Who's going to sit in your chair and meet with your clients when you're no longer doing it? That question leaves many advisors speechless. Here's what one planner told me earlier this year about her succession concerns: "I'm thinking about my next phase in life and I am not sure I want to leave the practice. I would like to scale back, but that means I need to have someone in place who can also be a decision-maker."

She told me she wasn't sure if there was anyone in her office who demonstrated good leadership skills. "I have someone who can manage the office and I have good planners, but I'm not sure if any of these people could really lead the office if I weren't around," she said. "In fact, I'm not even sure how to assess leadership skills."

TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER

Picking the next boss is not an easy task, especially for many advisors who don't always feel competent in leading their own practices. Most of us started out as a one-person shop, doing every job that needed to be done to serve our clients well. When those tasks became too overwhelming, we hired someone to handle some of the jobs we could delegate comfortably. That's the day we each became an employer and that's the day we needed to treat our practice like a business.

Before you can decide who should lead your practice after you've moved on, you need to be able to describe what you believe is a good leader. Years ago, I came up with a list of 10 attributes that I felt defined good leadership skills. For me, a good leader:

* Engenders trust.

* Makes prompt decisions and manages time effectively.

* Is accountable and holds others accountable.

* Is sensitive and responsive to the needs of others.

* Inspires people to find their own level of success.

* Creates an environment of problem-solving, creativity and learning.

* Is optimistic and confident in his abilities and in those of others.

* Is capable of turning his vision into a realistic action plan.

* Communicates openly and easily.

* Motivates himself and others.

Next, I turned these attributes into a leadership peer review survey. Each person in my office was asked to complete the survey for all the other employees of the firm. My initial survey had 79 questions that I've refined and made more specific over time. For example, instead of asking, "Does this person engender trust?" I ask, "Does a person promote an ethical business culture, demonstrate honesty in the workplace and promote inclusiveness within the organization?"

To assess the ability to inspire others, I may ask whether an employee encourages staff to stretch into challenging roles, or whether that person works with colleagues to create opportunities for personal development. Does he or she allow people to learn from their mistakes, or appreciate the value others bring to problem solving? Does this employee empower people to make decisions?

Some of the questions you design can assess more than one attribute. For example, the following questions may help assess communication, accountability and realistic action plans. Does he or she:

* Spend time to listen to other viewpoints?

* Put appropriate measures in place to understand clearly how teams are performing?

* Help others understand the impact of both short-term and long-term decisions?

* Express clear expectations of the task at hand?

* Prioritize tasks and projects with a sense of urgency and clarity?

While you are designing your survey, you might consider some questions with regard to client relationships or business development. For example, does he or she:

* Develop strong relationships with key decision-makers?

* Demonstrate curiosity about client needs and how the firm can add value?

* Focus on being client-centric?

SURVEY DESIGN

Once you've written all your questions, mix them up so they are not grouped in any order. This way, your questions are not so obviously devised around a certain concept or attribute. You can also place several closely related questions throughout the survey. I find that sometimes when you rephrase a question, people may understand it better and give a more detailed answer.

I recommend you use software to design and distribute your survey. Even if you are a three-person firm, using software helps to make the survey more professional and assures your staff their answers will not be seen by anyone else. You can use simple survey software like Survey Monkey to type your questions into a survey format. I use Qualtrics because it happens to be available to me at Texas Tech, where I teach.