Author: Jon Kenfield
Cause #16: Sibling Rivalry & Personal Jealousies in Family Business — What It Is, How It Shows Up, and How to Defuse It
TL;DR Sibling rivalry is common—and combustible—when it follows siblings into the family firm. Old resentments meet adult stakes (status, pay, power, succession), creating factions, stalled decisions, and delayed transitions. The fix: name the pattern, surface the history safely, reset roles and rules, and install governance that pairs care with accountability. What We Mean by “Sibling […]
Read MoreCause #15: Broken Wing Syndrome (BWS) in Family Business — What It Is, Why It Happens, and How to Fix It
TL;DR Broken Wing Syndrome (“BWS”) is when a well-meaning parent over-protects an under-performing adult child, unintentionally entrenching dependence and low resilience. In a family business, that over-protection warps decision-making, erodes accountability, poisons culture, and often explodes during succession. The fix: recognise the pattern, depersonalise it, and restructure roles, support and governance so the individual (and […]
Read MoreCAUSE #14 Imposter Syndrome (Leadership Insecurity)
Observations Impostor Syndrome is a psychological condition—a recognised pattern of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours that cause a person distress, impaired daily functioning, or significant departures from behavioural norms. Imposters (individuals suffering from Imposter Syndrome) experience emotional trauma that overwhelms their ability to manage life and work. They’re often in a state of mild to full-on […]
Read MoreCause #13: Founder Syndrome (fear of losing control) Overcoming Founder Syndrome: Evolving Leadership for Business Growth
Founder Syndrome is a common challenge in growing businesses, especially family-run enterprises. It occurs when a founder struggles to adapt their leadership style to the evolving needs of a scaling business. While their early-stage intensity and hands-on approach were crucial for launching the company, these traits can become obstacles as the business grows in complexity. […]
Read MoreThe Hidden Costs of Poor Succession Planning to Australian Family Business – and how Mediation can reduce both Cost and Damage.
Family businesses are the backbone of the Australian economy, making up over 70% of all businesses and contributing significantly to GDP. Yet for all their strengths, they face unique challenges when it comes to passing the torch to the next generation to ensure business continuity. Poor succession planning can lead to big financial losses, cessation […]
Read More“Family Business” … makes no sense! Introduction (Part 2)
(sans knowledge, focus, skills, and discipline) Conflict (noun): “a serious disagreement or argument between people with opposing views, opinions, values or principles – often over a protracted period”. Conflict (verb): “different, incompatible, at variance, opposing, clashing”. There is no family on the planet, now or ever, that entirely avoids conflict between its members. That’s not, […]
Read More“Family Business” … makes no sense! Introduction (Part 1)
(sans knowledge, focus, skills, and discipline). Introduction (Part 1) Every family business has a business family sitting behind it, but the basic concept behind “Family Business” actually makes no sense, because every commercial driver needed to make a good business conflicts with the human success factors that make families happy: This creates a huge conundrum: […]
Read MoreNavigating Family Dynamics in Business: Brothers, Allies, or Monsters?
Business Families Every family business has a business family sitting behind it, BUT: family business makes no sense – because what makes for a great business generally conflicts with what makes families happy. This fundamental dichotomy can produce all-conquering family teams, conflict-infused relationships, and everything in-between. Business Family relationship dynamics can get very muddy, because […]
Read MoreMy Family Business: Is Dad a Monster?
Every family business has a business family sitting behind it, BUT: family business makes no sense – because what makes for a great business generally conflicts with what makes families happy. This fundamental dichotomy can produce an all-conquering family team, conflict-infused relationships, or something in-between. Families get very confused – families are supposed to be […]
Read MoreMy Family Business: is Mum a Mum, Matriarch, or Monster?
Every family business has a business family sitting behind it, and because family business makes no sense each and every one of them is a vibrant and complicated mix of colliding commercial, financial, relational, and emotional systems. Sometimes this results in an all-conquering family team, sometimes in a conflict-infused misery and, at all times: an […]
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