1. nacsonline.com
NACS
SHOW
ISSUE
THE ASSOCIATION FOR CONVENIENCE & FUEL RETAILING OCTOBER 2015
THE NACS CHAIRMEN: STEVE LOEHR AND JACK KOFDARALI
H
EALTH A N D CO N V ENIEN
C
E
C LLIDE
8STEPS TO A
MORE SECURE
NETWORK
STRATEGIESFOR
ZONING
APPROVALS
New research shows opportunities for capturing
shoppers who want better-for-you options.

2. 86 OCTOBER 2015 nacsonline.com
FINDING THELEADERSHIP IDENTIFICATION AND TRAINING IS A CRITICAL COMPONENT OF

3. NACS Magazine OCTOBER 2015 87
BY JERRY SOVERINSKY
LEADERSUCCESSION PLANNING FOR BUSINESSES, NO MATTER HOW STRONG THE FAMILY TIES.

4. 88 OCTOBER 2015 nacsonline.com
henJapanesetemplebuilderKongoGumi
shut its doors for the last time in 2006, it marked the
end of the world’s longest running family business.
Founded in 578, the 1,400-year-old company suc-
cumbed to what Bloomberg Business would later iden-
tifyasacommonfailureamongcompanies,regardless
ofage:Itneglectedtocreateaflexiblesuccessionpolicy.
Indeed, despite the company’s willingness to look
beyondtheoldestsonwhenpassingdownleadership
control (the company even once—out of 40 genera-
tions—looked to a daughter!), it never considered
non-family members when planning for the future
leadershipofthecompany.
Andsowhendemandfortemplesdeclinedaboutthe
sametimethefamilyhadaccumulatedsubstantialdebt,
itclosed.
Convenience store owners can learn much from
Kongo Gumi. While the pressure of sustaining a
40-generation family is still centuries away even for
the most tenured c-store operation, the dilemma of
succession planning is—or should be—a crucial
concern. For in an industry dominated by family
participation,whowillleadthecompanyhasprofound
implicationsforitslong-termviabilityandsuccess.
Wawa Looks Beyond the Family
WhenRichardWoodJr.beganworkingforhisfamily
businessonJune1,1970,hewasentering—somewhat
reluctantly—a business that was 95% held by family
members. “I hemmed and hawed about coming to
workatWawa,Iwasn’tsureaboutgettinginvolvedin
a family company, even though my son already
workedthere,”Woodsaid.
Asarecentlymergedentityoftwodisparatefamily
companies—a textile business that began in 1850
and a dairy that was founded in 1922—Wawa was a
familybusinesswithsprawlingownershipinterests.
“The family hardly knew the number of shares they
owned, much less where their stock certificates
were,”Woodsaid.
NACS offers leadership programs and events that can help you identify and train qualified
existing and up-and-coming leaders in your company:
• NACS Leadership Challenge: Designed for district managers and supervisors, the
six-month program features classroom instruction, coaching, a business project and
online support, all aimed at improving leadership skills for high-level store personnel.
• NACSExecutiveLeadershipProgramatCornell:Gearedtowardmid-tosenior-level
retail managers, this program (endowed by PepsiCo Inc.) provides advanced training
for those assuming leadership positions at retail companies.
• NACS Financial Leadership Program at Wharton: This intensive, five-day program
(endowed by American Express) is offered to high-potential executives who have been
selected by their companies to acquire advanced insights in finance.
• NACSMarketingLeadershipProgramatKellogg:Thisprogram(endowedbyAltria)
is for mid- to senior-level marketing executives looking to enhance their understanding
of branding, consumer experience and analytics.
Formoreinformationontheseprogramsvisitnacsonline.com/leadership.
HANDS-ON TRAINING

