Would-be joiners of family businesses can have their cake and eat it — if they get the ingredients right
The career choices made by members of a family enterprise tend to be fraught with tension. Most experience unspoken pressure to join the family business, which becomes a problem when dreams and family expectations are at odds with each other. How do they decide whether to work in their family enterprise? And when they do dive in, are there winning strategies or paths that lead to leadership roles in a family business?
We spoke to five members of family enterprises: Katherine (Gabbie) Diaz and Marco Limcaoco from the Philippines, Shiraz Akbarally from Sri Lanka, Emilie Mellerio from France, and Andreas* from Argentina. During these conversations, we were struck by the emergence of common themes that recur in family-business careers: family identity, values and culture, emotions, attitude to change and communication.
[This article is republished courtesy of INSEAD Knowledge, the portal to the latest business insights and views of The Business School of the World. Copyright INSEAD 2024]