Young Farmers: Are You Making These 5 Dangerous Farm Succession Planning Assumptions?

The Impact Farming Show - June 18, 2025

When it comes to family business succession, it’s often not what we don’t know that gets us into trouble—it’s what we assume we know. In this episode, Patti Durand joins Tracy to unpack five common (but misleading) assumptions about family business transitions—handpicked by Tracy from Chapter 3 of Patti’s book, The Future Leader: The Successor’s Guide to Family Business Leadership. These assumptions may sound familiar… even logical. But left unchallenged, they can quietly undermine the very foundation of a successful transition.

What You’ll Hear About:

• Five popular succession assumptions—straight from Patti’s book

• How unspoken assumptions can derail even the best-laid plans

• The potential limitations of even your most trusted advisors

• What happens when you assume a plan exists… but haven’t seen it

• How lifelong familiarity can blind us to what’s really being said—or left unsaid

• The hidden strength in saying, “I don’t know”

• What future leaders and founders both need to start doing now

From unspoken expectations to misplaced confidence in familiar advisors, Patti walks us through the blind spots that can quietly derail succession plans. But don’t worry—we’re not giving it all away in the show notes. You’ll have to listen to find out what assumptions could be quietly holding your family business back. Thanks for tuning in, Tracy