5. 90 OCTOBER 2015 nacsonline.com
Wood began as general counsel for Wawa, moving
upthroughavarietyofpositionsbeforebecomingits
chief executive in 1977, a position he would hold for
more than a quarter of a century. (Wood also served
asthechairmanofNACSin1985.)
After a decade as Wawa’s helm, Wood began think-
ing about a succession plan. “At that point, I was
thinking that a family member would do it,” he said.
“In fact, I made an effort in that regard in 1990.” But
withcomplexfamilydynamicsandcompetinginter-
ests at play,heeventuallyadoptedadifferentmindset.
“Everyfamilymemberhadaninterest[inthecompa-
ny] in a trust that my great grandfather set up in
1922,”Woodsaid.“Someofthemhadsharesoutright.
…While it might have been nice [to select a family
successor],itjustwasn’tgoingtowork.”
Helping to convince Wood of the practicality of
selecting a non-family member successor was a
Boardthatincludedimpartial,non-familymembers.
“Intheearly1970s,[mycousin]Grahamhadgonetoa
seminar that advised executives to find Board
members who weren’t just management, friends or
company lawyers. You can always get advice from
thosepeople.”
WiththefullsupportofitsBoard,Wawaappointed
itsfirstnon-familymemberleader,HowardStoeckel,
as its CEO in 2004, a natural progression for the ex-
ecutive who began working for the company in 1987.
“Howard came to work for us as a vice president of
human resources and he moved over to marketing in
1989,” Wood said. “He clearly was a leader. He was by
farthestrongestmemberofourmanagementteam.”
It was a consensus choice for the company, and
Stoeckel built successfully on the work of his prede-
cessor. “Howard did a much better job that I did and
serveduntil2012,”Woodsaid.
TheneedtolookoutsidethefamilytoleadWawais
shared by Woods’ family members, who meet annu-
ally at a beneficiary meeting. “There has been a con-
vergence in feeling that this is a family company but
yet an investment,” Wood said. “The reaction of the
familytooutsidemembersisthattheywanttogetthe
best person possible to grow their share holdings.
With Howard, they respected him. There was recog-
nitionthatheisagreatleader.”
Leaders in Training
WhiletheleadershippathforWawahasgrownsome-
whatorganicallyfortheprivatelyheldcompany,pub-
licly traded Delek US Holdings Inc. has implemented
an enterprise-level, leadership training program for
itsMAPCObrandofconveniencestores.
“Wefeelitisourpeoplewhodriveoursuccessasan
organization and who have made our company cul-
ture so robust,” said Stace Benu, senior management
of talent for Brentwood, Tennessee-based MAPCO,
in explaining the importance of leadership training.
“Our leadership team feels that it is important to in-
vest time, effort and resources to develop our current
department heads and operations leadership. That is
where the idea for MAPCO’s Career Path Program
andLeadershipEssentialsprogramoriginated.”
Developedoverthepastfewyearsandintegrating
corecompetenciesfoundamongitsmostsuccessful
operators, Career Path Program (CPP) is designed
to build a consistent model of leadership success
at existing and future store locations. Easier said
thandone.
“Our largest challenge was taking the concept of
developing our people internally and creating a
structure that could successfully support our
“Our
leaders
are
building
our future
leaders.”

6. 92 OCTOBER 2015 nacsonline.com
vision,” Benu said. “We’re a culture of self-
development and merit-based career advancement.
It felt right for our organization to put the path to
career growth right into our employees’ hands. We
created the Career Path Program to give our
employees control and opportunity to take the next
stepandadvancetheircareers.”
MAPCO’s CPP development phase included tap-
pingintoitsalreadysuccessfulManagerMentornet-
work, which trains store managers. “The Manager
Mentornetworkinstantlybecameanintegralpartof
the Career Path Program serving as our primary
source of promotable talent into development roles,
such as our new store opening coordinator and field
trainer,aswellasourpromotionstodistrictmanager,”
Benu said. “Currently, all of our development roles
and sixteen of our district managers were previously
partofourManagerMentornetwork.”
Theprocessdoesn’tendthere.Aspartofthecompa-
ny’s continued skills and leadership training, its man-
agers participate in basic and advanced management
coursesatthecompany’sheadquarters.Themulti-day
programprovidesintensivetrainingintosystemsanal-
ysis and situational leadership. Collectively with the
company’s Manager Mentor network, they form the
foundationofMAPCO’sCareerPathProgram.
To ensure that its leaders maintain their requisite
skills, MAPCO has a clearly defined documentation
process to measure leadership success, a process
that Benu said is working. “We have garnered great
results showing internal store level management
promotions 64% YTD, increased from 39% the prior
year, and MAPCO leadership and Support Center
rolespromoting58%internallyYTD.”
In addition to CPP, MAPCO launched its Leader-
ship Essentials program last year, which includes
MBA-level leadership-focused classes presented by
Belmont University professors. “Leadership Essen-
tials has become the development curriculum of op-
erations leadership (district manager and above) as
well as executive-sponsored members of the corpo-
ratesupportcenter,”Benusaid.
In its first year of operation, Leadership Essentials
isalreadydeliveringtangiblebenefitstothecompany.
“Ithasproducedresultssuchaslowerturnoverinthe
operations leadership and support center ranks, the
creation and completion of individual development
plans,andthehighestnumberofinternalpromotions
in company history. Our leaders are building our
futureleaders.”
Timely and Relevant
Even if your company doesn’t approach the store
count of Wawa and MAPCO, succession planning—
including executive leadership training—remains a
relevant pursuit. No doubt, you have a strong emo-
tional and monetary investment in your company,
and leadership training is integral to a strategic tran-
sition plan. For instance, if you’re a first generation
owner who likes to build, sell and move on to other
ventures,leadershiptrainingisnecessarytoreassure
prospectivebuyersthatsuccessionwillbesuccessful.
That’s an especially timely consideration, in light
of current economic conditions. “The M&A [merg-
ers and acquisition] market today provides many an
opportunity for inspection,” said Kay Segal, senior
partner,BusinessAcceleratorTeam.“Asaresult,the
opportunity to buy and sell has and continues to be
heightened…
A thoughtful, succession planning process that as-
sessesalloptions—familyleadership,outsideleaders
takingonkeyrolesorthecompanybuyingorselling—
istantamounttothriving.”
Jerry Soverinsky is a Chicago-based freelance writer.
He’salsoaNACSMagazinecontributingwriter.
“It felt right to put the
path to career growth in
our employees’ hands.”