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does? But you don’t have to lash out at problem. He said it helped him make one—just like problems. There is one big

problems, whine about them, or feel peace with his cancer and enjoy the end diference between problems and probor-
treated unfairly by them. You can choose of his life instead of ighting it. When he tunities. Problems always ind you. It’s up

to respond in a way that makes you feel shared that with me, my notion of prob- to you to ind the probortunities.
better. It’s hard. I know. I chose not to lems changed. What problem did I have?

ight everyone who called me a rapist. I I hoped I might lift someone else and Gerry Sandusky is the play-by-play voice of the Baltimore Ravens and a
chose not to return profanity to everyone someone else lifted me. That’s the power speaker, corporate trainer, and author of The New York Times bestseller,

who used it with me on social media. It of probortunity thinking.
Forgotten Sundays. He is the recipient of two regional Edward R. Murrow
was hard, very hard. Then, I experienced Here’s the ultimate power of probor-
and Emmy Awards for his accomplishments in broadcast journalism. For
a transformation: I learned the more I tunity thinking: It’s available to every-
more information, visit GerrySandusky.com.
exercised power of choice, the stronger

it becomes, and the stronger I become.
Gradually, I became more powerful than

my problem. You can, too.

PILLAR NO. 3:
Are you in denial

CHANGE THE ANGLE OF YOUR APPROACH
If you keep staring at the problem,
about succession
you’ll never see the opportunity. You’ve
made your peace with the problem; now

ask yourself what you can change to see
the situation diferently?
issues?

In the third quarter of Super Bowl
XLVII, the electricity went out in the

New Orleans Superdome. Problem. We The issues of succession are both inancial and
had no power for the radio equipment in
emotional — a volatile mix that makes them easy to
our broadcast booth. Problem. My quick- put off. But denial comes at a cost: Fewer than one-
thinking producer handed me a cell phone
third of family-owned businesses survive into their
that he had dialed into the call-in number. second generation and many closely held companies
That got us on the air. Opportunity. For
don’t survive the loss of their founder.
the next 34 minutes while the TV booth
remained in the dark, our radio ratings
At EisnerAmper, we urge you to plan early — like ten
soared. Probortunity. When the lights years early. We help you weigh all the likely scenarios

came back on, the problem went away—so and arrive at the right decisions, both for you and
did the opportunity. Our ratings went your company. So you’re not just passing the baton,

back down. Sometimes when your prob- you’re strengthening the business.
lems go away, so do your opportunities.

View our video series on transitioning your
PILLAR NO. 4:
business at EisnerAmper.com/TRANSITION
BE A LIGHTHOUSE, NOT A COURTHOUSE
Once you’ve identiied the problem,

stop wasting time iguring out whom to
blame. That’s the domain of courthouses,

the domain of judges. Instead, ask what
this problem can teach you and how you

can use it for good. By choosing not to
respond to every one who made an of-

fensive comment to me, I ended up having Let’s get down to business.® eisneramper.com 732.243.7000
a positive impact on people in ways I

could have never imagined—and they did

the same for me. A young man struggling
with terminal cancer sent me a message

on Facebook thanking me for showing
him that he didn’t have to lash out at his

january 2015 37