Table of Contents for "Keep the Family Baggage Out of the Family Business:  Avoiding the Seven Deadly Sins That Destroy Family Businesses"

Chapter 1: Why You Need to Read This Book

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.

This chapter presents a syndrome that occurs when parents are unable to accept their children as grown adults, illustrating the three most common manifestations. The first section presents behavior patterns that are a natural phenomenon of having been a parent – automatically rejecting the children’s ideas and failing to delegate authority to them. The second section examines a situation where the parents deny that their children have become adults in order to avoid having to confront their own mortality. The final section discusses a situation where the parents perceive themselves to be in competition with their children and actively seek to undermine them.