Family Business Founder Blindness

May 26, 2016Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

Entrepreneurs tend to be motivated, intense, creative, assertive and self-assured. Very self-assured, in fact – particularly when they have been successful growing a company (or several) and achieving the financial rewards that come with it. They tend to trust their guts which makes some sense since their guts have often steered them the right way- at least in business. That is the rub. The skills and intuition related to starting and growing a business are frequently not the same as Read more »

Children of the 1%

April 27, 2016Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

I realize there may not be widespread empathy for the challenges and issues facing children of wealthy families, and especially children of the so-called 1% – those in the upper 1% of household wealth.  However, I would like to give voice to an issue wealthy parents should be thinking about and finding ways to speak to their kids about: the strong bias against children of the wealthy.  This does not necessarily mean only the ultra-high net worth or even high Read more »

The NFL, Values & Wealth

March 24, 2016Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

Chris Borland is considered “the most dangerous man in football” according to an ESPN article from last year. A San Francisco 49ers linebacker and former All-American at Wisconsin, Chris walked away from all of it at twenty-four years old. Why? He put his family and his health before money, fame and even the sport he loved and still loves. Fear of the cumulative effects of head trauma (his best guess is that he’s suffered thirty concussions) led him to assess what is Read more »

Family Business Learning Opportunity

February 21, 2016Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

I am writing to offer enterprising families a great opportunity for learning and development. The Family Firm Institute (“FFI”) is a professional association for educators, researchers, consultants and allied professionals serving family businesses and wealthy families. In a nutshell, families sharing ownership, management and leadership of shared assets across generations. FFI has study groups around the country and I am part of an active and vibrant group which alternates meeting between Philly and Princeton. Recently we decided to try something new and we invited a Read more »

UVM Global Family Enterprise Case Competition

January 10, 2016Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

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 »

Family Business Questions for 2016

December 16, 2015Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

It is that time of year when we tend to look back and review what has transpired, for better or worse, while looking toward the future with the hope of learning from past lessons so we grow going forward. Here are the top two questions I routinely pose to business families. Sometimes I’ll ask these outside of any specific context simply to see how families respond. Other times I’ll ask as families are struggling with a very specific challenge: How Read more »

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 »

Raising a One Year-Old Millionaire

October 28, 2015Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

In my work with enterprising families I spend a lot of time with parents who are concerned about how their financial success will affect their children. Almost universally there is concern about children being negatively affected, becoming spoiled, unmotivated, feeling an unhealthy sense of entitlement to the wealth their parents (or family members even before parents) have created without having to earn it. There is a lot these parents can do to have a powerful, positive impact – starting when Read more »

Carlos Santana (& Son???)

September 28, 2015Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

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 »

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 »