Category: Uncategorized
Bloodline Rivalry: The Hidden Force That Can Break a Family Business
Bloodline rivalry is one of the most underestimated and misunderstood sources of conflict in business families. As Jon Kenfield explains, “bloodline rivalry is like the grown‑up version of sibling rivalry” — a natural childhood dynamic that, if left unmanaged, can evolve into a powerful and destructive force across generations. While sibling rivalry helps children learn […]
Read MoreCause #31 Marriage & Divorce
Marriage, Divorce & Blended Families — The Hidden Fault Lines in Family Businesses Marriage, de facto relationships, separation, divorce, and blended families are deeply emotional life events — but inside a family business, they become something even more complex: system‑wide disruptions that can reshape loyalties, destabilise governance, and expose the business to financial and legal […]
Read MoreCause #15: Broken Wing Syndrome (BWS) in Family Business — What It Is, Why It Happens, and How to Fix It
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 business) […]
Read MoreFamily Business Conflict Video No 12: Emotional Resilience 1 – Broken Wing Syndrome. By Jon Kenfield
Common Causes of Family Conflict & How to Deal with Them. Video 12. Emotional Resilience and “broken wing” syndrome – Parents & Family. Emotional Resilience = coping with stress and minimising anxiety. Epidemic. Broken Wing Syndrome = parent(s) protecting weaker children. Contributed to by genetics, home, school & social evironments, birth order, parenting skills, domineering […]
Read MoreBusiness Family Alignment – the Family Plan
Throughout the Western world, less than 5% of all family businesses survive the third generation curse: “from shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves in three generations”. The 5% that do make it through often proceed for many generations – in clear evidence that they’ve worked out and applied something really important to their family about sustainability […]
Read MoreDifficult Family Conversations – 10 Key Issues
Security: physical, emotional and financial, sit at the top of Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs. Situations that challenge your sense of personal security are therefore likely to create feelings of insecurity and discomfort, which is why many of us are reluctant to initiate conversations likely to start, or to become, difficult. The expectation that a […]
Read MoreParenting Styles and Family Business
“As ye sow, so shall ye reap” Recent conversations with other family business advisers confirm increasing exposure to business families with serious “fossilisation” issues. Naming no names, the problem seems most prevalent in families with seriously aged founder/owners (70 and 80-year-olds) from traditional European backgrounds. However, they don’t own all of this space – it’s […]
Read MoreRisk Management for Business Families
A key characteristic of all enduring business families is their willingness to do whatever is necessary to adequately and appropriately manage all significant risks and threats to their continuity, as a family group. This applies however the group re-invents itself, from generation to generation. Conversely, the most common cause of business family failure is the […]
Read MoreBob Jane’s Family Feud
“For what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26-28) Bob Jane was an Australian icon – a revered racing driver, entrepreneur businessman and multi-millionaire – a classic self-made success story. But where is he now? After 5 years of litigation he’s […]
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