Category: Interviews

Wealth Can be Hazardous to Future Family Business Leaders

Preparing the next generation for leadership is an important mission for family businesses. But all too often, the comfortable lifestyle that family wealth makes possible does not do the younger Read more

The Biggest Mistakes Family Businesses Make With Their Boards

Family business researcher, lecturer, and advisor Claudia Binz Astrachan has studied first-hand how effective boards of directors steer family business management towards strategies that make the Read more

Succession Planning Should Start Earlier Than You Think

Family businesses everywhere are responding to the succession challenge in profound ways. Preserving cherished family traditions and relationships is just as important as preserving the wealth of the Read more

New Ways Business Owners Can Use Boards

While boards of directors are common at large firms and nonprofits, family businesses don't always see their value or understand how to use them well. However, according to consultant and author Read more

Advice for Family Business Successors: Be Humble and Curious

David Bentall found out the hard way that his leadership of his family's construction and real estate firm wasn't working: his own uncle removed him from the company. Losing his job was a wake-up Read more

The Family Business 'Generation Gap' Can Undermine Success

The upcoming generation of family firm leaders often don't see things the same way as their parents and grandparents do. Professor Peter Jaskiewicz has explored this disconnect deeply in his new book Read more

Advice for Untangling Conflict in a Family Business

Janme Sinha became intrigued by family business conflict and dynamics when a distraught friend confided that his recently deceased father had left all of the shares of the family business to his Read more

Should Your Next CEO be From Outside the Family?

In her discussion with Matt Nielsen of Nielsen-Massey Vanillas International, Editor Kimberly Eddleston goes into a sensitive topic for many family firms: whether an outside leader is better equipped Read more

Non-Family Board Members Bring Perspective and Growth

What happens at a family firm with shared ownership and leadership? Matt Nielsen, Managing Director of Nielsen-Massey Vanillas International Europe, is candid about the disagreements and stalemate Read more

Growing Pains? Advice to Recharge and Sustain Growth

Over time, family firms often experience growing pains. The growth of their business may outpace their infrastructure and processes, or their infrastructure and processes may be stifling their Read more