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O P I N I O N
When new partners buy out old ones, you have to outline specific duties before assigning leadership roles, among other considerations. The transition in ownership transition
O ur company’s journey likely shares a similar story with most AEC firms. A group of young and eager “visionaries” believed they had finally gained the necessary experience to launch their own firm. The early years were filled with varying doses of promise and uncertainty, but with luck and a few successful projects headlining the firm’s résumé, the fledgling company established a foothold. Eventually, the client list greatly expanded, and those two to three early sustaining clients now comprised only a small percentage of annual revenues.
Greg Shipley
ownership transition imminent with the buyout of a founding partner and the addition of a new partner. While plans were in place to address the “While plans were in place to address the financial aspects of the transition, the company was not as prepared for the string of leadership and management changes that needed to follow.”
While the company matured into a sustainable enterprise, management roles along the way were mostly borne out of necessity. The “names on the door” served as the primary leaders, and even though their duties were different, the lines defining those duties were often blurry to the staff. The confusion grew as partners were added, dividing management roles even further. As growth continued, new duties were generally assigned to meet a pressing need or by matching a partner’s personality with responsibilities more so than skill set. Fast forward 22 years, and Morrison-Shipley’s now not-so-young visionaries found an
See GREG SHIPLEY, page 11
THE ZWEIG LETTER August 12, 2019, ISSUE 1308
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