This is a segment from the 2017 FOX Fall Forum seminar, Family Learning Programs: Designing for Engagement You can view the full video of the seminar, or explore more clips from it here:
Family businesses transitioning from the owner-manager stage to a larger and more diverse family ownership group often lack the practices necessary to assure owner alignment and avoid conflict. Many times, owner groups are perched on the lip of what we call the “conflict spiral,” ready to descend into fractured communication and hostile relationships. Our presenters have found that the “four-room model” provides a clear and practical perspective on how governance and decision-making can evolve in successful family enterprises.
All families have drama. However, in complex family and family-business environments, the toxic residue the drama leaves can’t easily be tolerated. Fortunately, we know the antidote: conscious, trust-based leadership. In this session, Jim Dethmer, advisor and co-author of The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership, will facilitate an interactive experience to help attendees identify the sources of family drama and the roles they play.
Since the early 1900s, wealthy families have borrowed from corporate America to draft mission statements or similar declarations to define their shared values and legacy.
Every fine art collector who has worked to build and enrich his or her collection usually has a special work of art or piece that has significant meaning. It might even be the very object that prompted grandma to begin collecting her porcelain rabbits, energizing her desire to graduate to fine art. Or it could be a priceless work, pièce de résistance, of a lifetime of collecting that reveals a fascinating historical account when hearing the real tales behind the acquisitions that family members hold dear.
The U.S. Department of State estimates that more than 8,000 Americans die in a foreign country each year. While some of those are permanent residents and long-time expatriates, thousands more are tourists or individuals traveling for business. For families and their enterprises receiving that unexpected news, the first inclination may be panic. Having a journey management plan that addresses specific protocols to be followed in the event of death while traveling abroad can help alleviate the stress that is compounded by barriers of foreign language, law and culture.
Learning and practicing the basics of money management can have a profound impact on a young child’s life. What parents often overlook, even those who are investors themselves, is taking the education to the next stage once their children get older—say, around age 11 or 12. At that point, it may be the right time to start a conversation about investing. The lessons learned can not only develop the investor and entrepreneur in your child, but also the philanthropist.
If you are wondering how it is possible that everyone in your family is offering an excuse for missing the family meeting date, then it is time for some new ideas or approaches to turn these meetings into events that no one wants to miss. How? By planning a purposeful family event that also happens to include the family meeting. In addition, it will go a long way toward increasing a sense of purpose and engagement when it is organized around the right location, meeting format and family bonding activities.
For a number of philanthropists, philanthropy is a family affair: a means of passing on key values to the next generation as well as giving back or doing good. How are millennials in family foundations, with the weight of legacy on their shoulders, approaching philanthropy? This fascinating generational shift is explored in more detail in this new report.
Wealth amassed by affluent individuals is being channeled into family foundations, increasingly led by millennials. They sit at the crossroads between the forces driving the millennial generation and the weight of their families’ legacies. They want their financial resources to achieve the greatest possible impact. They question why all their investments weren't impact investments.