Family Leadership Is Not A Dictatorship
A few years ago, I opened a fortune cookie and found this statement inside: “Family Leadership is about inspiring others to produce desirable results because they want to, not because they have to.”
I’ve kept that little slip of paper ever since. It sums up both my philosophy about leadership and my approach to working with my client families and helping each of them become leaders in their own way, among their family members, and in their community. Intentional Family Leadership is exactly what is needed as baby boomers enter the retirement years and assess what is next for them, and what is next for the next generation.
During the next decade, this country will experience the largest transfer of inter-generational wealth in its history. Don’t mistakenly think that the transfer of wealth is just about money. The fact is, money is only a small part of the equation. The leadership by those transferring the wealth will define what happens in future generations.
Will the next generation understand those who have gone before them and how their lives impacted and affected their ideas and views about money, life and success? Will the next generation acquire and maintain family history and traditions? How will they use the money? Will they be prepared to handle the money and all that comes with it? And how, collectively and as individuals, will they provide leadership to others as that money is transferred?
