"Jack, you and your team lit a fire with me and motivated me to get this CEO Succession done….  and done right.  However I did not want my fingerprints on the selection because I wanted to preserve the family relationships in the event my son was not successful.  When I met you for the first time, I was terribly concerned because I love my children in the business and to chose one, the other, or someone else would be a very hard thing for me and my family.

After working with you towards this end, using your survey and retreat process, and the team building training to deal with the issues, I followed your advice.  I set up this process….  We changed bylaws to allow 7 people to serve on our Board.  Following your suggestions, I presented 4 candidates to my family members and we started them off as Advisors.  Chemistry was good and their input was valuable so we elected them to the Board.   As you said, they proved valuable through the recession because they preached that we needed to react quickly and decisively in the downturn, things your team's training prepared us for.  As a result, when I called you to help us with the cost reductions, you advised us to use our teams.  Our teams found TWICE the amount I was looking for ($4 million) and we only had less than a 10% reduction of the staff!  The board is about to select their final candidate and I am now separated from the process so I can keep my family together and the business as well.

I don’t think I could have gotten this done if I didn’t work with you. Thanks."