What separates Good from Great advisors?

A GOOD advisor serving family businesses bring independence, objectivity and a depth of expertise in their discipline(s). This vantage point is valuable, regardless of size or life stage of the family or business. I am blown away at the technical giftedness of the advisors I get to work alongside as we support family business continuity across the generations.

A GREAT advisor also carries a unique characteristic that is engrained into their training, and becomes a natural way of serving clients.

These advisors are curious systems thinkers and possibility seekers. Very naturally too, they are collaborators, and work well with other advisor as a team.

A Family Business as a System

A family business forms as one or more family member joins the business, usually informally, and out of necessity as the business grows. BUT ...

Adding a family member to a business is NOT anything like simply adding another employee. Something HUGE has changed, and this is often overlooked and underappreciated - by the family business and the GOOD advisors.

It's not overlooked by the GREAT advisors though.

When a family member joins, the business is now a system. A system with overlapping parts, competing priorities and, at times, competing values and principles. Of course, it is difficult for anyone to see these complexities at the early stages. But one thing is certain: continuous change and friction points.

The Familiness Advantage

Systems self-organize, and adapt continuously. The whole is now greater than the sum of each member of the family and business involved. These changes begin slowly over time and form a "Familiness Advantage".

As with any advantage in business and life, if you fail to appreciate your Familiness system, nurture, protect it and plan for continuity of this advantage, it erodes slowly, then all of a sudden.

These systems principles are fact and are not disputed. Left unchecked, a Familiness Advantage will erode into a constraint - a disadvantage. 100% guaranteed.

The GREAT advisors spot the issues and opportunities early and often. They have the foresight to co-create a bit of formality (i.e. "governance") that is right for the family ... with the family. Formality that is prescribed for the family, without their collective input will flounder.

We have a crisis of ownership right now in Canada. 90% of SMEs will be changing hands over the next 10 years without a documented plan. I also suggest we have a crisis of GREAT advisors. We have a short window of opportunity to correct ... will we make it in time?

A call to advisors

Let's become curious systems thinkers and opportunity seekers! And learn to collaborate much better with each other.

Let's bust up the silos that are designed to serve the individual firms, not the collective family business industry.