Family Leadership Strategies

37 3 Finding common ground When leadership transitions falter, it is often not due to poor process but rather communication failures and a lack of understanding of differing stakeholder motivations. However, this is not to say that most transitions do not go well. In fact, many do. Successfully handing over leadership to the next generation ultimately involves striking a balance between the needs and interests of all parties 1 . Indeed, an optimal outcome for the many may be sub- optimal for a particular person or interest group. As such, finding common ground is essential. For most families, this centers around sustaining both the financial interests as well as the harmony of the family over time. An essential — but often overlooked — early step in any family leadership transition is to define what constitutes ‘success’ to key members involved in the process, the family, and its enterprise stakeholders as a whole. While on the surface this may seem to be an innocuous question, successful outcomes mean many things to many different families. Does the family know with confidence whether its ultimate aim is to protect and grow wealth, or ensure the health and wellbeing of future generations, or both? 2