Family-Owned Business Advisor

One of Joel’s primary professional areas is in the provision of executive leadership services to family-owned companies. The genesis of this specialization came from Joel’s background in psychology, and his experience with and recognition of the fact that at the heart of every family-owned company there is a biological family. Thus, executive coaching for family-owned corporations is a much more challenging investment, characterized by an understanding of the way in which family roles and dynamics interact with business roles and dynamics to produce a unique and highly complex mix of situational factors which are highly germane to profitability and growth. Issues such as bringing young adults into the family business, the layout of executive leadership roles for young adult family members in a business, the competency of young adult family members in a family-owned business as opposed to external executives, the sibling rivalries, the family member/non-family member executive competition, as well as the entire question of equity and succession are the métier of Joel’s work as a family-owned business advisor.

Below is a work sample of consulting services Joel provided to a family owned company.

Family-Owned Business Consulting Services, A Regional Environmental Services Company

• A full package of executive leadership services which encompasses a six-week coaching program for the FOB progenitor on various aspects. These include discussing the future of his corporation, evaluating the advantages of his current location compared to other potential locations for the corporation, and exploring options such as divestiture and sale of the corporation or re-imagining it with a different business focus. Additionally, individual leadership services are offered to the progenitor to aid in the development of other collaborative enterprises he may be interested in pursuing in the future. Furthermore, intern job are provided as part of the package, offering opportunities for hands-on experience and learning within the industry. This includes ventures such as a movie production company, an exotic car store, and the establishment of second and third real estate trusts to support his future business interests;
• Providing executive leadership services for other family members including the wife of the progenitor and for adult offspring in their 20s and 30s, specifically regarding the future of the primary family corporation. Each family member was interviewed and given a specific questionnaire designed to help understand their perception of the long-term viability of the primary corporation, and their potential roles within that continuing entity. They were also polled as to their perceptions of other areas of corporate expansion and development which might emerge from the progenitor’s other interests. This data was collated and a family-owned business retreat was then held to discuss the results among the family members, develop a list of alternative corporate options for the progenitor, designed by his family which are now under consideration;
• Career integration for the youngest son of the progenitor, and his integration into the family owned company focusing on strategic development where he fits in best within the structure of the corporation and leveraging his specific resources and talents to the best interest of both his professional growth and the company’s profitability;
• Executive leadership services for the progenitor’s daughter and her need for the development of her professional portfolio, allowing her to manage the FOB’s vast real estate trust, yet build her own commercial real estate enterprise in tandem alongside that continuing primary work for the FOB founded by her father.