Family Leadership Strategies

69 that support information sharing. Periodic exposure to key medical, legal, tax, estate, and investment advisors to the family. Selective participation in important meetings to observe the behavior and roles of senior members. Open Q&A sessions with seniors, family meetings, or company meetings. Participation on committees. As required, access to services to support specific emotional needs an individual may have. • Adults 25-40+ years old: advanced training in management, personal leadership development, governance, and conflict resolution. Exposure to groups and conferences that open up new ideas and create peer networks. Continued mentoring and development of informal advisor networks. Opportunities to work in a variety of family-owned enterprises; or the business, philanthropic, or cultural endeavors of colleagues or family friends. Leadership roles on family or community committees. Development of emotional intelligence skills. Progressively increasing responsibilities in family enterprises, commensurate with need and ability. Feedback sessions involving family and business associates. Use of personal coaches. • Seniors 50-80+ years old: similar to the previous group, with shifting emphasis upon changing role definition, succession management, creation of new ventures, teaching, and mentoring. Increased exposure to cultural, religious, or arts endeavors. Philanthropic and charitable leadership strategies. Public, private, and non-profit board representation. Focus on health and travel. Attention to legacy strategies and teaching family values to younger generations. Leadership of the family office or family investment company. Public service. A cardinal principle is that you cannot anticipate from where future leaders will emerge in an extended family, or the roles they may play. Thus, investing in a broad group has both direct benefits — more candidates — and indirect benefits — a better informed generation. Not everyone is suited to or wishes to be a company CEO, yet a healthy enterprise needs effective board members as well as informal leaders to function. While many seniors will have hopes and expectations for specific children, nieces, or nephews, it is important to remain open-minded and flexible to avoid inherent biases around gender, family branch, age, or generation. It is also not uncommon for those long-hoped for candidates to opt out, thus leaving an awkward gap in the succession line. Six best practices for succession