How Families Can Run Their Businesses With Both Head and Heart

How Families Can Run Their Businesses With Both Head and Heart
Category: Interviews
Published: October 12, 2023
Updated: November 4, 2024
Views: 3407
Downloads: Full Article PDF

FamilyBusiness.org Senior Editor Mat Hughes recently appeared on R. Adam Smith’s LinkedIn channel to talk about a challenge that all family businesses face: the pull between the passions and priorities of multiple generations and the need to run the firm with discipline and a clear head. Among the enticing matters they discuss are the people involved in the family businesses -- from governing the business to embedding the next generation and compensating employees.

Adam is an expert in investment banking, alternative investing, and governance. Over a distinguished career, he has served as a strategic advisor, dealmaker, and financier to global private companies and as a trusted family business consultant. He's a managing director at Salomon Brothers, one of the world’s most respected Wall Street firms. He also founded Wisdom Board Inc., in 2020. 

In their discussion, Mat and Adam cover:

  • The importance of corporate ownership and professional management practices in family enterprises, and how good boards play a role
  • The role of family offices in shaping the next generation
  • The generations’ different priorities for family philanthropy, and how investing in the community and charitable organizations helps family members identify with the business.
  • Employee compensation at family firms and the signals it sends about what’s important
  • How continuous operational enhancements help firms protect their legacies
  • The struggle of finding a balance between consistency and transformation

Listen to the audiocast here: https://app.fusebox.fm/embed/player/track/1Vx6a14WB9/8


Mat Hughes
Mat Hughes
Schulze Distinguished Professor and Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship / School of Business / University of Leicester
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R. Adam Smith
R. Adam Smith
Entrepreneur / RAS CAPITAL PARTNERS LLC
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Cite this Article
DOI: 10.32617/981-6527d57f3e692
Hughes, Mat, and undefined. "How Families Can Run Their Businesses With Both Head and Heart." FamilyBusiness.org. 12 Oct. 2023. Web 7 Dec. 2024 <https://familybusiness.org/content/How-families-can-run-their-businesses-with-both-head-and-heart>.
Hughes, M., & R. Adam Smith (2023, October 12). How families can run their businesses with both head and heart. FamilyBusiness.org. Retrieved December 7, 2024, from https://familybusiness.org/content/How-families-can-run-their-businesses-with-both-head-and-heart