For a company’s succession plan to succeed, all involved parties must be willing participants who understand the importance of constant communication.  And they must have a heart felt commitment to the plan.  This article will focus on the succession plan of our small women-owned family brokerage firm and the plans we made for moving from the infancy stage to the very trying teenage years and then on to adulthood, all the while trying to develop and mentor new leaders for our business.

MCD Transportation, Inc., family owned and managed since it’s inception in 1986, began an informal succession plan in 1994.  As the years progressed it became a more formal and much more urgent issue.  The reason and importance of this fact is that MCD’s original founder and our mother, Cathy Davis, was diagnosed with a terminal illness in early 1997.  Until this time, Cathy, my sister Dionne Kegley, and I were taking our time and investing all options.  With this new matter at hand, the succession planning process needed our immediate attention and had to be designated as one of our top priorities.  This somehow made all of us feel a little rushed because we all wanted to be confident in the decisions that we had to make.

With that being said, when Cathy passed in 2002, we were still in the process of finalizing certain aspects of the succession planning that had begun so informally eight years earlier.  This proves that the process is not always an easy one and much continued effort must be placed in the plan so that it will succeed.

Many factors went into the succession plan for the future leader of MCD, just like all businesses going through this process, whether family managed or not.  But it is important to keep in mind that if a business is family managed or owned there is an enormous amount of personal planning being reviewed and analyzed in conjunction with the business planning of succession.  It is very difficult to separate “personal” issues and “company” issues, especially, as in our case, when you are not really sure how much time you have to accomplish ALL of the needed goals to provide a smooth transition from one generation to the next.  This brought about additional “devils in the details” to consider that would hopefully result in beneficial outcomes for the company.  Some of these details were: family matters and goals; the financial and economic success of MCD; our goals as a company; adequate estate planning; and the succession of someone to become the leader of the company.  And while these issues were being investigated with MCD’s best interest as a focal point, we didn’t want to forget that we needed to include our employees in the process.  This was a very important fact because we wanted to maintain the present team that we had so we kept them updated on our progress.  We did not want them to feel threatened by the potential new leader and we didn’t want them to think that they were not important enough to us to be kept abreast of the major inevitable changes that would be coming about.

At MCD we have always felt that our employees are one of our major assets and we strive to constantly remind them of that.  We are proud to say that all of those team members that were employed with MCD Transportation at the time of Cathy’s passing, are still with us today.  Without their support and understanding, the process and transitions that had to be made would have been much more difficult.  We attribute much of our continued success to each of them because without their support and confidence, we would not have much to manage.

Another very important aspect that had to be considered was the involvement of our company’s professional business advisors, such as attorneys, bankers, insurance agents and accountants.  If the transition process were to be successful, it was absolutely necessary that relationships be established with open lines of communication between these key professionals and the new leader.  Many hours and many meetings with these business partners have proven to be one of the best choices we made during the entire succession planning process.  Today we still have the same faith and confidence in the abilities of each of our business partners as we did in the early stages of MCD’s growth and development.  Just as we attribute much of our success to our employees, we also realize that each of these professionals have made important contributions to our longevity and success.

As part of the personal estate planning process, Cathy began gifting shares of her 100% owned MCD stock to both me and Dionne.  This is just one example of how company and personal issues are interrelated when a company is owned by an individual and family members are being considered as successors.  Many of these types of issues arose during the planning process.  At times, it felt as though twice as much work was needed because family matters and business matters all required our dedicated attention.

Now for the end result of all these details, communication and commitment: Who would be the future leader of MCD Transportation, Inc?  This particular decision was actually one of the easiest we had to make and everyone involved felt it was the best decision for the company.  I had been the vice president of MCD since 1994 and had envisioned myself as the future leader of the company.  It seemed only natural to me to graciously and willingly accept this responsibility with honor.  And I was dedicated to continuing the same ethical practices toward all of our employees, customers, carriers, and business partners that they had been accustomed to from MCD.

I am and have always been very proud of MCD’s reputation within the transportation community and realize how fortunate I am to be a part of such an honest and ethical entity.  Much of MCD’s reputation and business philosophies are the results of the beliefs that our founder maintained and instilled in me and my sister Dionne (now vice president of MCD), as well as all other employees.  Our mother and founder would settle for nothing less than constant honesty, loyalty and business practices to all of our business partners.  She demanded the highest of ethical standards and was committed to constant educational opportunities and staying abreast of legal issues that pertained to the transportation industry.  The same principles are still the basis and foundation of MCD and our daily operations.

I’ve only touched on the major issues we encountered during our succession and transition process, but there were MANY more “devils in the details’ that I haven’t mentioned.  Whatever issues may arise during any company’s succession plan can only effectively be solved through constant communication and commitment.  Without these factors, the entire process will only result in ultimate failure for either one or more of the individuals, the company, or a combination.

Return to the Table of Contents »

• The word Alabama means tribal town in the Creek Indian language.
• The state of Rhode Island could fit into Alaska 425 times!
• Arizona became the 48th State on February 14, 1912.
• The nation’s 1st kindergarten was established in Watertown, WI in 1856.
• Wyoming was the 1st state to give women the right to vote.

Return to the Table of Contents »

Every Monday the Department of Energy updates the diesel national average cost. You may visit them on the web at http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/wohdp/diesel.asp or call 202-586-8800.

Return to the Table of Contents »

“To provide our customers with dependable transportation services based on fair and competitive pricing programs with an emphasis on customer service for all concerned parties; to be receptive to customer’s needs and react in a professional and timely manner; and to recognize customers, carriers, and vendors as our only asset for continued success.”

Return to the Table of Contents »