• Skip to main content
  • Skip to after header navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Galliard Family Business Advisor Institute

Galliard Family Business Advisor Institute

  • About Us
  • Core Training: FBAC
  • Find an Advisor
  • Become a Member
  • Resource Library
  • Training Calendar
  • Member Login
  • Member Account
  • Log Out

  • About Us
  • Core Training: FBAC
  • Find an Advisor
  • Become a Member
  • Resource Library
  • Training Calendar
  • Member Login
  • Member Account
  • Log Out

“I love you… but I love him more!”

By The Galliard Team

Parents Picking Favorites in the Family Business?

What to do when parents have clear favorites.

Twenty years ago, George and Eva started a very successful manufacturing company, and now their oldest son, Carl, is preparing to take over from his father. Carl is hardworking, sincere, intelligent and strategic. He is also analytical, focused and serious in his demeanor. However, his younger brother, James, is the apple of his mother’s eye.

James is charming, funny, warm, outgoing and beloved. He is also manipulative, impulsive, low in energy when it comes to work and high in energy when it comes to fun.

George can see Carl working hard, day in and day out to improve the business. Eve experiences James as loving, fun and needing her protection.

George loves both of his sons, but feels that Carl is the best option for running the business – with James in a minor role, if any role at all. While Eva will say that she adores both of her boys, she is critical of Carl and feels that James can do no wrong. She believes that both boys should have a completely equal role – equal pay, titles, ownership and recognition.

As Family Business Advisors, this is one of the most difficult situations that we encounter.

For a first-hand view of the tension this can create, check out the video of this conversation between George and Eva.

So, how do we begin to enter this conversation and make sense of the dynamics? How do we begin to make progress so that the business will be in the best possible position to survive?

Here is a list of tips, gathered from working with experienced advisors across the country:

The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in:
Loading…

Share this:

  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)

Related

Published: July 21, 2016 Filed under: Resource Library, Workforce Management
Browse by topic: professional advisors

Book Feature: Fragile Power

group of people in conference room

Introducing Peer Groups

The Connected Generation with Nike Anani

Enterprising Families Podcast with Tsitsi Mutendi

Strengthen Your Brand, Build Your Business

Introducing our new partners

Explore more topic areas in the Resource Library.

Browse by topic: succession planning

Pre-Succession Planning Exercises

Succession for Yourself

Unsticking Succession Planning

Succession Planning Worksheet

Grief in the planning process

Unsticking Succession Planning

What if things didn’t change?

Explore more topic areas in the Resource Library.

Browse by topic: workforce management

Finding the Right People

Happiness in the Workplace

People problems rarely “work themselves out”

Honor the Contributions of Next-Generation Leaders

Ali and the Disappearing Generation

Leadership Transition: the Good, the Bad & the Ugly

Dealing With Emotional Issues in Choosing a Successor

Explore more topic areas in the Resource Library.

Search

Contact

Email

info@galliardinstitute.org

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn

Navigation

  • About Us
  • Core Training: FBAC
  • Find an Advisor
  • Become a Member
  • Resource Library
  • Training Calendar
  • Member Login
  • Member Account
  • Log Out

Newsletter

Copyright © 2023 · Galliard Family Business Advisor Institute · All Rights Reserved · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use

Return to top