The Heart of Family Business

December 15, 2025 - Issue #156

Family History Can Be Repurposed to Serve Today's Challenges The stories that families tell about their past matter. Here are some ways that families can begin to use the past to serve their present-day goals.

Define Your Legacy, and Strengthen Your Business and Your Impact Unless you clearly define what you want your legacy to be, your successors will interpret it in their own way -- and it might not be what you intended.

Everyday Gratitude in Times of Uncertainty Gratitude leads to better relationships and encourages loyalty among our colleagues. This popular 2020 article has been updated for today's challenges.

Keep the Founder's Entrepreneurial Spirit Alive in Future Generations While entrepreneurship often creates the family's wealth, making it part of the family culture and legacy is another matter entirely. Here's how.

Family Business Experts: How to Survive the Holidays We're republishing this popular article from year-end 2019, which includes timeless advice about getting along from our family business editors.

Ready to Lead: Building Confidence Across Generations When families treat readiness as something they cultivate together, the handoff feels less like a loss and more like a natural next step.

Help Your Family Business by Helping Others Philanthropy can be a catalyst for leadership development, and generate support and good will towards the business in the community.

How Famous Family Firms Use Their History to Connect With Stakeholders Tangible items like postcards, photos or old accounting books evoke stories that become part of a family's legacy, which can create good will with the outside world.

Do Family Meals Fuel Entrepreneurship in Family Businesses? Families with diverse education and industry experience fuel the fire of entrepreneurship when they dine together frequently.

Family Emotions Can Drive Business Decisions Because personal and business dynamics are so closely intertwined, private disagreements and personal histories inevitably spill over into the business.

How Three Women Upheld Family Values and Thrived Despite Adversity A family's enduring values, fully believed and truly lived, can be a compass in hard times and a competitive advantage.

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When Political Differences Threaten the Family Business

Why Every Family Business Leader Needs a Peer Group

'Family-Owned' or 'Family-Run'? The Words You Use Can Affect Customer Trust

The Biggest Risk to Family Wealth Isn't Investment Performance—It's Succession

Popular Topics

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Staffing, succession, relationships

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Grow

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Recent

Can a Family Business Consultant Really Help? Nine Experts Explain What Families Often Miss

by Holly Eddleston and Kimberly Eddleston / Practice Insight

Family business consultants often create their greatest value in unexpected ways: helping families uncover the real reasons they're stuck, have difficult conversations, and make better decisions. Read more...

Build a Family Governance Talent Pipeline Before You Need One

by Claudia Binz Astrachan / Applied and Practice

Don’t wait for a vacancy. Prepare family members now — through education, mentoring, clear expectations, and hands-on experience — to serve on boards, family councils, and committees. Read more...

Founder Succession: Six Lessons From 15 CEOs Who Actually Lived It

by Micheal Parkhurst / Applied and Practice

What happens after the founder steps aside? Interviews with successor CEOs reveal the emotional, organizational, and family dynamics that determine whether leadership transitions succeed—or stall. Read more...

Should You Make 'Family Owned' Part of Your Brand?

by Kimberly Eddleston and Ananya Mehta / Research Insight

Family ownership can build trust, credibility, and customer loyalty—but only when it reinforces something stakeholders value. Here are five questions to ask first. Read more...

by Joseph Astrachan and Claudia Binz Astrachan

Let the Next Generation of Family Firm Leaders Chart Their Own Path

by Klaus Lüber and Nadine Kammerlander

Things to Consider When Transferring Family Business Ownership

by Susan Lanz, Gary Burke, Kajsa Haag, and Omid Omidvar

5 Practical Tips for Making Business Decisions With Family Members

by Rostyslav Vovk

Listening to the Family: The Strategic Value of Surveys

by Claudia Binz Astrachan

Family Firms: Building Resilience Across Generations

by Douglas Hassell and Kimberly Eddleston