Family Leadership Strategies

51 In early conversations, seniors and successors should adhere to the following principles: • Speaking openly and candidly about their hopes, expectations, and fears is to be encouraged • There is discussion and broad agreement upon success factors — family harmony, finances, wealth stewardship, and leadership • Selection progress should be shared with all key participants • Potential obstacles including equity, timing, preparation, and consent should be identified with action plans developed for each • A road map detailing the start to the end of the transition process should be agreed that details steps, mutual actions, and check points • Having reached agreement, the road map plan is shared incrementally with primary and secondary constituencies as appropriate • External resources — consultants, advisors, attorneys — should be identified and agreed upon to assist in both technical matters and conflict resolution Resistance from seniors Senior resistance to the process can take many forms, from the mild, e.g. “It makes sense but I’m not sure what it will mean for us”, to the extreme, e.g. “I don’t want to discuss this”. Understanding the reasons behind such resistance is fundamental to formulating an effective transition strategy. To effectively negotiate the transition process, it is key that successors identify any potential underlying sources of resistance. Resistance may include behavioral, emotional, or logical factors, or combinations of each. Behavioral factors tend to be associated with a resistance to change, while emotional factors center around an individual’s self-image, self-awareness, or empathy levels. Logical factors represent ‘left brain’ arguments where one begins with a premise and constructs supporting statements to back it up. In sum, our emotions provide the foundation for our outward responses and expressions — i.e. our behavior — while logic is the means by which we construct supporting arguments that reinforce our behavior and emotions. There is no need to get too analytical here, the point being that we each respond to change in different ways Navigating challenges and opportunities