Map the Three Succession Seats in a Family Handoff

The handoff fails when the seats are still empty

When you prepare a multigenerational handoff, the board needs three names before the founder steps back: the CEO, the chair, and the heir's next rung. The plan should be a portfolio of moves, not a single announcement, because the second and third seats decide whether the first one holds.

86 percent of leaders call succession planning urgent or important, while only 14 percent believe their companies do it well. 40% of surveyed family-owned businesses are in or expect a leadership succession within 10 years, but only about half have a thorough plan. Roughly 11% of advisors with succession plans expect to pass their practices to relatives. Family transfer is a choice, so it needs the same design as any other leadership move.

Test the handoff before the board meeting

Use the list before the board meeting, not after the announcement. Each item is quick to test because it forces a name, a date, or a written role.

• Identify who will run daily operations on the day the founder steps back.
• Identify who will hold family values as board chair, not manage day-to-day operations.
• Set the heir's next rung and the date it begins.
• Write the founder's post-CEO role in a short sentence.
• Set a review date before the handoff.
• Confirm who decides if the heir is ready.
• Put the plan in writing and share it with the board.

The operations seat protects the company, while the chair seat guards the family's values. The heir's rung keeps the heir from being left without a role. A review date keeps the plan current, and a written post-CEO role prevents informal power from undoing the new CEO's authority.

The CEO seat is a job, not a birthright

The heir is not automatically the operator. The CEO seat should go to the person who can run daily operations on the day the founder stops doing it.

Black Bros. Co. is a family business now in its sixth generation. It was founded in 1882 and is based in Mendota, Illinois. Jeff Simonton, who joined Black Bros. in 1999, is being appointed president and chief executive officer, and the change takes effect on Sept. 1 at Black Bros. Co.

Albemarle announced on Sept. 3, 2026 that Ragnar Udd would take the CEO seat on Feb. 1, 2027. The same announcement gave Kent Masters a defined post-CEO role as Executive Chairman.

The chair and the heir's rung decide whether it lasts

The chair should not be a formality. That seat holds the family's values and the board's continuity after the founder stops running the company. It needs a name before the CEO seat is filled.

Matthew B. Carroll, a fifth-generation family leader at Black Bros. Co. who has been an employee since 1978 and chief executive since 1995, will leave the CEO seat but stay on as board chairman.

Heir promotion often stalls because the family waits for a crisis to create a role. The heir needs a rung that is visible, dated, and tied to responsibility. A dated rung gives the heir a role that can be reviewed before the CEO seat opens. If the heir is not ready for the CEO seat, the next rung should still move the heir closer to it.

Evan Carroll, a sixth-generation Black family member who started at Black Bros. in 2017, moves up to executive vice president. In a Rochester second-generation family business, the son took a defined next rung by receiving full day-to-day responsibility while the father moved into an advisor role.

Put the names in writing before the next board meeting. If a seat is still empty, the board should say so in writing.