Smart Business Magazine, Feb 2013

6 Smart Business Cleveland February 2013 LEADERSHIP LESSONS MICHAEL BERLIN However on Easter Sunday 2011 with little warning I experienced a sudden serious side effect of my Crohns disease I woke up with a 106 degree fever that we ultimately found out was caused by e coli in my bloodstream Diagnosis and a subsequent nine plus hour surgery to replumb my insides left me hospitalized for the next 30 days All told with the addition of another surgery my recovery took over five months So for five months and without any time to plan I was unable to return to work The company I had founded built and helped run day to day needed to go on without me There was no certainty regarding when and in what condition Id return Having suffered from Crohns disease since my 20s I should have seen it coming I had been told about the warning signs Of course as humans and especially as entrepreneurs we believe that it wont happen to us Additionally as successful leaders we feel that we are bulletproof Otherwise we wouldnt take the kinds of risks necessary to build a successful business or demonstrate the dogged persistence it takes to overcome obstacles in pursuit of a vision Planning for the unexpected How to handle your business when life hits the pause button Those factors combine to make us a group of people who are less likely than most to consider and plan for the fact that one day the buck really may stop here Plan for getting hit by the bus Now that it happened to me I would like to let you know that there are several ways you can plan First talk about the what if scenarios with your team By sheer chance my co founder and I had that very discussion four days before I got sick We verbally agreed to a pay structure should anything happen to either of us Although verbal agreements are nice and worked out for me I would still recommend that everything is put in writing Meet with advisers or attorneys to determine what you need in place should you become incapacitated Next ask yourself Can my company run without me If I didnt show up tomorrow does someone know how to pay the bills Sign paychecks Are client projects being documented in a way that they can be easily handed off Does my management team know where long term projects stand It is hard to carve out time to ask these questions but if we as leaders build them into every aspect of our business time will ensure the answers to these questions become part of how we operate What I wish I had known I learned a lot of life lessons from this experience but one tactical lesson sticks with me now more than a year later While its important to plan the exit its even more important to carefully plan your return Five months is a long time to be away I didnt take calls or respond to emails and to be honest I didnt care My goal was getting back on my feet and spending time with my family In turn the team at Briteskies rallied to make sure that our clients got the same level of stellar service they had come to expect I finally arrived back at the office with a mentality of Im here Im back lets get to it But the companys success in my absence meant that things had changed There were different ways of doing things conversations I had missed and judgment calls that had to be made and consequently were made Its important for both sides to be patient and to communicate openly about the challenges of re integrating back into the business While its not possible to rewind and plug in exactly where you left off it is possible to ensure a smoother transition Please dont wait until you get hit by the bus At times we may forget how many people depend on us Go above and beyond as a business leader and consider that it may happen to you and plan for what it will mean for your business your clients your employees and even their families In 2000 I founded Briteskies LLC a Northeast Ohio technology company While weve had our share of challenges we had experienced steady growth and success for more than a decade and I felt significant pride in my leadership role in the organization Michael Berlin is the founder of Briteskies LLC He can be reached at Berlin@ Briteskies com or 216 369 3600 CLICK OR SCAN to learn more about Briteskies LLC or go to www briteskies com