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Separate Coaches, Shared Vision: Why Parallel Coaching Beats Group Coaching for Family‑Led Enterprises
Separate Coaches, Shared Vision Why Parallel Coaching Beats Group Coaching for Family‑Led Enterprises Download Audio By Perry Gladstone and Doug Baumoel Estimated read time: 3 mins Family enterprises that share ownership and leadership have diverse talent and a minefield of invisible emotional, relational, and systemic dynamics. Too often, legacy patterns of communication, power, and conflict are masked by formal titles or business performance. And too often, traditional one-coach-fixes-the-team approaches fall short. There's a better way: Parallel Coaching, where each owner-leader works privately with their own coach, while those coaches collaborate behind the scenes. This model, grounded in contemporary [...]
Resolving Extreme Conflict in Family Enterprises
Resolving Extreme Conflict in Family Enterprises A New Model for Understanding and Addressing Conflict in Family Business Download Audio By Doug Baumoel and Blair Trippe Estimated read time: Approx. 12 mins Conflict is inevitable in family enterprises, where personal, professional and ownership interests interact. While healthy disagreements can lead to innovation and growth, conflicts that spiral into negativity and hostility pose serious risks to both the business and family harmony. For decades, the Thomas–Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TK Model) has been a cornerstone for understanding and managing conflicts. However, it falls short in addressing the more extreme, emotionally-charged [...]
How an Owners Council Can Benefit a Family Business
Learn what an owners council is, its key benefits, how it operates, reasons to form one, and how it differs from a family council.
Marital Mediation May Just Save the Marriage━and the Family Enterprise
Marital Mediation May Just Save the Marriage━and the Family Enterprise A guide to what marital mediation is, isn’t, and how it can be effective Download Audio By Doug Baumoel, Samantha Denning, and Arline Kardasis Estimated read time: 6 to 7 minutes One of the biggest threats to a family enterprise, especially in its first and second generations, is divorce. With the value of a business concentrated among a few stakeholders, the liquidity demanded in a separation of marital assets can cripple a company and compromise succession. With so much at stake for a family enterprise, unhappily married couples [...]
How to Engage a Family Business Consultant
How to Engage a Family Business Consultant Five essential tips to setup your consultative relationship for success Byline: Doug Baumoel Estimated read time: 3 mins At Continuity, we understand the paradox that families face when considering the prospect of hiring a family business consultant. Often, the very reasons why a family might benefit from such a consultant ─ lack of goal alignment among stakeholders, conflict, communication issues, or just being stuck ─ are the same reasons that prevent them from coming together in agreement to seek outside help. Drawing from my own experience when I was on the client-side [...]
Deconstructing Conflict: A Personal Approach to Family Business Consulting
Deconstructing Conflict: A Personal Approach to Family Business Consulting A Family Firm Institute interview with 2023 Interdisciplinary Award Winner Doug Baumoel, who transformed personal pain into a unique consulting methodology Editor’s note: This article shares highlights of a 16-minute podcast hosted by the Family Firm Institute (FFI), which we’ve embedded below, along with key excerpts. Estimated read time: 3 mins Continuity Family Business Consulting Founder Doug Baumoel isn't your typical family business consultant. Born into a family business that his father started in the basement of his home when he was 6 years old, he was [...]
Overcoming Family Business Conflict and Achieving Succession Success
Overcoming Family Business Conflict and Achieving Succession Success How one family resolved their differences and empowered a new CEO The Challenge Stakeholders in a family-owned construction business were in conflict over management succession, which created crippling conflict between family members. The founder, owner, and president of this company, Peter, wanted his daughter, Christine, to eventually succeed him as CEO. Peter’s brother, Jack, who was second-in-command at the company, rejected the plan to prepare his niece to become CEO and walked off the job, feeling angry and unappreciated for the value he had brought to the business. While Jack didn’t [...]
The Progenitor’s Dilemma: Avoiding Entitlement When Transferring Wealth
The Progenitor’s Dilemma: Avoiding Entitlement When Transferring Wealth A practical framework that empowers heirs while minimizing negative consequences byline Doug Baumoel, Blair Trippe and Katie Spencer Est. Read time: ~8 to 9 minutes Wealth can, at times, feel more like a curse than a blessing. Wealth magnifies the impact of bad choices and presents dilemmas to those progenitors who must determine how to distribute their assets over their lifetimes and beyond. Perhaps the biggest fear among benefactors is transferring wealth in a way that engenders entitlement. Progenitors do not want affluence to crush the next-generation’s initiative, sense of purpose [...]
8 Ways to Manage Sibling Wealth Disparity this Holiday Season
8 Ways to Manage Sibling Wealth Disparity this Holiday Season The holidays can be the best time to address ill feelings triggered by gift-giving Byline: Blair Trippe and Doug Baumoel Estimated read time: ~4 minutes The holiday season is upon us and, for many families, this time of year can bring a multitude of issues to the surface. One such issue, sibling wealth disparity, (re)emerges when it comes to gift-giving. Money and items gifted by siblings may not be of equal value due to their wealth disparity, and this can wreak havoc and cause conflict among families. In order to maintain [...]
Turkey Talk: Discussing Family Business Issues at Holiday Get-Togethers
Turkey Talk: Discussing Family Business Issues at Holiday Get-Togethers How to handle family business conflicts, decisions, and discussions around the holiday dinner table Byline: Blair Trippe Estimated read time: ~2-3 minutes We’ve all seen the pictures—a happy family gathered around the dining table as dad carves the perfectly cooked turkey while the children play and share their toys in an impeccable home. These television and movie scenes depict families enjoying the holidays filled with laughter and joy. But for many of us, especially for some working in a family business, these images are as elusive as that winning lottery ticket. [...]