SUCCESSION PLANNING…AT AGE 31? REALLY?!

Okay, one more tidbit from the upcoming profile of Fortigo Freight founder Elias Demangos. I probably did a double-take when interviewing Elias when he mentioned that one of his priorities is succession planning. I may even have spit out some of my delicious La Scala soup.

Elias, I said, you’re 31 years old! People don’t start succession planning in this business till they’re on their death bed! Are you planning on selling the company and sipping ouzo on some Mediterranean beach for the rest of your life at the age of 40?
He quickly corrected me, and pointed out he is actually already succession planning for when his senior leaders retire, which will happen well before he does.

“As our senior executives begin to retire, one of my responsibilities to our customers and to our organization and to our drivers is to have the right management team in place and bringing the right people on-board and training them,” Elias told me. “It’s a challenge and it’s something that we’re spending a lot of time on.”

That’s pretty forward-thinking stuff from a 31-year-old executive.

As for Elias, he ain’t going anywhere. He loves the minutia of running the business and its fast pace. He hates weekends – Sundays are the worst, he complains – because the pace slows down. Again, this was a fun piece to work on. Look for it soon!

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James Menzies is editorial director of Today's Trucking and TruckNews.com. He has been covering the Canadian trucking industry for more than 24 years and holds a CDL. Reach him at james@newcom.ca or follow him on Twitter at @JamesMenzies.


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