Last month I got great seats to a Santana concert at the PNC Bank Arts Center (formerly known as the Garden State Arts Center) in Holmdel, NJ. I worked security there the summer after my freshman year of college (too many years ago) and when Carlos Santana and band played the summer of 1985 (THAT many years ago…) I got to sit a few rows from the stage as Carlos warmed up (amazing!) and experienced the entire show next to Read more »
Children and family business
Birthing a Family Business CEO
So, you’ve found a way to procreate and give birth to offspring particularly well suited to becoming a CEO – specifically, able to take over your family’s [enter type of business here] business. This child has been born with all the necessary skills to take over and grow a business in your industry. How exactly does this happen? Does the Kama Sutra give direction in special acts to obtain this result? Is there a laboratory DNA intervention that can effect Read more »
The Proactive Mindset
In my work with enterprising families I get to see a lot of heart-warming situations. Parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandmas and grandpas develop rising generations and build on the generation(s) before them, combining family life and economic life in a way that brings out the best of both. These families have a way of seeing many possibilities for how the future can play out and they embrace them over time, sifting and sorting through them, looking at pros and Read more »
Raising a Two-Year-Old Millionaire: Please, Thank-You, I’m Sorry and the Golden Sippy-Cup Rule
For legacy families and financially successful business families thinking about having kids or actively raising them, there are almost always concerns about children becoming spoiled, lazy, self-absorbed and – the grand fear of all – entitled. Truth is, pretty much every parent wants to avoid these things -regardless of financial resources. What poor, working-class and middle-class parents have on their side is the fact that there is simply not enough money for kids to do nothing at all. Wealthy families, Read more »
Don’t Miss Out On Early Chances To Engage Kids
Please take a look at my article in Family Business Magazine about engaging children early in discussions about family business/family wealth. Over the years in my clinical work as a family therapist working with parents and kids around tough issues such as death, illness in a family member and divorce, to name a few, I’ve come to realize that any topic can be discussed with even very young children if approached in a developmentally appropriate manner. Wealth is no exception. I hope you’ll take the Read more »
Snow Shoveling & Leadership Development
Winter is approaching and snow will soon be upon us. Last winter my 15-year-old son Jeremy was feeling industrious and decided to make some money shoveling in the neighborhood. We have him pay for his iPhone and the monthly data charges so cash is essential – a great way to combat entitlement and help him understand the value of a buck. I watched out the window as he and his slight and not-so-athletic buddy headed out in over a foot Read more »
Children in the Family Business: Part II
Collaboration between professionals is crucially important for enterprising families. In this month’s Family Business Minute I “walk the walk” as I team up with my colleague from the Family Firm Institute, Tibor Dani, who interviews me on the topic of Bringing Children into the Family Business for his cool, new webcast site Family Businesscast (in his state-of-the-art, green-screen studio in northern New Jersey). Lots of fun! Please take a look and let me know if I applied my wife’s makeup properly. This interview builds on my February 2014 blog post and goes much deeper into best Read more »
Teach Your Children Well
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, the folk rock supergroup, offered some pretty good advice when it comes to family business and the next generation with their song “Teach Your Children Well”. Too often I am called into enterprising family situations where the struggles of the next generation are related to a lack of formal plans to pass along hard-won knowledge from the senior generation. While we often think of the stereotype of a senior generation leader who will not let go, I recently encouraged Read more »
Bringing Children into the Family Business
One of the main ways that a single entrepreneur takes the first step toward a “Family Enterprise” is by involving the next generation: children. Often, this process is informal; summers and weekends turn into a full-time job after college or right after high school if college is not in the cards. There is, however, such a thing as being too informal about this transition, and it can and does lead to trouble down the road. Here are some suggestions for Read more »