As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations.
No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations.
I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.
I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, be God to you and to your offspring after you.
And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God.
—Genesis 17:4–8
In this scripture, God initiated a succession plan for Abraham.
The Bible, God’s will, is his succession plan for us.
In business, a succession plan is also a covenant; it sets forth a leader’s responsibilities to employees, vendors, and customers to assure them their future is intact.
A succession plan is a commitment that the company will continue under able leadership when the present leader and management team are no longer around.
A covenant lets employees know their careers are secure, and assures business partners, vendors, and customers that business will continue as usual in the event of an unexpected (or expected) circumstance.
Thus, contracts will be honored, services will continue, and a seamless transition will endure.
For obvious reasons, a succession plan benefits employees—they are unemployed if the company goes out of business.
Customers, vendors, and suppliers also have a vested interest—the untimely demise of a major partner or supplier negatively impacts business.
I have firsthand knowledge of how they react.
Major suppliers and customers have candidly expressed that had my company not had a succession plan, they wouldn’t do business with us.
Like myself, these companies are interested in establishing long-term relationships with an organization.
They don’t feel comfortable knowing that if something happened to one individual, the relationship would cease.
Rather than being dependent upon a single person, they want assurances that the company will continue to be in good hands.
Key individuals work side by side with me at WWT, and there is a transitional plan in place to run the company in my absence.
Telcobuy, our subsidiary company, has its own management team, so, even now, it doesn’t require my full-time involvement.
A board of directors stands ready to govern the company, and it is structured so my family will have a voice in its guidance.
I have sought the counsel of one of St. Louis’s largest law firms, to handle my estate planning, so I am confident that my family will also be provided for.
I am aware that some business leaders neglect to plan ahead for the event of their demise, or for that matter, their disability or retirement.
In some incidences, a CEO who founded his company thinks he’s indispensable and can’t be replaced—or invincible, and nothing will ever happen to him.
However, nobody is either in-dispensable or invincible.
It’s usually a matter of an individual who doesn’t want to step down and let others be totally responsible for the management of the organization—because they may actually do a better job.
In my opinion, it’s an ego problem.
You remember: Ego is an acronym for Edging God Out.
Jesus addresses the subject of succession plans in Luke 12:13– 21.
In this scripture, he tells a parable about a rich man who was worried about not having a place to store his crops.
After giving the matter serious thought, the man said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
Afterward, I will feel secure in having ample goods to last for many years, and I will relax, eat, drink, be merry.”
But God said to him, “You fool!
This very night your life is being demanded of you.
And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?”
Jesus concludes this parable by saying that those who store up treasures for themselves are not rich toward God.
Here, Jesus is telling us to have a contingency plan in place so that we may continue to benefit others long after we are gone.
We are also reminded that no one knows when his or her life may end abruptly, so we must prepare in advance for the unforeseen.
In Numbers 20:12, while Moses and Aaron were in the wilderness, God told them that because they did not trust in him to show his holiness before the eyes of the Israelites, they would not bring them into the Promised Land.
Moses was 120 years old when he led the Israelites to the banks of the Jordan River; on the other side was the Promised Land.
Moses knew that he was not permitted to cross the river to lead the Israelites into the land.
Then in Deuteronomy 31:7–8, Moses said to Joshua, “Be strong and bold, for you are the one who will go with this people into the land that the LORD has sworn to their ancestors to give them; and you will put them in possession of it.
It is the LORD who goes before you.
He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you.
Do not fear or be dismayed.”
So here, Moses instructs Joshua to carry out his charge.
Although Moses was disappointed that he could not personally carry out his forty-year-old long-term goal, he had peace of mind knowing his succession plan assured that the Israelites would be delivered to the Promised Land.
Matthew 26:26–29 narrates a succession plan delineated by Jesus at the Last Supper.
During the meal, Jesus gave a blessing over the bread and said to the disciples, “Take, eat; this is my body.”
Then he lifted his cup, gave thanks, and told them, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
This covenant was Jesus’ succession plan, and it has stood the test of time for over two thousand years.
As we learn from the Bible, great nations, as well as today’s modern corporations, make covenants to their people.
These covenants are designed to secure their future wellness beyond the life of a single individual or group of individuals.
Our good principles must be passed down to our children, and in turn, theirs will be passed down to their children.
These wonderful principles are right there in the Word of God.
The Bible teaches them to us; this is our inheritance.
Likewise, a business built on worthy principles will endure to be passed down to future generations.