One of the most important responsibilities of a board is to ensure a smooth CEO succession, whether the company is public or private. However, succession planning in a privately owned family business will have many unique considerations the board must consider.
As stewards of Seaman Corporation, an industrial fabrics business founded by my father, we have been part of three CEO successions.
I joined the company that my father and grandfather started together in late 1996, when David S. Lapine Company, Inc., was 28 years old. My grandfather had retired and my father had sole ownership. In those days, I gave no thought about future ownership, nor did I ever consider the different challenges faced by a family-owned business compared to any other. After seven years, the family complexity had changed substantially during those seven years. Two other members of my generation — my brother and my cousin — joined me at the company.
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