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F R O M T H E F O U N D E R
Watching your baby grow up
A s parents, our goal is to raise children who are completely independent and able to stand on their own. As business owners, our goal should be much the same. Seeing the firm you started or used to run be successful when you’re gone is one of the greatest accomplishments you can hope for.
Most owners of AEC firms (again – I define the “C” as consulting for the purposes of this article) are wired that way, although I can’t say all are. I did have one famous “starchitect” tell me some years ago that he didn’t care if his firm survived once he was gone. He said he wasn’t sure he wanted any buildings with his name on them that he hadn’t personally designed. But thankfully, he is an anomaly. Most people aren’t like that. For most of us, seeing the firms we started or used to run be successful when we are gone is one of the greatest accomplishments we can hope for. So what does it take to actually make that happen? Here are some of my observations and experiences: 1)You have to be able to separate yourself and your own identity from the business. This is never easy. It helps to have a strong family and other interests. If you are a workaholic and your
entire purpose in life is running your business, you – and your business – will probably have problems getting out of it. This is fundamental. Work on your workaholicism as a first step! 2)You need to be able to recruit and retain good people. Without good people, your “baby” will not thrive on its own. To get really good people, you, as the top person in the business must be highly involved in recruiting yourself. You have to have a pay scheme that attracts and retains good people. It also helps to have a viable ownership transition plan that you can talk in specifics about – not generalities – with both new and existing employees. Getting other people to become owners in your business before you are gone is an important early step. 3)You need to learn how to delegate. There has been a lot written about delegation both here in The Zweig Letter and elsewhere, yet many design professionals really struggle with it. I can’t tell you how many
Mark Zweig
See MARK ZWEIG, page 12
THE ZWEIG LETTER JULY 19, 2021, ISSUE 1400
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