Handing Over the Reins: Three Ways to Empower Next-Generation Family Business Leaders
Succession in family enterprises can feel like an end-of-life transition for some leaders, and NextGens are often micromanaged by family. Three practical steps can help both generations navigate the handover.
It is all too common in family businesses to hear the phrase, "I remember you when you were in diapers!" Such comments are usually well-intentioned, but can hurt a next generation family member's ability to lead.
The back and forth between leading generations and NextGens is delicate. Research suggests that succession in family enterprises can feel, for some, like an end-of-life transition. And there are countless examples of adult NextGens being micromanaged by family. It is easy to see how transition can be hard for everyone involved.
However, families can navigate transition so that NextGens are empowered and embrace leadership, leading generations can feel secure about the future and both parties can achieve success however they define it.
Clarify roles
Think of an Olympic pool: ropes help swimmers to stay in their lanes. Similarly, job descriptions created with the same expectations as those for non-family employees, development plans and decision charts help both generations to stay in their swim lanes. Clarity is kindness, and it creates efficiency.
Embrace difference
NextGens are not their parents' clones and should not be expected to lead identically. Every leader needs space, permission and time to develop their own style. After all, what worked for one person in one economic reality will not necessarily work for another.
Own the work
NextGens need opportunities to do real work with real risk, not developmental tasks lacking teeth. The opportunity to own a meaningful project or portfolio, and to openly debrief how that work is going, is critical to one's ability to prove themselves to others and to themselves.
Research suggests that succession in family enterprises can feel, for some, like an end-of-life transition.
Family businesses are replete with talent. The job is to foster that talent, which sometimes means getting out of one's own way or someone else's way, and to put that talent to work on business issues without delay.
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