The Heart of Family Business

December 15, 2025 - Issue #156

Family History Can Be Repurposed to Serve Today's Challenges The stories that families tell about their past matter. Here are some ways that families can begin to use the past to serve their present-day goals.

Define Your Legacy, and Strengthen Your Business and Your Impact Unless you clearly define what you want your legacy to be, your successors will interpret it in their own way -- and it might not be what you intended.

Everyday Gratitude in Times of Uncertainty Gratitude leads to better relationships and encourages loyalty among our colleagues. This popular 2020 article has been updated for today's challenges.

Keep the Founder's Entrepreneurial Spirit Alive in Future Generations While entrepreneurship often creates the family's wealth, making it part of the family culture and legacy is another matter entirely. Here's how.

Family Business Experts: How to Survive the Holidays We're republishing this popular article from year-end 2019, which includes timeless advice about getting along from our family business editors.

Ready to Lead: Building Confidence Across Generations When families treat readiness as something they cultivate together, the handoff feels less like a loss and more like a natural next step.

Help Your Family Business by Helping Others Philanthropy can be a catalyst for leadership development, and generate support and good will towards the business in the community.

How Famous Family Firms Use Their History to Connect With Stakeholders Tangible items like postcards, photos or old accounting books evoke stories that become part of a family's legacy, which can create good will with the outside world.

Do Family Meals Fuel Entrepreneurship in Family Businesses? Families with diverse education and industry experience fuel the fire of entrepreneurship when they dine together frequently.

Family Emotions Can Drive Business Decisions Because personal and business dynamics are so closely intertwined, private disagreements and personal histories inevitably spill over into the business.

How Three Women Upheld Family Values and Thrived Despite Adversity A family's enduring values, fully believed and truly lived, can be a compass in hard times and a competitive advantage.

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Why Enterprising Families Need a Code of Conduct

Will Your Family Brand Survive New Leadership?

From 'Passing Down' to 'Building Up': Rethinking Values in Family Firms

Families Can Overcome Generational Conflicts Over Technology

Popular Topics

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Recent

Your Investment Strategy Should Reflect Your Family Values and Goals

by Claudia Binz Astrachan, Anneleen Michiels, Massimo Baù, and Chris Graves / Practice Insight

A family investment policy defines how a family manages its collective financial assets in alignment with its shared values, goals, and risk preferences. Read more...

The World is Changing Faster Than Your Strategy

by Torsten Pieper, Claudia Binz Astrachan, Francesco Chirico, and Annika Ehlers / Research Insight

Families that learn to use their cohesion, trust, and long-term orientation as strengths can implement strategies more effectively than their non-family peers, especially in times of uncertainty. Read more...

Listening to the Family: The Strategic Value of Surveys

by Claudia Binz Astrachan / Practice Insight

Surveys can reveal differing perspectives, surface hidden tensions, and – when done well – build trust, and serve as an educational opportunity. Read more...

Planning Succession? These 10 Decisions Are Critical

by David Deeds / Applied and Practice

Succession is not a single choice -- It is a chain of choices that interlock and compound. Avoiding any one of them will create friction or ambiguity. Read more...

by Susan Lanz, Gary Burke, Kajsa Haag, and Omid Omidvar

Here Are the Next Gen's Biggest Worries

by Kimberly Eddleston

How to Run a Family Business Successfully

by Kerry Hannon

Employees With Toxic Traits Can Still Be An Asset at Family Firms

by Benjamin McLarty and Daniel T. Holt

Consumers Love Local Brands. That's Good News For Family Businesses

by Philipp Jaufenthaler, Andreas Kallmuenzer, Sascha Kraus, and Alfredo De Massis

How to Plan for a Successful Succession

by Richard Eisenberg