Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 15

YOU NEED TO ESTABLISH THESE TRANSFER
RESTRICTIONS AND BUY-OUT TERMS BECAUSE,
ASSUMING THEIR RELATIONSHIP DOES NOT
IMPROVE, YOUR CHILDREN WILL NEVER BE ABLE
TO ACHIEVE AGREEMENT."
We never got around
to the shareholder's
agreement. His response
to our management
development plan was not
a surprise but his confidence in his rejection of
our effort to help him was
shocking. You cannot see
the bruises but we took
quite the whooping."
Then Doc offered a
joke "there are many who
would have paid to watch
your son whale on me like
I owed him money."
Bill did not laugh. "Are
you kidding with us?"
responded Bill. "Oh my! I
am going to put him in his
place. I am going to..."
Dr. Merlot held up his
hand and stopped Bill
in mid-sentence. Visibly
frustrated from the prior
day's experience, and
the prospect of hearing
more of Bill's bad-ass
puffery, he was ready to
say his piece. "Hold on
Bill! I think I have heard
what you are going to say
before. The only place
to put Alex is adulthood!
You are not going to win
a battle of words with that
38-yearold man acting like
a 13-year-old. All of this
bark and no bite has got
you in a position where
your son is telling you
what he's going to do and
what he's not going to do
with your business. Here's
a news flash, Alex is not
the problem. He is not the
reason your franchise is
on probation. You have

enabled Alex to act like
a child and by doing so
you have not equipped
him for success. By the
looks of things, he could
be saying the dog ate his
homework, when he's 50
years old! Bill, its time you
were put in your place.
You are the problem. We
cannot do anything about
Alex's attitude until we
do something about your

he pleases, and he does
not want school or coaching. If we had brought
up the shareholder's
agreement he would have
probably told us to stick
it where the sun does not
shine. Entitlement in Alex
is not the manifestation of
some emotional malfunction. He has simply
accepted the concocted
expectation that you have

I WAS WONDERING
HOW YOU WERE
GOING TO FIX OUR
DYSFUNCTIONAL
CHILDREN. NOW I GET
IT; IT'S US THAT NEEDS
FIXING."
behavior.
Bill's eyes expanded
to the size of quarters.
The ever-gregarious
lip-whipper was about to
mount his defense when
Marge put her hand on his
shoulder and raised her
finger as to say, "Hush!"
After a powerful pause,
she pleaded: "Bill, for
once would you listen?
Dr. Merlot has nailed what
I have been trying to tell
you for 20 years."
She then looked over to
Doc which he interpreted
as another opportunity to
launch. "Everyone in this
organization and especially Alex knows, that you will
bark but you will not bite.
Alex therefore confidently
believes that he can do as

presented to him; that he
has a right to be a dealer,
to be an owner. But I am
the bearer of bad news,
entitlement is a fallacy.
Entitlement is a propagated fantasy, without
substance that is destined
to collapse in the face of
reality." Doc, paused creating a deafening silence.
Then he gave 'em the
'heater,' I would contend
that Alex's handicap is as
bad as Cindy's."
"There's no way!"
challenged Bill. "Cindy's a
drug addict!"
"Alex's an entitlement
addict!" responded Doc
who had lost all reservation about talking straight.
"Your appeasement, your
toleration of his assump-

tion that he can run a
dealership, that he would
be approved by a manufacturer, that your employees will follow him; are
setting him up for a calamity that will inflict pain on
everyone associated with
your dealership. If you are
alive when this happens
I assure you that you will
be heartbroken. You do
not need to speak with
Alex about disrespecting
us; you need to man-up
and be his father, not his
daddy. And ditto regarding
Cindy," he quipped. "Who
wouldn't bail out of rehab
and come home to a job,
a townhouse and a nurturing daddy."
"Yes Sir!" sighed Marge
leaning back in her chair.
She then crossed her
arms and cracked a little
smile of respect. "Dr.
Merlot, I was wondering
how you were going to fix
our dysfunctional children.
Now I get it; It's us that
needs fixing."
LOYD H. RAWLS, President/
CEO of The Rawls Group,
has specialized in succession
planning for closely-held,
family-owned businesses
since 1973. Well respected
in his field, Mr. Rawls is a
highly requested speaker
and has published numerous
articles and publications on
this subject such as "Seeking
Succession: How to Continue
the Family Business Legacy"
and "The Succession Bridge:
Key Manager Succession
Alternatives for Family
Owned Businesses."

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

NOVEMBER 2017

15
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - November 2017
