Succession Planning Goals: Start With Purpose
Video Timestamps
00:00 – 03:16: Opening and Mark’s Story
03:17 – 10:28: Putting Purpose First
10:29 – 15:45: Values vs. Virtues
15:46 – 18:51: When the Plan Doesn’t Work
18:52 – 22:03: When There’s No Good Family Successor
22:04 – 26:11: Mindset Shifts for Every Generation
26:12 – 33:32: Where to Start and Closing
Welcome to The Trusted Room, a series about the conversations that really matter. So much of the financial industry focuses on the math, portfolios, markets and returns but the conversations clients thank you for are about family, purpose and the things money can’t measure. We created The Trusted Room to bring those conversations out into the open.
In this video, Mark Schiller, partner at Certus Legal Group and author of The Little Book of Estate Planning and How to Not Ruin Your Kids with Money, joins Joe Maier, SVP Director Wealth Strategy. Together they reframe succession planning around stewardship, values and the question every family business should ask first: Why do we have what we have? Whether you’re leading a second-generation business or planning for the fourth, they offer a purpose-driven framework for setting succession planning goals that last across generations.
5 Key Takeaways
1. Answer “why do we have what we have” before you draft anything
Purpose is a separate analysis from values. It needs its own conversation. Before you put a single structure in place take a step back and ask why your family holds its wealth in the first place. Is it for you? For your kids? For future generations? For philanthropy? The answer to that question shapes everything that follows.
2. Know the difference between values and virtues
There is a subtle but powerful distinction between values and virtues. Virtues are universally recognized as good qualities like being industrious or generous. Values are more personal, subjective and not necessarily good or bad (example: Being an entrepreneur). When you blur the two, your family constitution risks becoming a list of nice-sounding words but don't actually guide anyone's decisions.
3. You need good stewards at every generation
Not every generation will have an entrepreneur and that’s okay. The key is reframing the absence of a family successor not as a loss but as a circumstance you can work with. There are other pathways: Split shareholder, director and officer roles that lean into your children's strengths and interests rather than forcing them into seats that don't fit.
4. Shift the family mindset from “mine” to “ours”
In every successful multi-generational business, there's this moment where a switch flips. People stop thinking "that's my brother's business now" and start thinking "this is ours." When family members act as owner-stewards, they make choices that benefit the whole family, like passing on a distribution in a tight year so the business and the people who depend on it stay supported. That shift in mindset is where real alignment begins and avoids unnecessary drama, which is one of the “Five Ds of Succession Planning.”
5. Think of legacy as a relay race, not a handoff
Each generation run its legacy of the “race” and in doing so, legacy becomes shared wins rather than just the founder’s origin story. The goal isn’t to replicate the founder; it’s to keep the baton moving and let each generation contribute what it does best.
If this video has you thinking about succession planning and your purpose, we’d love to help. Connect with our team to start building a plan that lasts across generations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Business succession planning goals are the outcomes your family wants a transition to produce, not the legal documents that get you there. They answer who leads, who owns, who benefits and what the wealth is ultimately for.
Because trusts, buy-sell agreements and/or holding companies are tools and tools only work when you know the job. If you draft documents before you've asked why the wealth exists — for you, your children, future generations or philanthropy — you end up with a structure that technically functions but doesn't reflect what anyone actually wants. Purpose is its own conversation, separate from values.
You get there through shared decision-making, transparency about how the business actually performs and clear agreement on what the family is building together. That shift is where real alignment begins.
Operating family members, non-operating owners, in-laws affected by the outcome and rising adult children all have a stake. Your attorney, tax professional and financial advisors help translate those conversations into workable structures. Leaving someone out of the conversation rarely saves time — it usually surfaces later as a conflict you have to unwind.
Review them annually and revisit them in depth after any significant change: A marriage, a death, a liquidity event, a new leader stepping up or a family member stepping back. Goals set ten years ago for a family of six rarely fit a family of 20. A plan that never gets updated quietly becomes a plan nobody follows.
Have Questions?
Connect with an advisor today. Together, we'll build a plan that's aligned with your goals.
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