Family Business on the Couch

MANFRED F.R. KETS DE VRIES brings a unique perspective to the much-studied subjects of leadership and the dynamics of individual and organizational change. He is a clinical professor of leadership development and holds the Raoul de Vitry d’Avaucourt Chair of Leadership Development at INSEAD, France & Singapore. He is also the Director of INSEAD’s Global Leadership Center. He has held professorships at McGill University, the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales, Montreal, and the Harvard Business School, and he has lectured at management institutions around the world. He is a founding member of the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations. The Financial Times, Le Capital, Wirtschaftswoche, and The Economist have rated Manfred Kets de Vries among the world’s top fifty thinkers on management and among the world’s most influential people in human resource management. He is the author, co-author, or editor of more than 24 books and over 250 scientific papers as chapters in books and as articles. His books and articles have been translated into more than 25 languages. He was also the first non-American recipient of the International Leadership Award for “his contributions to the classroom and the board room.”Kets de Vries is a consultant on organizational design/transformation and strategic human resource management to leading US, Canadian, European, African, Australian and Asian companies. As an educator and consultant he has worked in more than forty countries.DR. RANDEL S. CARLOCK is the first Berghmans Lhoist Chaired Professor in Entrepreneurial Leadership, the founding Director of the Wendel International Centre for Family Enterprise and a founding board member of the Global Leadership Centre at INSEAD. Previously he was the first Opus Professor of Family Enterprise and founder of the family business center at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, MN (USA). Carlock has an MA in education and training (1976), an MBA in strategic management (1983), and a Ph.D. (1991), all from the University of Minnesota. His doctoral dissertation explored the role of organization development in managing high growth entrepreneurial firms. He has also completed a post graduate certification in family and marriage therapy at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College, University of London (1998) and a certificate in psychodynamic counseling at Birkbeck College, University of London (1999). He was awarded a Certificate in Family Business Advising with Fellow Status (2001) by The Family Firm Institute, Boston, MA (USA).He is the author of several books, articles, book chapters, videos and case studies. He has over 25 years of experience serving as an executive with a global family business and as CEO and chairman of his own NASDAQ listed corporation. He currently advises global business families and corporations around the world specializing in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.ELIZABETH FLORENT-TREACY, Research Project Manager at INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France, and Singapore, She works in the INSEAD Global Leadership Centre, and the Wendel International Centre for Family Enterprise. She has conducted research in the following areas: global leadership; global organizations; corporate culture in European and global organizations; American, French and Russian business practices; family business issues (governance, succession, strategy); entrepreneurial leadership; cross-cultural management; women and global leadership; cultural aspects of mergers and acquisitions; transformational leadership; expatriate executives and families; and the psychodynamics of leadership. She holds degrees in Sociology (BA) and Organization Development (MA).Elizabeth has written authored or co-authored 4 books, 21 articles, working papers and book chapters and 18 case studies on leadership and family business topics.

• Preface xiiiAcknowledgments xxvPart I: Questions and Observations 1Introduction 3Endnote 71 A Psychological Perspective on Business Families 9Psychodynamic and family systemic perspectives 10Key ideas from the psychodynamic approach 11The role of transference and countertransference 12The family systemic perspective 17A therapeutic alliance 20A summing-up 21Endnotes 222 The Challenges of Love and Work 25Conflicting goals in the family business 26The three-circles model 29How conflict can develop 32Endnotes 383 Family Business Practices: Assessing Strengths and Weaknesses 39The interface of business and family practices 42Assessing the health of a family business 60Endnotes 62Part II: Reflection and Learning 634 the Life Cycle as An Organizing Construct 65The multiple life cycles of the family business 66Key models of human psychological development 68The family life cycle 75Carter and McGoldrick’s family-based life cycle model 76Applying the life cycle in family businesses 78Endnotes 815 Narcissism, Envy, and Myths In Family Firms 83Personality types 83Managerial implications of dysfunctional narcissism 90The importance of individuation 91The family firm as transitional object 92The power of envy 95Games families play: the role of family myths 103The impact of family myths on the family business 105Summary 109Endnotes 1096 the Entrepreneur: Alone at the Top 111Common personality characteristics of founder–entrepreneurs 111Larry Ellison and Oracle 113Deciphering the inner theater of the entrepreneur 117Common defensive structures in founder–entrepreneurs 128Maintaining the balance 130Endnotes 1317 Leadership Transition: Replacing a Parent as Ceo 133Options for tackling the succession problem 133The inheritance 135Psychological pressures on new leaders 136Staying on course 144Endnotes 1468 A Systemic View of the Business Family 147A two-way relationship 147The evolution of systems theory 148The development of family systems theory 149The family systems proposition 154Family scripts and rules 156Family scripts in the family business 157A practical example of family systems thinking 162Endnotes 1639 Diagnosing Family Entanglements 165The family genogram 166The Circumplex Model of marriage and family systems 172Differentiation of self from family of origin 176Two family stories 178Endnotes 185Part III: Integration and Action 18710 Addressing Transitions and Change 189Lewin’s ideas on change 189A model of individual change 191Major themes in the individual journey toward change 196The process of change within organizations 200The change process in families 205Family focus or organization focus? 212Endnotes 21311 The Vicissitudes of Family Business 215The Steinbergs: A study in self-destruction 215The immigrant dream 216His mother’s son 218The entrepreneur’s vision 220Sam as a family business leader 220The entrepreneur’s dilemma: Passing the baton 223The next generation 224Irving Ludmer: Play it again, Sam 225A family systems perspective on the Steinbergs 228The effects of Sam Steinberg’s inner world on the family business 233The inner theater of Sam’s daughters 236What if? 239Endnotes 24012 Putting Family Business Intervention Into Practice 241The Family Action Research Process 242The succession conundrum 243The role of the outside adviser 271Advice to families seeking help 271The benefits of a psychodynamic systems perspective 274Final words 275Endnotes 276Appendix 1: Developing a Business Family Genogram 277Creating the genogram 277Therapeutic applications of the genogram 278Using the genogram to identify family scripts and themes 279How genograms improve communication 282Endnote 282Appendix 2: the Clinical Rating Scales And the Circumplex Model 283How the CRS work 284Endnote 287Index 289

“…explores the reasons why some family businesses are dysfunctional – and how to cure them.” (The Guardian, Saturday 15th September 2007) "fascinating new book" (The Independent, Tuesday 9th October 2007)"a unique insight into the subject." (Guardian Unlimited guardian.co.uk, Thursday 13th December)"You'll find this book well worth reading" (Edge, February 2008)"...an insight into addressing key family buisness issues." (Gulf Buisness, February 2008)