Transmitting the Ownership Vision

Listen to Christine as she discusses transmitting the ownership vision to the next generation. When establishing a family business, it is important to first develop a shared vision from which other decisions can be based upon. As the business moves toward the next generation, and elements of the business change, it is important that the initial vision is clear for the well-being of the family as well as the business.

They actually started by defining their vision – their long-term vision for the family, for the family owners, “where do we want to go?”. So it was about transmitting to the next gen, it was about being responsible owners of a successful business, it was about family unity. So their vision was very broad. And from the vision, they moved to “how do we get to that vision?”, “what are the steps we need to do to achieve this vision?”. And from there, they said “Ok, what are the different structures we have in place to govern this system?” and only then they decided, “so then what are the competencies that we need, what are the skills that we need and how are we going to appoint the people?” But it was all very logical and starting from the vision, which was very important.