Raising the Next Generation of Leaders

October 13, 2025 - Issue #152

Invite Your Next Gens to Leadership A family business adviser shares how to improve family dynamics to help younger family members get ready for top roles.

Overcoming Dysfunction in the Next Generation The family firm and relationships are at risk when parents overshadow and overprotect their successors. Why tough love matters.

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.

Here Are the Next Gen's Biggest Worries 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.

From Solo to Team: Helping Siblings Maintain Your Valuable Outside Relationships A leader’s external relationships, built over time, become important ‘social capital’ for the family firm. What happens when a team of siblings takes over?

To Encourage Innovation, Tap the Next Generation of Leaders This article and podcast explore how family businesses can keep products and services relevant and avoid playing catch-up with competitors.

Founders: Let Next-Gens be Entrepreneurial Rania Labaki, a professor at the EDHEC Business School in France and director of its Family Business Center, says that founders must allow their future leaders to have an entrepreneurial spirit.

Succession Planning Should Start Earlier Than You Think It's never too early to plan for succession and get family members ready for leadership. The authors share ideas from research and practice in this video and podcast.

How Family Firms Can Prevent (or Cool Down) Sibling Rivalries Koch Industries, McCain Foods and Robert Mondavi were all roiled by sibling battles. These three strategies will help you prevent it.

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.

CEOs Who've Been Mentored Achieve Better Financial Results Family firms where the departing CEO has mentored the successor enjoyed stronger return on assets.

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How the Next Generation Can Earn Legitimacy, Respect and Loyalty

Family Business Stories Build a Legacy For the Next Generation

Why Family Businesses Must Mind the (Generation) Gap

Helping Next-Gens Envision Their Family Firm’s Future Success

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AI in Family Business: Why Brain Capital Is Your Real Competitive Advantage

by Doug Gray, PhD / Practice Insight

Family firms need AI, but it can't build trust or regulate conflict. Here's why Brain Capital—judgment, resilience, and governance maturity—will determine whether they thrive across generations. Read more...

Family Offices Are Booming—But Do They Actually Work?

by Patrik Hayoz, PhD, Bingbing Ge, and Alfredo De Massis / Research Insight

Research still can’t clearly explain when they deliver real value. A review shows what we know, what we don’t, and how families can close the needs-to-services gap. Read more...

What Nonfamily Managers Need From Family Firm Leaders

by Mat Hughes, Alfredo De Massis, Sascha Kraus, Qilin Hu, and Yi-Ying Chang / Research Insight

Vision matters—but so does individualized consideration. This study shows nonfamily managers perform better when CEOs pair transformational leadership with genuine, personalized attention and political skill. Read more...

How Families Can Re-Engage Reluctant Successors Without Pressure

by John Cater, Roland Kidwell, Megan Harper, and Marilyn Young / Research Insight

Successors recommit when roles align with their values, skills, and life stage—and when family dynamics allow earlier experiences to be reinterpreted. Read more...

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