Family Business in Flight

November 29, 2015Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

I was recently flying with my wife and we were discussing how hard the flight attendants worked and how rude some passengers on flights can be. I worked as a waiter in college and grad school which has much of the stress of being a flight attendant with much more space to move around easily in order to get the job done and also to escape rude people! The kitchen can be a safe haven (unless the chef is in Read more »

Birthing a Family Business CEO

August 26, 2015Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

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 »

Raising a Two-Year-Old Millionaire: Please, Thank-You, I’m Sorry and the Golden Sippy-Cup Rule

April 29, 2015Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

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 »

Thanksgiving, Family Legacy and Gratitude (Year-Round)

November 26, 2014Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

About twenty years ago my grandfather was ninety and I had never heard the full story of how he came to the U.S. My dad had told me some of the saga but he did not know the whole story. I let my parents know how much hearing the full story from Grandpa’s mouth meant to me and we took a plane to West Palm Beach (no big surprise on that location for a former NY Jew) with video camera Read more »

Snow Shoveling & Leadership Development

October 28, 2014Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

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 »

The Emperor is Naked!

July 30, 2014Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

In Hans Christian Anderson’s classic, “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” a couple of shady tailors convince the king that they can make him the finest clothes and that those who are unfit for their positions, stupid, or incompetent will not be able to see the clothes at all. They pretend to dress the king in these “invisible” clothes and he pretends to see them as he surely does not want to seem an unfit ruler. In his parade he marches naked Read more »

If You Are Not Falling, You Are Not Trying

September 19, 2013Family Business Consulting

I have been coaching youth sports for many years and ice hockey is my favorite.  Currently I am working with eleven- and twelve-year-olds. During practice while teaching the players skating techniques, they inevitably make it a point to avoid falling. They try so hard to stay upright. This might seem logical and even desirable considering you can’t play hockey well if you’re always falling during a game. This logic misses the point. The only way to truly improve is to Read more »