Retirement and Succession Planning (in English)

Program Description

Here, succession is demystified. It is not a will: it is a strategic choreography of leadership, knowledge, emotions and legal structures. This module, taught entirely in English and based on international methodology, brings into the wealth arena an operating method proven over more than two decades at Fortune 500 companies.

Steve Trautman —a pioneer of talent risk management and advisor to Boeing, Microsoft, Bank of America and Qualcomm, among others— shares his step-by-step methodology: assessment of current succession plans against industry standards, formation of the successor team using criteria of technical skill, leadership and trust, mapping of critical knowledge through the Knowledge Silo Matrix, and design of development and transition plans with milestones and owners.

The result is tangible: a documented succession plan for each key role and the tools to communicate it, secure buy-in from the organization or the family, and manage resistance to change across generations. Where there is no clear succession, there is no legacy. There is litigation.

General Objective

To learn to design effective succession plans in both family businesses and financial teams, ensuring leadership continuity and the preservation of wealth across generations. Upon completion, participants will be able to critically evaluate existing succession plans, identify gaps, structure a competent successor team and apply tools for the orderly transfer of knowledge and of assets —financial and entrepreneurial— from one generation to the next.

Learning Objectives

• 01Critically evaluate current retirement and succession plans against industry standards
• 02Identify risks, gaps and areas for improvement in existing succession plans
• 03Structure a successor team using criteria of technical skill, leadership and trust
• 04Build a Knowledge Silo Matrix to map the critical knowledge of current leaders
• 05Design training and mentoring plans for each identified block of work
• 06Document a succession plan for each key role, with milestones and owners
• 07Present the plan to the organization or the family and secure stakeholder buy-in
• 08Improve intergenerational communication and manage resistance to change in the succession process

Why Take This Program

1. Taught in English by Steve Trautman, an international expert with more than 20 years in talent risk management, knowledge transfer and succession planning
2. Methodology proven at Fortune 500 companies: Boeing, Microsoft, Bank of America, Costco, Goodyear and Qualcomm, among others
3. Author of three books on knowledge transfer published by Prentice Hall, Greenleaf and McGraw-Hill
4. Knowledge Silo Matrix: the proprietary tool for mapping and transferring critical knowledge to each successor
5. A concrete deliverable: a documented succession plan for each key role, with milestones and owners
6. A dual focus: family businesses and financial teams under a single method
7. Assessment of existing plans against industry standards, identifying risks and gaps
8. Three Virtual Live sessions via Zoom, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm Mexico City time
9. Tools for intergenerational communication and managing resistance to change
10. A module of the Executive Program in Private Wealth Management, available as a standalone course

Syllabus — Key Topics

• Assessment of current retirement and succession plans against industry standards
• Identification of risks and areas for improvement in current plans
• Formation of the successor team: technical skills, leadership and trust
• Criteria for selecting those who will lead the new succession plans
• Mapping of key knowledge with the Knowledge Silo Matrix
• Clarification of the knowledge blocks successors must master
• Guided transfer of critical knowledge to each successor
• Development and transition plans: training and mentoring by block of work
• A documented succession plan for each key role, with milestones and owners
• Implementation and communication of the plan: stakeholder buy-in
• Intergenerational communication and managing resistance to change
• Content based on international methodology, taught in English

Faculty

Steve Trautman — Founder, The Steve Trautman Co (USA)