The BBC interviewed us about the challenges of taking on a family business. Are you labelled the 'silver spoon' child? Is is harder than it seems?
/The ‘silver spoon’ child label - how do you deal with it and navigate the maze of a family business legacy? Is it harder than it seems?
Is it time to take a reality-check?
So you are next to take on the family business. The legacy. The hard work of your parents or perhaps even generations. How do you do it? What if you don't want to do it? What if you have other dreams? What if you are too scared to fail? What if you disagree with your parents? With the direction the business is going in? How do you handle the internal family conflicts? What if you have sibling rivalry intertwined with favouritism? How do you establish your own sense of self and build credibility whilst you navigate amongst various family members' agendas and passions? How do you live up to their expectations and deal with perhaps your parents’ overwhelming generosity towards you?
These are the questions we deal with every day when we work with next gens who face the challenges of taking on a family business, building legacy and establishing themselves. This indeed can be really tough.
Preparing the next generation to take over the family business is critical to continuity of success. However, given the complex family systems, next-gens often struggle with challenges related to their choices, roles, career opportunities and most importantly identities.
In our experience of working with family businesses, it became clear that social skills, as well as cognitive and emotional skills are equally important and relevant to their overall development. Although a lot of emphasis is based on the development of the next generation, simply signing up to yet another business degree is just not going to cut it. There has to be an equal emphasis on personal development skills, including self-reflection, dealing with strong emotions, impacts of communication and lots more. If they choose to take on the challenge of continuing the legacy and they are doing it of their own accord and motivation, the skills mentioned have been shown to positively affect not just the individual, but ultimately the whole family and business system, leading to greater commitment to the family as well as the business.
Nurturing and guiding the next generation who are better prepared to thoughtfully and positively contribute to the family business is a really interesting challenge. We would love to hear your thoughts and stories.
If you have any questions or worries, get in touch with us today.
Call 079 00 66 55 22 or email clinic@harleystreetwellbeingclinic.co.uk
