The key to overcoming the paradoxes is looking at a family not as the sum of its wealth, but as a collection of living, breathing individuals drawn together through their affinity for the family. It requires a willingness to fight the natural impulses that lead other families to return to their shirtsleeves.
In addition to guiding the family office, helping owners to think about issues that impact their family's goals is an important part of the family office CEO's role. While important to all financial families, these principles and practices become more critical as families grow in size and complexity and should be revisited regularly.
Creating an educational experience that fosters peer exchange and involvement entails more work and risk than a simple lecture, but family members will leave the session with practical skills, deepened relationships and enjoyable memories.
It is now becoming more common for families to focus their overall estate planning strategy on communicating a family vision expressing the philosophical and moral imperatives of the wealth creators, rather than merely on minimizing taxes. The common structure for providing incentives to encourage or alter behavior is the trust.
Family meetings can serve to update and educate family members on business and investment issues, reinforce family ties, and resolve conflicts. They can also be a lot of fun. But figuring out how to get the family members to the event, how to keep their attention once they've arrived, and how to make it fun in the process is no easy feat.
Our advice to anyone hesitating to bring about an intergenerational family foundation because the time does not seem right or there are too many family issues to confront is — just get started. There is no better time than now to have the satisfaction of helping others and, at the same time, to give your family the opportunity to grow and to discover the pleasures of working together.
When wealth owners are asked what challenges them most, their first answer is frequently, “helping my children become productive adults.” Preparing children for both the opportunities and responsibilities that come with wealth is not easy, but those who have committed to family learning and educating the next generation will tell you that the return is well worth the investment.
How do you prepare younger family members to manage their wealth well and flourish in their own lives and in the family enterprise? Every family is challenged to find creative ways to engage family members in the process of learning—about the family and what it values and owns, as well as what it takes to care for these human and financial assets.
Your fellow FOX members have contributed these family legacy and leadership planning tools and samples. Please note that these samples have been provided for illustrative purposes only, and may not represent the latest versions.
As individuals progress in their careers, success becomes tied more to their ability to collaborate, engage, and mobilize others than on the individual skills and abilities that may have fueled early-career advancement. Given this progression, there are five top areas and leadership skills that next generation leaders should focus on to position their organizations for future, sustainable success.