How does a lifetime of work become a legacy?

On this episode of the Family Business Voice, Nike Anani discusses her new book, Lifetime to Legacy, and how it can help business families navigate succession. Nike and Ramia explore the importance of relational values to family business continuity and discuss techniques that founders and next-gens can use to facilitate the transfer process.

- Founders typically focus on the technical and legal side of transition, but building bridges and relationships within their organisation is just as important in preparing the next generation.

- Different cultures perceive the family structure within their unique and sometimes rigid context. Next-gens, exposed to Western ideas of independence and autonomy through school or travel, can clash with incumbent generations when they return home. Working through these complexities takes understanding and engagement from both sides.

- Data suggests that most unsuccessful family business transfers are due to a lack of trust and communication, not through failed strategy or technical planning. Next-gen members looking to bridge the generational divide should start small with open discussions that include siblings and other family members. First-gen members can take a similar approach, speaking with their spouses about the kind of legacy they wish to leave. The most compelling legacies revolve around the collective family and not any single individual.

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