I was recently speaking to a friend and colleague about the conversations he has with new clients. He is one of a new wave of wealth managers (and other professionals) who are as interested in getting to know the full picture of their client’s lives as they are about investment and planning strategies. He asked for my thoughts on deepening client conversations. Opening up conversations about money, business, family and legacy with a new client or even a prospect can Read more »
Professional advisors to family businesses
NY City Family Enterprise Center (NYCFEC)
I’m excited to share a new family business educational program in the greater New York City area: New York City Family Enterprise Center ( NYCFEC ). This fall, NYCFEC will open its doors with the 2017 Family Business Day on Friday, September 15th. This will be followed by five, half-day, in-depth NYCFEC Elective courses and I’ll be starting off at the “very beginning” by presenting: Raising Family Business Children (0-14 years of age) . I’m a firm believer that it is never too early to develop your family with intention. If you are part of a family enterprise in Read more »
Metallica and Family Business
This coming weekend I’ll be attending the annual meeting of Psychodynamics of Family Business (PDFB) in Chicago. I’m very much looking forward to it and being with some great colleagues. We come up with interesting and creative ways to put our minds together to improve how we help business families be successful with business and family alike. Most of the attendees have some kind of clinical background (e.g., clinical social work, psychology, family therapy) although a few come from law or other disciplines and have Read more »
Interdisciplinary Collaboration
My work with families sharing businesses and other forms of wealth across generations requires collaboration and learning across disciplines. No single profession has all that these families need to thrive across time, and every professional truly committed to serving these families looks beyond his or her own profession to learn more and be able to contribute as much as possible. The Family Firm Institute and Purposeful Planning Institute are organizations in which I am actively involved. Both are committed to bringing together professionals serving enterprising families to Read more »
UVM Global Family Enterprise Case Competition
This coming Saturday, January 16, I am honored to be invited back for the third year in a row to act as a judge for the University of Vermont Global Family Enterprise Case Competition (FECC) . The natural beauty of Burlington, Vermont is a great reason for me to trek up north and when combined with the intellectual stimulation of serious, smart and interesting undergraduate and graduate students competing on 24 teams from top institutions of family business education in 10 countries – it is one of my favorite Read more »
Gandhi & Family Business Truth
I am currently two-thirds of the way through Gandhi’s autobiography (Gandhi: An Autobiography, The Story of My Experiments with Truth). What an amazing man; he details his struggles – triumphs and failures – as he seeks a deeply spiritual and honest life. I am in awe of his commitment to serving others and the sacrifices he was willing to make along the way. I did not know much about the specifics of his life before reading this and I am Read more »
The Emperor is Naked!
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 »