You Are Not A Success Unless You Have A Successor
You Are Not A Success Until You have an Successor
Recently, I learned from the news that Apple has become a trillion dollar company. Personally I have an all Apple product home with MacBook Pros, iPads, iPhones, and Air pods everywhere because I really like their products and so do my children. When I think about their success over the years I think about their leadership and how it has evolved.
My first thought was to go to Steve Jobs and Tim Cook, the famous CEOs of Apple. Some would say that Steve Jobs was a success all by himself and didn't need a successor. All the success Apple has experienced was due to the innovation and dedication of the man they fired a few years before that they brought back to help them out of the hole they dug for themselves.
As you look at how the company is doing with Steve Jobs gone and with Tim Cook in charge, I would say that the quote holds true. While Tim Cook didn't create all the products that made Apple what it is today, he is having some success of his own in the shadow of his predecessor.
That is a sign that you picked the right person to come behind you and continue the vision you set in the beginning. Will Tim Cook continue to have the success he has had and continue to keep Apple at the top of their market? With a trillion dollar valuation it will be fun to watch where the company goes from here and how the leadership evolves.
I think the bigger point is to not just create something but make it so it will last - and make sure you put someone in place to continue that legacy. We all have things we have created or built so our true success depends on making sure we pick the right people to put in place to continue what we've started. That is why I personally enjoy seeing family-run businesses that are on their 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation of leadership.
My question is what are you building today that someone can come in and continue when you leave it? Let that question guide your choice of market, product, service, and entity for your legacy to exist - and then you will truly be a success when you have enabled your successor to build and continue to build your legacy.