In a monarchy, there is rarely a leadership vacuum. The principle is simple: one ruler leaves, another is immediately in place.
It may not be a perfect comparison for business succession but I’ll argue that it’s a useful one. The best organizations do not just prepare for the next leader but for the next several leaders, and for the world those leaders will inherit.
What struck me in the conversation with McGill management professor Karl Moore, a former teacher, is that not all CEOs really think about legacy. Great CEOs and entrepreneurs do.
It is not a given that leaders will properly think about their immediate replacement, let alone two generations down.
Karl is a CEO whisperer of sorts, a brilliant prof who brings business leaders into the classroom to inspire students. He’s host of The CEO Series radio show and podcast, and was recently honoured in the Canadian Senate for his “enriched public discourse... translating rigorous research into accessible insight”. He’s written more books than I’ve managed to keep track of, and his latest is We Are All Ambiverts Now: Introverts, Ambiverts, and Extroverts in the C-Suite.
He feels too many leaders still underestimate the youth.
This is where thinking like a monarch can make some sense. It is not just: what happens when I die? It is closer to: this kingdom has existed for a long time, and the work is to make sure it can continue long after me.
For businesspeople, succession planning is usually treated as a late-stage exercise, something to revisit once the company is larger, the children are older or retirement is closer. Framing estate planning in a legacy-planning context can help organizations build generational resilience, not unlike royals.
Why Family Businesses are Stronger
Moore’s broader point is that legacy-building is not passive.
One of his observations is that family businesses often outperform because they are forced to think in longer time horizons. Public companies and non-family firms are generally more sensitive to market or stakeholder pressures. Family businesses tend to think beyond the quarter and take responsibility for people they’ve never meet or haven’t been born.
“The big advantage of the family business is the long view,” and it can be as strategic as it is sentimental. Many of these companies are trying to preserve something that will matter to children, grandchildren and future stewards of the business.
Business succession and estate planning are therefore tightly connected, or at least should be. If the company is truly meant to outlive one person, the plan cannot only be personal but structural.
Double Down on Youth
His argument is not that youth should automatically run the show but that younger employees often see change earlier, and more clearly, than those at the top.
“You need to listen to young people, frontline troops, who are dealing with the harsh realities of today’s world,” he said, adding that businesspeople mustn’t be “cut off from reality” if they expect their organizations to remain agile.
That is where his emphasis on reverse mentorship becomes so pertinent, especially with the rise of AI and sophisticated media platforms that are totally foreign to GenXers like me.
Since succession planning is about developing a deeper layer of leadership, in practical terms, that means involving younger leaders before a transition becomes urgent, listening to them seriously in executive meetings and giving them the chance to shape the business rather than merely inherit it.
This is also where the monarchy analogy has limits. In business, continuity cannot only mean preserving the institution exactly as it was. As we recently explored with the Armani estate, some estate plans protect families while keeping them away from business operations.
The New ‘VUCA’ Economy
Moore describes today’s economic environment as a “VUCA World”: one defined by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. It is a useful framework because it captures why old leadership habits are becoming less reliable.
In a VUCA economy, it is no longer enough to have a fixed plan and a commanding executive style. Leaders of our generation need more agility than ever.
“I think a number of CEOs fall short that way,” Moore said, “because they’re a bit stuck in the old way of doing things. Partly because when they were young, that’s what a CEO did… you looked at the person above you and did what they did, because that’s what a CEO did. But in a world that’s moving… we’ve got to be a bit different than we were 10, 20 years ago.”
This may be one of the harder lessons for founders: The habits that built the business may not be the habits that preserve it.
Knowing Karl first as a professor and then later speaking in his CEO class was quite the honour. What he has built is not only a brilliant academic career but platforms with an almost infinite source of material, relationships and learning, while also giving leaders a structured way to spread their own learnings.
Karl, to my knowledge, did not inherit a monarchical structure to manage his professional legacy. Over decades, he put the work in and created one; an information ecosystem that serves students, executives, institutions and future researchers. He has become a king among Canadian business thinkers, and deservedly so.