Family Leadership Strategies

96 • Objective: build the framework that will guide the process, organized around the unique culture and needs of the family and its enterprises. Phase: Developmental preparation • Consider creating a ‘core’ program suitable for all next generation family members. This may include exposure to family businesses, fundamentals of finance or investing, philanthropy, or the arts. • For each leadership role, develop an educational (BS/MBA for example), experience (specific company or industry work), training (internships, board appointments), and mentoring framework consistent with the role. • Identify family — and occasionally, non-family — members who may be potential candidates, and provide them with information about and access to preparation resources. Cast a suitably wide net as with time, candidates will opt-out or be counseled out. • Create informal or formal feedback mechanisms for candidates, evaluating their progress, performance, and readiness. • Begin sharing in explicit ways the experience of the senior, their values, successes and failures, their personal network as a means of transferring both knowledge and framework for developing good judgment. • Create opportunities to have candid one-to-one conversations with leadership candidates and seniors exploring needs, concerns, and obstacles to succession. • Objective: create a repeatable and clearly defined process that will guide the development of future generations of family leaders. Phase: Understand motivations • Starting the succession dialogue around ten years before transition window is most desirable, however three-five years is manageable. • Probing the underlying motivations, insecurities, fears, hopes, and biases of key participants is fundamental to overcoming the expected emotional and behavioral dynamics that often hinder successful transition process. • Communication should be frequent, and clarity, candor, and honesty should be the standard for all. • When you encounter roadblocks, agree to disagree respectfully, seek objective advisors, and take the long view.