Greed & Envy Must Be Guarded Against In Succession

The Twelve Dangers In Family Business Succession - 8. Greed And Envy – A Monster.

Family members are envious of the position others have achieved and personal interests/greed is overrunning the family.

Greed, and its sister envy, are poisonous to any succession process and will work against the compounding of wealth across, and even within, generations. Their source can be varied but they must be actively guarded against and not allowed to gain a foothold.

They will first emerge as icy relationships and then quickly move to fiery relationships with the ferocity of wind driven bush fire destroying all in its path with little chance of restoration in the short or medium term. It is not unusual for events that have caused a family break to be carried through generations.

Pride and self-interest are often seen as the cause of these agents of destruction, but the catalysts are a failure to communicate and a failure to retain an eye to the future.

The enablers of succession are sown early within a family through the values and principles that are established, and which form the cornerstone of the family and the business. To ignore this truth may well sow a seed that will undo a future succession process and the unity of families across generations.

Opportunities for individual growth, creating a sense of contribution, humility as a trait in family leaders combined with great communications will allow a real sense of fairness and equity to be built within families and across generational lines.

An independent succession advisor working across families can often begin to heal any wounds that exist and avoid new wounds arising.

Here is a brief video clip that speaks into this theme with links to the full video and resources: