Family businesses increasingly face challenges that incite costly rifts, divides, and disconnects. Technology, leadership styles, geographic dispersion, politics, religion, successor choice, pre-nuptial agreements, differing values, and varied mental health philosophies are just some of the precipitating forces fueling these threats. Unaddressed, these once-small invisible cracks become costly and taxing disruptions to achieving desired succession and continuity goals. As a consequence, aligned decision-making and family unity, two essential characteristics of family enterprise resilience and sustainability, suffer.

In this interactive program, we will look at the enterprising ownership and management family through a modified lens that helps spot where these menacing risks might originate and suggest how to reduce or eliminate them. We will share practices for addressing rifts, bridging divides, and building connections that productively contribute to the performance of family business ownership, governance, management, and family communication. Finally, we will discuss how to broaden enterprising family stories to include, not withdraw from, “others” and uniquely inspire conscious accountability for change…all in the pursuit of being a flourishing family and thriving family business.

Learning Objectives:
1. Define and differentiate rifts, conflicts, divides, and disconnects as they relate to family business decision-making and enterprising ownership family dynamics
2. Identify some unique characteristics of enterprising ownership families that eventually unraveled family rifts, bridged divides, and built social connections
3. Recognize and spot cracks in the enterprising family foundation
4. Apply principles and practices that other enterprising ownership families believe have advanced them toward a desired future story
5. Hear from peers about how they and their families journeyed through these complexities
6. Explore some possible tools, models, and applications available to address rifts, divides, and disconnects
7. Define the socio-emotional wealth whose value changes depending on how families navigate rifts, divides, and disconnects
8. Identify skills that change hearts, minds, culture, and inclination to reach and work together across lines of difference
9. Create/suggest a process for “orchestrating the how” and inspire action (bridge divides; build connections)

Celebrating 25-years in the field of family business consulting, Kim Schneider Malek is the founder and president of Family Enterprise Alliance, a global succession, governance, and communication consulting firm. She is also the founder and chief learning officer for the Center for Advancing Family Enterprise, an independent educational initiative for family businesses, family offices, ownership families, boards, and advisors. Client industries include real estate, construction, oil and gas, manufacturing, hospitality, wholesale distribution, financial services, and youth development. A second-generation family business consultant, Kim also is an adjunct professor in the MBA and Family Business Certificate programs at the University of Louisville’s College of Business, teaching courses on entrepreneurial and enterprising ownership families. Kim recently completed 20-years of faculty service at the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business where she taught courses in high performance management, business communication and leadership, and family enterprise sustainability.