Family Business Consulting

The majority of family businesses don’t succeed past the first generation because they face a dual agenda. Not only is there a business to be run, there are family dynamics to address. Chief among these are interpersonal relationships, family members’ business skills or lack thereof, and issues related to wealth, transference of power, and uncertainty about how to retain, treat, and transfer the reporting relationships of non-family managers. 

Leadership Transitions has special expertise in working with family businesses and helping them prosper. As such, we provide all services with an eye to managing the challenges inherent to a family business.  These include:

• Planning for the future
• Clarifying roles and responsibilities
• Leadership development
• Conflict resolution
• Helping family members find the right fit

Case Study: 
We helped siblings in a family business resolve issues that routinely led to power struggles and affected their ability to get their jobs done. Disagreements were so heated that occasionally two of the three siblings came to blows. Part of the problem was unresolved family issues; the other part was unclear boundaries regarding business roles and responsibilities. 

We worked with each person individually to:

• Negotiate workable interpersonal agreements with siblings and resolve historic conflicts;
• Establish a clear scope of responsibility regarding his or her job;
• Clarify roles to decrease power struggles. 

As a result, heated arguments have been replaced with a deliberate process of working through and minimizing differences, resulting in better relationships and improved business outcomes.