If you have spent your career building a thriving family business, you may worry about what will happen to it when you retire. Many family business owners hope to hand the reins over to children, nieces and nephews, and other younger family members, but often younger adults may not express interest in the company the way you might hope. Here are some suggestions for engaging the next generation in business development, so they will be excited to step into leadership when the time is right.
Inspire Interest in the Next Generation
For many business owners, the promise of handing down the family business to the next generation is one of legacy and pride. You may envision yourself as Mufasa, from Disney’s The Lion King, standing on a mountaintop, telling your son Simba, “One day, all this will be yours.” But what do you do if your “Simba” runs off to the jungle to spend time with meerkats and warthogs instead?
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If you want your children to be excited about the idea of running your business, you need to start young. Pay attention to what parts of your work catch their eye as children. Do they like sorting the storage room, or designing the menu boards? If so, that can be a hint to the role they might like to play as they grow older.
Invite them to help you, even doing something as simple as sorting inventory. Accept that their ideas about what is “fun” may change over time, and invite them to follow whatever parts of the work are interesting. Look for “teachable moments” where you can deepen their understanding about the family business, making the most of where their interests lie.
Make Space for Individuality and Personal Development
Remember that your business is your dream, and not necessarily each of your children’s wishes for their future. There is a goal in psychology to allow children to become their “differentiated self” – a young adult separate from their parents, and pursuing their own vision for their lives. That means you need to be okay with the possibility that your children will not be interested in taking over the family business. If you try to force the issue, it will most likely solidify their resolve against becoming part of your company’s future.
Alternatively, they may want to pursue their education and other options before settling down to work. Be open to this. Remember that your business will likely benefit from their more diverse experience. If your children work outside the family business, they’ll experience answering to a boss that doesn’t love them, and will better understand the rigors of the day-to-day grind. If they get degrees, you can use that knowledge in your own business development, letting your children be the experts in areas you may have less experience (or where your information is out of date). In addition, having credentials like an MBA or a resume before entering the family business will help non-relative employees see the next generation as credible business managers, making the transition easier when the time comes.
Receive New Ideas from the Next Generation
If you want to engage the next generation in business development, you have to create a safe space for them to play a meaningful part. This can’t mean you simply dump information on your children and younger family members and expect them to absorb it. Instead, you need to receive new ideas from the next generation. Lean in to the creativity that comes with youth and allow them to give your business new life.
Some of their ideas will be bad, or they may not pan out, but that’s okay. Express curiosity in their ideas and help them explore potential blind spots or shortcomings without judgment. Remember there may be the gem of a good idea buried in even an apparently bad plan. Getting the next generation engaged means providing the space for them to do their own thing under the protective umbrella of your company’s structure.
Make Space to Take Risks and Develop Autonomy
The next step is to give the next generation the autonomy to put their ideas into practice. This will be risky, and you can certainly take steps to shield the business from the consequences of failure. Consider offering the next generation opportunities for training and career development, including mentorship and leadership coaching. This will help them refine their ideas, and work through the pathways to success.
Depending on your child’s age, their role in the business, and their talents and degree of responsibility, this might mean anything from being involved in the brainstorming and inviting them to take on specific tasks, to putting them in charge of a project of their own making. The important thing is to give them something that is distinctly their own, to develop their autonomy and their accountability within the business.
Do Strategic Business Development Together
As the next generation becomes more engaged in the business, you can and should bring them into the planning about what comes next. Doing strategic business development together can help your children and other relatives feel like their needs, priorities, and goals are accounted for in the company’s future. As the next generation takes a more active role in the business, they can also become more engaged in the strategic planning and eventually take an active role in leadership and management of the next chapter of your business.
David Stanislaw is an organizational development specialist with over 25 years’ experience helping family business owners engage the next generation through business succession planning and executive coaching. Contact us to meet with David to start planning your future within the family business today.
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