Our Latest Articles

September 15, 2025 - Issue #150

Are Your Family and Business Thriving Together - Or Undermining Each Other? Like organisms in nature, the relationship between family and business can be mutually beneficial or detrimental. Here's how to strengthen both spheres.

Family CEOs May Encourage More Innovation Than Non-Family Leaders While professional non-family leadership may bring some advantages, the stability brought by family leaders may encourage employees to innovate without fear of failure.

Things to Consider When Transferring Family Business Ownership Family business succession involves transferring ownership as well as management. Family circumstances and past events lead to three types of ownership transfers.

Addressing Substance Use Disorders in a Family Enterprise When a family member struggles with addiction, the consequences can ripple throughout the firm and increase its risks.

What Family Firms Can Teach Us About Work-Life Balance Blurring work and personal lives can lead to stress and exhaustion. Family businesses do these four things to create healthier boundaries.

Will Your Successors See Themselves as Heirs or Entrepreneurs? Mentoring plays a huge role in shaping how the next generation views the role of family business leader, a study in China shows.

Hand Down the Family Business but Keep a Hand In Skip-generation entrepreneurship combines the wisdom of business founders with the energy and tech savviness of their grandchildren.

Outsource or Hire?

Are the 'Best Practices' All Wrong for Your Family Business? The best processes and systems come not from outside advisers and experts, but from how families actually live, relate to one another, and make decisions.

Family Culture Can Block (or Unlock) Innovation Low trust, resistance to change, and intergenerational communication gaps can prevent new strategies and collaboration from taking root.

Family Business Leaders' Fear of Failure Can Inhibit Next Gens When parents openly display fear of failing, it can unintentionally portray entrepreneurship as unsafe, undesirable, or even shameful. This doesn't help their successors or the business.

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The 7 Gears of Leadership, And When to Use Each One

Invite Your Next Gens to Leadership

CEOs Who've Been Mentored Achieve Better Financial Results

Family Leaders: Can Your Business Still Sail Without You?

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Recent

Family Firms: Building Resilience Across Generations

by Douglas Hassell and Kimberly Eddleston / Applied and Practice

Building on three specific attributes -- long-term orientation, social capital, and values-driven governance -- helps families build strengths for generations to come. Read more...

Here Are the Next Gen's Biggest Worries

by Kimberly Eddleston / Interviews

Many want to know where they will fit in the family enterprise; how the wealth will be divided; and how the business will be governed as the family grows in complexity. Read more...

5 Practical Tips for Making Business Decisions With Family Members

by Rostyslav Vovk / Commentary

Running a family business doesn’t mean always seeing eye to eye, but you can still overcome challenges, resolve conflicts, and evolve as a team. Read more...

A New Way to Resolve Extreme Conflict in Family Businesses

by Doug Baumoel and Blair Trippe / Applied and Practice

Family members may feel “trapped” in conflicts, unable to resolve substantive issues without damaging their familial relationships. This often leads to disputes that persist for decades. Read more...

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