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Family leadership requires a different kind of leader
If there is one thing that sets families that thrive for generations apart from those that don't it is that at some point, the great family had an exceptional leader.
Almost all of our clients are accomplished leaders in their organizations. They have profound skill sets in organizational development and working with people to accomplish a common vision. Yet we often find that these tremendous leaders are flummoxed by their inability to apply those leadership skills in their families. Their attempts to lead often fall flat - generating either outright resistance, grudging and minimal compliance, or passive non-cooperation. This often manifests itself in issues of entitlement, sibling strife and parent-child conflict.
The fact is that business leadership skills are only marginally applicable to family leadership. Some of the lore around business leadership contains valuable lessons and there approaches of business leadership that can and should be adopted in family work, but these alone will rarely produce any sort of lasting change. Families simply are not businesses and expecting business solutions to work in families is unrealistic.
At the end of the day, family leadership requires a different approach. A family is a tribe and a tribe is governed differently than a business. These differences cannot be easily summarized and need to be learned over time. The good news is that the foundational skills of organizational leadership usually allow this process to be accelerated. It sometimes takes a while for change to take hold and the family to realize that the changes are real and permanent. That said, when well-advised, family leaders can expand their competencies and skill sets to truly lead their families. Family leaders who come to understand how to lead a family can be far more effective in dealing with issues of entitlement and family conflict.
We know a great deal about this kind of family leadership development.
We work with individuals to take the skills they already have, develop new skills and combine that with a deep understanding of family dynamics to help our clients truly excel at family leadership.
If there is one thing that sets families that thrive for generations apart from those that don't it is that at some point, the great family had an exceptional leader.
Almost all of our clients are accomplished leaders in their organizations. They have profound skill sets in organizational development and working with people to accomplish a common vision. Yet we often find that these tremendous leaders are flummoxed by their inability to apply those leadership skills in their families. Their attempts to lead often fall flat - generating either outright resistance, grudging and minimal compliance, or passive non-cooperation. This often manifests itself in issues of entitlement, sibling strife and parent-child conflict.
The fact is that business leadership skills are only marginally applicable to family leadership. Some of the lore around business leadership contains valuable lessons and there approaches of business leadership that can and should be adopted in family work, but these alone will rarely produce any sort of lasting change. Families simply are not businesses and expecting business solutions to work in families is unrealistic.
At the end of the day, family leadership requires a different approach. A family is a tribe and a tribe is governed differently than a business. These differences cannot be easily summarized and need to be learned over time. The good news is that the foundational skills of organizational leadership usually allow this process to be accelerated. It sometimes takes a while for change to take hold and the family to realize that the changes are real and permanent. That said, when well-advised, family leaders can expand their competencies and skill sets to truly lead their families. Family leaders who come to understand how to lead a family can be far more effective in dealing with issues of entitlement and family conflict.
We know a great deal about this kind of family leadership development.
We work with individuals to take the skills they already have, develop new skills and combine that with a deep understanding of family dynamics to help our clients truly excel at family leadership.
