Mom acts as CEO (Chief Emotional Officer) for many families in business together
"Succession management for the "family side" of the family business is as important as succession management for the business side of a family business" suggests Don Schwerzler, founder of Atlanta-based Family Business Institute and their Internet organization, Family-Business-Experts.com.
(PRWEB) July 26, 2004 -- Succession Management - For The Family Side of The
Family Business
The succession management experts at Atlanta-based Family
Business Institute and their Internet organization Family-Business-Experts.com
shared some of their insights at a recent succession management workshop for
family-owned businesses.
As we develop and implement a succession
management strategy for the management team of a family business, we also know
that a critical requirement for the next generation of the family is to have a
succession plan for the CEO of the "family" too. We refer to Mom as the CEO of
the business family - the Chief Emotional Officer. Mom is often the peacemaker
in the family. She usually has more leverage with dad than the kids and can
influence how and when dad makes his decisions.
The actuarial statistics
show that in most marriages, the husband dies before the wife. Our experience as
succession managers for family businesses has taught us to know that when Dad
dies, the impact to the family and the business never seems so bad as when Mom
dies. When Mom dies it seems like all the problems within the family and the
business get amplified.
It is not uncommon for the problems smoldering
under the surface to reach a flash point when Mom dies and sometimes these
problems tear the business family apart, irreparably.
Those types of
situations support our contention that Mom is the glue that holds the business
family together. So if it makes sense to have a succession management strategy
for the business, it makes equal sense to have a succession management strategy
for the family.
When we discuss the role of "Mom" in the business
family, our primary consideration is how the communication system works for the
family in business together. Mom is involved in both the formal and informal
communication systems. The business will have a formal communication system and
an informal communication system that is often characterized as the "grapevine".
Likewise, the family has a formal or obvious communication system and it
also has an informal system, the family "grape vine".
As succession
managers for family businesses we are not surprised to find that many family
issues, conflicts and misunderstandings occur in the realm of the family's
informal communication system. One of the major problems is called
"triangulation".
Unfortunately, Mom is often unaware - an unknowing,
well-intentioned component of this communication problem. To visualize the
concept of triangulation, think of Mom, Dad and son/daughter being the three
points of the triangle. Son/daughter will go to Mom with a problem they are
having with Dad. Mom then talks to Dad where he explains his side of the
problem. Mom reports to son/daughter what Dad said - or what he tried to say. In
this example the communication linkage never directly connects son/daughter and
dad. Consequently the problem continues to fester because it never gets
resolved. The two key parties never deal with the issue, one-on-one.
For
families in business together, getting any and all disputes and
misunderstandings resolved is critical to the success of the succession
strategy. Not doing so can stall the entire succession planning
process.
It is interesting to note that when disputes between siblings
bubble to the surface at succession time, the siblings in the business often
tend to be more "rational" about the process whereas the siblings not involved
in the business tend to deal with the succession process from an "emotional"
point of view. This creates an environment that produces many opportunities for
significant conflict in the family and the business.
Without outside
intervention, reconciliation and remediation can be very difficult. For the
parents it can be heart wrenching - especially for Mom, the business family's
CEO. She becomes the "shock absorber" for much of the emotional drama that
occurs during the business family's succession process.
Smart succession
management for business families includes preparing the next generation of
family owners for the leadership of the business. Smart business families also
prepare for generational transition by identifying and training someone within
the family to be the next CEO (Chief Emotional Officer) for the family.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/7/prweb143841.htm