Table of Contents for "Keep the Family Baggage Out of the
Family Business: Avoiding the Seven Deadly Sins That Destroy Family Businesses"
PART I
What's Causing This Mess?
The Family System, the Business System, and the Accompanying Baggage
Part I begins by giving readers a general overview of what family
businesses are and outlines some of the problems that families encounter
when they work together. Chapter 2 presents a key argument of the book –
that the attributes of a healthy and happy family are fundamentally opposed
to those of an effective and successful business, explaining why businesses
and families require different behaviors and illustrating the problems that
are created when families try to impose family attributes onto their
business. It also introduces the concept of "family baggage" and
presents the main theme of the book – that any dysfunctional patterns in
the family will be recreated in their business with disastrous results.
Chapter 3 explains why conflicts in family businesses are so intense, and
ends with a questionnaire that enables readers to assess the health of any
family business.
Chapter 1: Why You Need to Read This Book
Chapter 2: Systems and Baggage
Chapter 3: When Worlds Collide: The Family System Meets the Business System
PART II
We Have Seen the Enemy, and He Is Us:
The Seven Deadly Sins That Destroy Family Businesses
Part II presents a series of seven syndromes – the "Seven
Deadly Sins" – that occur when the family's baggage is allowed to
run rampant through their business. These syndromes are not presented in any
other book – they are the unique contribution that this book makes to the
knowledge of family businesses. Each chapter presents a separate syndrome
and its variations. A summary table is presented at the end of each chapter
as a quick reference tool.
Chapter 4: "It's the Same Old Song"
Chapter 5: "We're One Big, Happy Family"
Chapter 6: "They May Have Become Adults, but They'll Always Be My Children"
Chapter 7: "You're Not Loyal to This Family If You Insist on Being Selfish"
Chapter 8: Father Knows Best?
Chapter 9: "Maybe It Will Go Away If We Ignore It"
Chapter 10: "Tell Me About Your Childhood"
PART III
Succession: A Battleground unto Itself
Part III illustrates the emotional issues that confront family businesses
as they undergo succession and presents solutions to help overcome the
problems created by these issues. In addition, it is integrated with the key
themes of this book – family systems, business systems and family baggage.
This approach differs from all other family business books – books that
focus exclusively on tax and accounting aspects of succession.
Chapter 11: Certain Problems Are Inherent to Succession
Chapter 12: The Baggage Returns in Time for Succession
Chapter 13: Evolutionary Versus Revolutionary Succession
Chapter 14: Successful Succession
PART IV
It Comes with the Territory: Other Problems Inherent in Family Businesses
Part IV explores problems that arise just because the business is a family
business. It begins with problems caused by non-family members (i.e., managers
and employees), followed by chapters focusing on problems caused by family
members exerting unwanted influence over the business and other types of
baggage-related obstacles. The final chapter highlights problems that are
unique to businesses owned and operated by newly arrived immigrants.
Chapter 15: They've Stayed Too Long at the Fair: Long-Tenured Managers and Employees
Chapter 16: Interlopers, Consorts, and Other Undesirable Meddlers
Chapter 17: Baggage du Jour
Chapter 18: The American Dream Versus the Family Nightmare
PART V
All Is Not Lost: Recommendations and Solutions
This book concludes with a series of chapters that help strengthen family
businesses, giving readers practical recommendations that can be
implemented. Chapter 19 highlights the most critical drawback that family
businesses encounter when they try to obtain help, and provides a new
approach that avoids this drawback. Chapter 20 presents a new framework for
evaluating peoples' skills, followed by a chapter that provides guidance on
how these peoples' skills can be developed. Chapter 22 tells family
businesses how to select the best consultants to help them overcome their
problems, followed by a chapter outlining other resources available to
family businesses. Chapter 24 discusses a series of legal documents that are
often needed by family businesses, and the final chapter encapsulates key
pieces of advice into a format that summarizes the main themes of the book.
Chapter 19: Create a Council of Advisors
Chapter 20: Create a Strong Team to Run the Company
Chapter 21: Develop a Strong Team
Chapter 22: The Right Consultant Is Critical to Your Success
Chapter 23: Additional Sources of Expertise
Chapter 24: Put It in Writing
Chapter 25: Final Thoughts