Effective Leadership in the Family Business

Leading any business or business-owning family is difficult. But leadership in a family business is a far different challenge than leadership in any other kind of business. With three different systems, the business, the family and ownership and multiple generations in the business increasing the number of owners, leadership can become complicated. Effective Leadership in the Family Business is aimed at helping business-owning families understand and implement the extra dimensions of leadership that family firms require. Leadership is about action. It is focused on making things happen and getting thing done---“pulling the trigger” of actually leading. This book is less concerned with developing the potential to lead than with the process of leadership itself and ways to improve it. It will be especially useful to you if you have leadership responsibilities in a business-owning family or in the business itself, if you are parents preparing the next generation for leadership, or if you are among those who aspire to leadership. You will be given tools for sharpening your leadership skills and if you are at the point of beginning your career, you will find tips and strategies for gaining the credibility you need to put yourself on the path to leadership. This is a how-to book aimed at helping people exercise effective leadership in family businesses and business-owning families. In Effective Leadership in the Family Business you’ll learn, what leadership is and what it isn’t, different leadership styles and how to use them, how to look for leaders in your family, how to gain credibility for leadership, ways to prepare young people for leadership, and how to be a good follower. Others who will find this book helpful include non-family executives in a family firm, family business advisors, and family members and owners not in overt positions of leadership but who may nonetheless provide informal leadership or offer support to leaders by being good followers. Each generation differs in terms of the leadership challenges it faces. Effective Leadership in the Family Business will provide you with the knowledge you need to develop into an effective leader.