Most owners know succession planning matters. Almost none of them actually do it. In this episode of McStay on What Matters, Sean McStay sits down with Mike Mack, founder and president of X5 Management and author of the new book Succession, to unpack the conversation most founders avoid: what happens to the business when you are no longer the one holding it together.
They get into why succession is really about making yourself replaceable, why your replacement should not be a copy of you, how a clear plan retains your best people instead of losing them, and the gap between intending to plan and actually doing it. Candid and practical, built for owners and leaders of small and mid-sized companies.
What you’ll learn:
Why avoiding the succession conversation is what costs owners the most
How planning your succession makes you more valuable, not less
The three questions that reveal a real successor: do they get it, want it, and have the capacity
Why a clear path forward, even without guarantees, is your best retention tool
The difference between thinking about a plan and actually having one
Chapters:
00:00 Welcome, and Mike’s new book Succession
01:07 Who Mike Mack is and what X5 Management does
02:18 How X5 evolved from the original idea
05:25 When to make your first hire
07:59 Why slow and steady beats hiring to fix a problem
08:38 The discovery process: where are you in three years?
12:04 Succession: the gap between intention and action
15:26 Making yourself replaceable, and the ego problem
18:35 Why your replacement should not be another you
21:23 Succession as a retention strategy, and timing
25:31 Clarity over guarantees
28:35 How to start the conversation at your own company
33:27 “What if we train them and they leave?”
36:23 The one thing every owner should do next
38:57 Where to find Mike and the book
About Mike Mack:
Mike Mack is the founder and president of X5 Management in Edmonton, celebrating 20 years in 2026. X5 is in the people business: strategic planning, succession planning, leadership and team development, and executive coaching. Mike is the author of several books, most recently Succession.
