Trends 2025: Why the best leaders have an exit plan
Strong leaders make strong companies — so what happens when they leave? Having a plan in place is critical for a smooth transition, and for a firm’s survival.
Editor's note: Since 2006, the Swanepoel Trends Report has provided in-depth research and analysis to help leaders understand the forces shaping residential real estate. This exclusive series of excerpts highlights each trend featured in the 2025 report, which was released in November 2024.
The Leadership Transition Playbook: A company's success is closely tied to the strength of its leadership, and brokerage firms are no exception. It is critical for leaders to develop a succession plan — and consider how that plan fits within an evolving landscape where expectations about how and where work happens have changed.
The following excerpt, taken from T3 Sixty's 2025 Trends Report, outlines the different ways leaders can hand over the reins, noting the benefits and potential pitfalls of each.
Types of leadership transition
A leadership transition for brokerage leaders may be prompted by several different factors. When considering transitioning leadership in a business, it is important to consider options carefully and over time, with counsel from others who are close to leadership and those who have experienced transitions themselves.
The primary types of transitions include a succession, sale or acquisition.
Succession
Successions can take several forms for brokerage leaders. An outgoing leader could be succeeded by another professional leader or, in many cases in real estate, to a next-generation family member. These scenarios are considered below.
Professional management
This is common for owners who wish to continue to own the business but do not want to be involved in day-to-day leadership. An owner taking this route will need to search for a professional manager to take the business lead. Finding the ideal leader is a complex process. In most cases, it is best to hire an executive search firm to provide outside perspective for this critical decision. A professional recruiter will apply an exacting process to ensure the best possible fit. Keep in mind that the process often takes 90 to 120 days under the best of conditions.
Before hiring someone new, the existing leadership must define their strategic intent. This includes ensuring that business goals are clearly defined and deciding on what role, if any, the outgoing leader will play in ongoing business and for how long.
Family, next generation
While this can sometimes be tricky, it is often viewed as the best way to provide for ongoing business continuity. Care should be taken to fully prepare family members for their new job responsibilities. This often means that the owner will have this transition in mind and lay the foundation for its execution years in advance.
This preparation can help others in the company see how the next generation earns their new role, just like the rest of the team has done. Typically, in this type of transition, the leader is personally involved and will include others from the executive team or outside the firm in developing the next generation of leaders.
Sale
In the absence of a clear successor, or when the need for a founder exit or fresh leadership expertise motivates the transition, new leadership may come from a partial or full sale of the business.
A partial sale could establish a clearly defined exit plan for the current leader. Or the incoming leader may wish to benefit from the current leader's ongoing stewardship while taking the time to prepare for a smooth transition.
Acquisition
With a full acquisition, which is a regular and increasing activity in the real estate industry, the acquiring company typically absorbs the acquired company's leadership into its ecosystem.
Acquisitions or mergers can be particularly disruptive. This type of transition requires careful thought and a solid execution plan. An acquiring leader may not plan to provide on-the-ground leadership to the acquired company. This could mean bringing in a new leader from outside the acquired company or promoting from within the acquired company. Along with negotiating ownership, the terms of an acquisition typically involve setting new organizational roles and job descriptions.
Read the full chapter to access the step-by-step Leadership Playbook. Digital and printed copies of the 2025 Swanepoel Trends Report are available for purchase at T3 Trends.
Note: T3 Sixty and Real Estate News share a founder, Stefan Swanepoel.