Expert Advice for Business Families
 By
Henry D. Landes
March 2005
Who are the professional advisors who are helping your business
family prepare for another generation of success? Do you have the
right players…do you have a complete team? And are they playing
well together?
For over 15 years, it has been my privilege to walk with hundreds
of family business owners. I've noticed that the most successful
owners are masters at identifying and utilizing expert advice.
You Deserve the Best!
As your business and family grows, and especially as you move through
The Succession Zone, you deserve the very best professional counsel.
Here are a few criteria to consider in evaluating and selecting
the best advisors for your family firm:
1. Demonstrate state-of-the-art technical knowledge and sustained
commitment to stay abreast of new developments in their field or
discipline.
2. Emphatic understanding of the complexities faced by all family
members as they wear (and juggle) the three hats of business families:
family, business and ownership.
3. Extensive experience and passionate interest in the best practices
of other successful business families.
4. Capacity to "speak the truth in love," honestly critiquing family
and/or business practices or policies. Advisors need to say what
needs to be heard which is often not what wants to be heard!
5. Ability to teach basic concepts of their field and craft to
the current as well as next generation owners and managers…can and
will translate often complex matters into "plain English."
6. Experience, ability and interest in working collaboratively
with other advisors in other disciplines!
Fielding the Team
The professional disciplines and the specific "players" you select as your advisors
will reflect the unique needs and goals of your family and business but likely will include
the fields of financial, legal, insurance, and family business and more.
Some professional advisors may prefer to work on a one-on-one basis with their clients
and, indeed, some matters are best addressed by a single advisor. Other issues may require
multiple advisors who work separately but, at the family's request, stay in close
communication with each other. Still other issues in the family business journey require
a "team of advisors" convened by the business owner(s) who work together on a particular
project for a brief period.
Some family firms create an ongoing Advisors Council which may meet annually. (An
Advisors Council should not be confused with the Board of Directors. Professional
advisors may sometimes meet with the board, but your board will provide the most
objective counsel when composed of bona fide outside directors, not your professional
advisors.)
Casey Stengel said, "Getting the good players is easy. It's getting them to play
together that's the hard part." While some advisors do resist a "team" approach to
advisory services, in my experience, most welcome the opportunity. For instance, our
Estate Planning Fire Drill, a complimentary benefit of Forum membership, combines the
expertise of Jon Samel, an attorney, and Chuck Creighton, an insurance and financial
advisor. By working together in concert with their clients, Jon and Chuck are able to
provide a broader assessment and then offer stronger, interdisciplinary recommendations
to assure immediate short-term protection for business families in the event of a
catastrophe.
Lee Thayer, our May 18 Forum presenter on Leadership, says, "It's not the recipe,
it's the cook." There is no exact recipe as to how your business family should use
expert advisors. But it is critical that you, the cook, formulate a plan and a process
which attracts and manages outside expertise; an important competitive advantage for
your family business!
Example of Advisors Working Together
- Recently I participated in a biannual two-day Strategic Planning
Retreat with a family business' Executive Team, along with two
other advisors and one outside director.
- Annually I participate in a thorough estate planning review
along with three other advisors who work separately most of the
year.
- A few weeks ago, I met with the Board of Directors of M&C Specialties
to make sure that we all are working in alignment in the development
of next-generation leadership.
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