Share this
by Colleen Kowalski on March 18, 2022
Power Sessions offer the Exit Planning Summit attendees the opportunity to hear presenters challenge the status quo and offer new ideas to professional advisors. In the past, exit planning was seen as a transactional service: an advisor helping an owner sell their business. Our community of advisors, industry experts, and business owners have challenged that idea and have since grown exit planning, and advisory practices in general, to a more transformational experience.
These Power Sessions are similar to a TED Talk and provide the audience with a thought-provoking, inspiring, and motivational experience that transforms the way we think and provides actionable education and insights.
Summit attendees will hear from experts who represent Experiences, People, and Innovation. Three elements are needed to be a top advisor in the exit planning space.
One of these experts is Mike McGrann, who will speak to the Experiences category.
Who is Mike McGrann?
Mike has worked with family firms and family offices from across the world. He teaches and coaches in the areas of entrepreneurship, strategic planning, and family enterprising. He serves on the board of several growing companies and is the Founding Partner of The Telos Group, a consulting firm focused on growth and transition strategies for enterprising families.
Mike has worked at several universities—teaching, conducting research, and starting new programs. Most recently he founded the Initiative for Family Business and Entrepreneurship at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, PA.
Mike is a seasoned speaker and teacher on all aspects of family enterprise. He blends stories, knowledge, and experience in a way that engages and holds the attention of their audience. Sometimes challenging but always entertaining, topics are tailored to each group’s needs and supported by content that ignites further discussion.
Mike grew up in Colorado and now lives outside Philadelphia. He has two sons in college, three dogs, and a hermit crab named Squishy. He loves skiing, hiking, and just about any other outdoor activity.
About Mike’s Power Session
What if I told you there is a specific asset class that outperforms other similar asset classes by every measure of competitive success? Would you consider investing in that asset class? What if I told you that the resource that drives this unique competitiveness profoundly impacts all of our clients and our own practices. It is a resource with which we are all deeply familiar, yet it is never studied in business school.
This resource, “Familiness”, can create a unique competitive advantage for our clients. Yet if we do not help our clients identify and transition this resource, it can limit the final sale value of our client’s firms. Similarly, this Familiness Resource can create significant competitive constraints – making our jobs significantly more difficult and, if unaddressed, creates an implicit discount in the sale value of our client’s firms.
Join us for a discussion about Familiness and how to manage it within our clients and in our own practices … and why we believe it is the Fourth Leg of the Stool of Value Acceleration.
In this session, Summit attendees will learn how to:
- Identify Familiness as a potential for unique competitive advantage and competitive constraint
- Understand why “unmanaged” familiness (both positive AND negative) limits exit options
- Gain tools for managing Familiness proactively with your clients AND in your own practice.
- Manage Familiness as the Fourth Leg of the Stool
What is the inspiration behind your Power Session topic?
Mike: I have a passionate belief in the power of family and familiness. Their influence on the competitiveness of companies around the world is huge and I wanted to uncover some of the reasoning during this session.
How do family business transitions differ from other exit options?
Mike: They are different and yet the same. Familiness impacts every exit option – however, the impact is sometimes enormous and sometimes small. In addition, when the familiness influence is great, it must be managed proactively, or it will significantly impact the exit value.
How would you define a successful leader?
Mike: I would define a successful leader as one who is never confused about the reality that they are the leader. Thus, they are free to be extremely curious and profoundly open to feedback all the while being willing to make the tough call.
How does your session follow the E.P.I concept of Experiences, People, and Innovation?
Mike: We all experience familiness in our practices, with our clients, and in our daily home life. It is part of the air we breathe – yet seldom is it planned for.
What is the key takeaway you want Summit attendees to gain from your session?
Mike: After my session, I hope the Summit attendees understand the unique competitiveness that familiness can provide a business. They should be aware of the familiness impact, the constraints it can create, and tools for enhancing the advantages and minimizing those constraints.
Other than your session, what are you most looking forward to at this year’s Exit Planning Summit?
Mike: I am excited for the opportunity to learn more from other EPI professionals at this year’s Summit. I cannot wait to see everyone in May!
The 2022 Exit Planning Summit
We are excited to welcome hundreds of Certified Exit Planning Advisors Sunday, May 1 – Tuesday, May 3, 2022, to Scottsdale, Arizona for a conference where top advisors, their teams, and business owners come to build deep relationships, share unique experiences, and uncover innovative solutions for their business.
The Exit Planning Summit is the coming together of the CEPA Community. The best CEPAs from around the world collaborate with their supporting partners and colleagues that are all helping business owners to create more significant companies. CEPAs will develop new or further current relationships, learn best practices, and advance themselves as advisors. Advisors will leave the Exit Planning Summit not only galvanized to accelerate their practice but with the tools and connections to do so.
Learn more about the Exit Planning Summit and register to reserve your spot today!
Register for the Exit Planning Summit!
