In popular culture, the portrayal of family businesses in movies and TV shows, such as Ridley Scott’s "House of Gucci" or HBO’s "Succession," often revolves around the pursuit of wealth and the conflicts it incites. However, this depiction only scratches the surface of the complex dynamics at play within these families. Those of us who work with multigenerational business families can likely share a wealth of stories on how money enables families to build communities and change history through courageous investments, yet also how money can complicate family relationships and decision-making pr ..read more

Have you heard this before? “If it wasn’t for my in-laws, our family would be fine!” Such frustrated statements are typically followed by rants about how someone spends too lavishly, does not care to spend time with the family, and generally doesn’t have the right values or proper attitude. This can sow the seeds for family business conflict. If you get along swimmingly with in-laws, count yourself among the fortunate minority (for now at least!). Regardless, you too can benefit from thinking through the many issues that surround in-laws in business-owning families. First, you may want to thin ..read more

We yet have to meet a business family that does not want their family members to be competent and engaged owners and stewards. Everyone agrees that having owners who understand finance and strategy, know how to communicate, and can manage conflicts effectively is key to the family business’s continuity and future success. So then why do they spend so little time and money on educating their family shareholders?   A survey we conducted of more than 200 multigenerational German families – two-thirds of them running firms with more than 100 million euros in annual revenue -- showed that ..read more

This fictitious case study is based on our experiences working with dozens of Single Family Offices. The name we used in this case study, “Miller Single Family Office”, was chosen arbitrarily. What Is the Issue? Founded in 1998, the MILLER Single Family Office (SFO) based in New York City is at a pivotal juncture. Managed by a team of 25 employees and serving about 60 family members across four generations and five family branches, the SFO is facing several challenges at once. On the one hand, the office struggles with high employee turnover, which appears to be driven by what employees perce ..read more

I once met with the son of one of the wealthiest families in the US. His father had made an unbelievable amount of money in only one generation of business and was willing to give his son anything His son knew that he could have almost anything he wanted, but after we talked for a while this member of the next generation realised two things: one, he wasn't sure what he wanted (nor did he know how to go about figuring that out), and two, the one thing his father's wealth and power could not obtain for him was a sense of credibility and marketability. Two essential attributes There are two attri ..read more

The key to continuity of a family business is the involvement and engagement of future generations of owners and stewards. One of the ways that this involvement can occur is through an active role in the business. In our interactions with family business owners one of the most common questions that we get asked is: “how can we prepare the next generation to be successful within the family firm?” Many advisors and coaches suggest that for a next generation member to be successful in the family firm, they need to first work outside of the business for three, five, or even more years. In reality ..read more

Welcoming a new spouse into a business owning family is a critical but often over looked aspect of Family Business continuity. For the Family Business to survive and build a strong next generation, we need spouses. However, with marriage also comes the fear of divorce, remarriage, stepparents, stepchildren, different values systems, changes to family traditions, and sometimes, the perception of a threat to the business itself. These fears and stereotypes can often effect how we engage with spouses and potential spouses early on in their relationships with our family member. If a family is comm ..read more

A few years back as part of a family enterprise consultation, I had a coaching session with the patriarch of a family enterprise. This gentleman was very driven, very committed to his faith and uniquely, at least in my experience, had three coaches. As he talked about how busy he was, a question arose, one that I’ve asked most of the leaders I have coached since. The question is, “Who are you when you are not busy?” This gentleman said that he understood the question intellectually, but he said he had no idea how to answer that question. Every leader that I coach struggles to find more white s ..read more

Imagine your family has just come into a great deal of (liquid) wealth. You sit together to reflect on what got you here. There are four big considerations that should guide all you do; especially when answering: What do we want to do with this wealth? Answer this from the following perspectives and the rest will be easier. These can be considered the guardrails of starting a family office. From our heads, using analysis and research, and concrete goals. From our hearts, with passion, care for ourselves and our loved ones. From our gut or intuition, with a strong sense of trusting in pos ..read more

Imagine you've just walked out of an estate planning meeting with your client family, your next meeting is to review new cybersecurity threats, and suddenly you get a call from a family member. They've just moved out of their house and want to talk to you about divorcing their spouse. Throw in a land war in Europe and it is easy to feel overwhelmed. Leaders in single family offices (SFO) face ever increasingly complex, interdependent, and rapidly changing challenges. They also tend to operate in an environment where the family office has one client, who is also their boss, very often does not ..read more