What are the triggers and how are they getting in the way?
Disconnection in a business family can take different forms and happen for many reasons. There could be disconnection on leadership roles, on ownership functions, on family vision, to name just a few. It could be caused by past grievances, poorly expressed expectations or simply by geography, in this globalized world. But there is a different type of disconnection we see a lot, and that is emotional disconnection and the trigger for this is often wealth.
The reason wealth is often a trigger here is because it can get in the way of proper open and honest communication that usually provides a sense of safety to all family members. When communication lanes are open and welcoming, vulnerability and safety can exist because the ramifications of choosing this are lessened.
In our soon-to-be-released research insights on Emotional Governance in Wealthy Global Families we have found that not only do emotional challenges strongly exist in wealthy families, they are disconnected based on generation. For example, the founder/owner generation see rivalry (50%) and entitlement (39%) as the top emotional challenges which contrasts strikingly with the next generation who see communication (73%) (or lack thereof) as the main emotional challenge.
So, the next time you hear an owner or founder say, ‘I don’t want to tell kids about the wealth because I don’t think they’re ready,’ or a next generation member say, ‘I don’t want to ask about the wealth cause I don’t want to appear entitled,’ our advice is to encourage more communication because that process will bring clarity to what specific emotional family challenges exist and how they can begin to overcome them, together.
Questions To Ponder:
Can you identify any disconnection in your family?
How are you working to bridge that disconnection?
What can you do to ensure more connection for the generations to come?