In our recent training, Prioritizing YOUR Next Steps with Holistic Management: A Holistic Transfer/Succession Planning Workshop, which was offered in conjunction with the 2024 REGENERATE Conference, we focused on navigating the complex process of succession and transition planning—a topic that facilitator and Holistic Management Certified Educator Kelly Sidoryk reminded participants, affects every farm/ranch business.
We know that legacy and continuity are essential, but they often come with difficult decisions and emotional conversations. Working on the "people side" of things and the challenges that go along with it is a familiar theme for many in agriculture. Holistic Management’s goal-setting process is a tool to help participants clarify their vision and align family and team members toward a common future, an important step before bringing in the accountants, lawyers and estate planners to finalize the plan.
Throughout the workshop, 23 participants explored effective ways to enhance communication, assemble a supportive team, and build a roadmap with actionable steps to guide their specific transitions. Kelly emphasized that while many of us struggle somewhere in the succession process, those challenges can be transformed into motivation and a source of strength with the right tools and community support.
As a result of this workshop participants reported increased comfort around communication and decision making when it comes to succession/transfer planning and knowledge gain in values clarification and preparing for conflict.