That may sound dramatic. But after a generational change, with the new generation taking over the reins, that could be the result.
Fortunately, the owner family can prevent the situation from occurring. Indeed, the risk can be minimized if the family is aware of the company's core values - and the importance of safeguarding them.
Because we humans are different, both as individuals and across generations. We will usually move in different directions. So, if a family business is to succeed through a generational change, it must start from at least one common point:
Company values.
Sure, the way values are expressed may change over time. The core values that underpinned my father's way of building and running our family business reflected not only his personal values, but also his generation's way of "doing things".
But the core was made of something immutable.
Honesty, a sense of fairness, and professional thoroughness. My father's insistence that we should custom-develop products if that was the best solution for customers - even if it was at the expense of company profits.
Values that are that fundamentally sound can survive many generations. And they are universal enough to form the basis of new business successes, even as the world, the generations, and the company's strategies change.
Granted, there were issues around our generational change that I, as the new Chairman, could have handled better. But part of the reason our company came out strong was that those of us who took over held on to my father's values and made them our own.
I think we stumbled along as we went through the generational transition, both as a business and as a family. But we were able to get up and carry on because we stood on the value-based foundation of the previous generation.
Contact me if your family business is facing a generational change. Together, we can assess whether your family needs help to pass on core values in a form that is future-proof.
