When Family Conflict Already Exists: How to Move Forward Without Breaking the Business
Episode Description: In this grounded and deeply practical conversation, Elizabeth is joined by transition guide and coach Marcy McNeal to unpack one of the most common—and misunderstood—realities in family business: conflict. Rather than treating conflict as something to eliminate, Marcy reframes it as something to understand, navigate, and even use productively. Together, they explore the […]
Old Patterns, New Roles: Why Family Business Conflict Rarely Starts in the Boardroom
We recently sat down with Marcy McNeal, one of our transition guides and a certified social and emotional intelligence coach, to talk about something that shows up in nearly every family business we work with: conflict. Not the dramatic, door-slamming kind that makes for good television. The quieter kind. The kind that sits in the […]
You Won’t Leave Until You Know Where You’re Going
I talk to a lot of families and business owners who tell me, “I know I should be thinking about transition, but I’m just not ready yet.” And every time I think, of course you’re not ready. Humans don’t leave something comfortable unless we believe there’s something better waiting ahead for us. And it’s not […]
Business Transition Roadmap for Private Company Owners
If you own a private or family business, you’ve probably thought about the future of your company more than once. You may have wondered who will lead it after you, how the transition will unfold, and what your own life will look like on the other side. These are big questions, and they deserve more […]
How to Transition a Family Business to the Next Generation
Approximately 75% of all family businesses fail to survive past the first generation of owners. More than 85% fail by the third generation. And more than 95% fail beyond that. Those statistics are uncomfortable, and they are worth sitting with for a moment. Because behind every one of those failed transitions is a family that […]
The Missing Link in Family Business Transition: Emotional Governance with Franco Lombardo
Episode Description: In this powerful and emotionally honest conversation, Elizabeth sits down with family business advisor and author Franco Lombardo to explore what may be the most overlooked factor in successful transitions: emotional governance. With over two decades of experience working with affluent families, Franco shares why unaddressed emotions, not strategy or structure, are often […]
Having a Plan on Paper Is Not the Same as Having a Family That’s Ready
Transition is a journey, not an event. I say that often because I mean it. When it becomes an event, it tends to catch everyone off guard, even when a plan technically exists. And what I see most often is that the plan was built around the business and the wealth, with very little thought […]
Being Responsible Without Declaring You’re Done
We get asked a lot about what it means to be responsible. Gosh, what a big word. Especially when you’re leading a business or guiding a family through a transition. For most of the owners I work with, the word “responsible” sits right next to a quiet fear. They’ve built something meaningful. They provide for […]
What Comes After the Sale? One Business Owner’s Honest Account of Finding His Next Chapter
When John Arnolfo called me a couple of years ago, he had just sold the Silver Grill Cafe in Old Town Fort Collins, a restaurant he’d stewarded for more than four decades. The Silver Grill, which has been open since 1933, is one of those places that becomes part of a town’s identity. Famous for […]