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Something Worth SharingWe All Leave One Day Whether we are the founder of a business, an employee or a third generation family member, one day we will all leave the business we are in. Much of the work that I do is based on the need to consider #succession - who will take over the running of a business, who will we pass our shares to (as well as when and how) and what the legacy will be. But there is a simple and important point here; no matter who we are, how ambitious we are or how much passion we have for what we do, at some point we will stop and leave. I have spoken to many business founders who believe that this point will be when they die and their hope is to be carried out of their beloved business in a box. However, the truth is we often don’t know when, how or what will happen. There are also a number of possibilities in terms of how we will leave. Let’s take someone most of us are familiar with - Steve Jobs. We think of founders as untouchable, and yet 9 years after creating Apple with Steve Wozniak, he was forced out of his own company. As we know, he returned (once he’d founded Pixar!), until April 2009, when he underwent a liver transplant. In January, 2011, a year and a half after Jobs returned to work following his transplant, Apple announced that he had been granted a medical leave of absence. Later that year, in August Jobs announced his resignation as Apple's CEO, writing to the board: "I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come."
Jobs continued to work for Apple until the day before his death six weeks later, aged just 56. Steve Jobs’ story highlights the many ways in which we can be forced to leave our roles - despite passion, ability and vision. Most of us don’t have the benefit of huge corporate teams able to step in with short notice, it requires us to be far more considered. The starting point to this is accepting one day we will each leave - one way or another. The next is to be deliberate - to put things in place so that you are in control and your wishes are clear, rather than circumstances controlling you.
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