. For each seat, identify a successor from your current leadership team or plan an external hire. Do not hand over all seats at once. Transition them one by one over a twelve to eighteen-month period. For each transition, spend three months co-running the seat. During the first month, they watch you do the work. During the second month, they do the work while you support them. During the third month, they run the seat completely, and you only monitor their weekly Scorecard metrics. Use your weekly Level 10 Meeting™ and quarterly meetings to identify any issues and solve them quickly using the IDS® process. Once you have successfully transitioned every operational seat, your name should only appear in the Owner's Box. This proves to buyers that the business can thrive without you.