Establish credibility as the new family business leader Myths & Mortals, Family Business Leadership and Succession Planning provides insights and strategies for successors of family businesses.  Successors often find themselves in the shadow of their parents making it difficult to establish credibility in the family business and tap into their own strengths. The stress of emulating a parent begins to clash with who they are and who they want to be as a leader.  Written by internationally known business strategist and succession planning expert Andrew Keyt, this guide shows you how to establish credibility, take your place at the head of the table, and run your business your way. In groundbreaking research, Keyt interviewed more than 25 successors of family business legends including Massimo Ferragamo, Bill Wrigley Jr., Christie Hefner, and John Tyson to find out how they overcame the challenges successors commonly face.The analysis from that study formed the basis for the strategies presented here—to help you win the loyalty of those stuck in the old way of doing business, and still focused on their former leader's vision. You'll learn how to take charge without sacrificing your own leadership style, and how to get everyone on board with your vision for the business. Growing up in the shadow of legendary family business leaders creates a unique challenge for successors to the leadership position. You cannot remove the emotional power of family dynamics from the business, but you can change how you choose to react to it. To be successful, you need to create a sense of identity and credibility, and step out of the shadows of your forbears. This guide provides strategies for doing just that, so you can take the reins and be the effective leader your business needs. Overcome the obstacles successors commonly face Win over those still loyal to their former leader Build your own credibility, separate from your parents Develop your own leadership style and do business your way  Credibility is elemental to business leadership, but establishing that credibility is the successor's biggest challenge. Myths & Mortals, Family Business Leadership and Succession Planning helps you plan around the obstacles and avoid common missteps so you can lead more effectively right out of the gate.

Table of Contents:
Preface xi Acknowledgments xv Prologue: Born in the Shadows Grappling with the humanity of the hero xix Born in the Shadows xx Definition of the Myth xxii A Journey to Generative Leadership xxii I Am Not My Father (Differentiation) xxvi It Takes a Personal Vision xxvii Moving the Past into the Future xxviii Chapter 1 Making of a Myth How stories of heroism help and harm a successor 1 The Power of the Myth 2 The Good Story 3 The Bad Story 4 Understanding the Reality of the Myth 6 Origins of the Myth 7 Feeding the Myth 8 If It Makes You Happy 9 Keeping the Next Generation in the Shadows 11 Idealization of the Child 11 Parentification of the Child 13 Infantalization of the Successor 13 Idealization’s Alter-Ego 14 Reality and True Truth 16 Chapter 2 Out of the Shadows The journey of the successor to lead apart from the myth 19       Differentiation and the Life Cycle 22 Attending(0to18months) 23 Power (18 to 36 Months) 23 Responsibility and Conscience (36 months to 5 years) 23 Competency and Latency (5 or 6 to 11 years) 24 Separation and Adolescence (12 to 23 years) 24 Early Adulthood (20s and 30s) 24 Overcoming the Successor’s Curse 25 From Hero to Human: Deconstructing the Myth of the Founder 27 When Successors Chart Their Own Course 31 When Idealization Interferes 32 Shining the Light Inward 33 Asserting the Self in the Family Legacy 37  Chapter 3 You Gotta Earn It Earning your way to the top 41 Your Own Way 43 Be Honest with Yourself 44 I Go Blind 46 How Parents Can Help 47 Building Belief in Others 48 Building Resiliency 49 Show Up for Work 52 Chapter 4 The Strength of Failure Running the obstacle course of success 57 Developing Gut Instincts: Learning through Action 60 The Hard Road to Leadership 61 No Mistakes; Just Learning 62 Supporting Failure 65 Obstacle Courses 68 The Family Launching Pad: Go Out and Get It 69 The Shape of Success 69 Chapter 5“I Can See Clearly Now” The origins of a fresh vision for the family business 73 A Story for the Future: Mission, Vision, and Values 75 Respect the Past; Do What’s Right for the Future 76 The Rudder of Conviction 78 Working through Personal Values 80 Family Planning 81 Mission 83 Back to the Future 84 Chapter 6 Nonstop Learning Know your weakness and improve 89 Sustaining Credibility 91 Respectfully Pushing the Limits 93 Defining Success: Future Forward 94 Know Thy Motives 95 The Necessity of Continual Development 97 Disciple of the Disciplines 98 Staying Power 100  Chapter 7 Feed the Family Caring for relationships, caring for the business 103 Dare to Be Different 105 Heart and Soul 107 Family Assets 110 How Competition Can Cripple 113 From the Founder to the Family 114 Next Generation 117 Chapter 8 Me versus We Sharing the glory of the family business story 121 The “I” in the “We” 123 From Legendary to Ordinary 125 When the Magnetic Center Is Gone 126 Feels Like Family 127 More than Money 130 Dream Weaver 132 The Brick Wall 132 Re-Generation 133  Chapter 9 Decisions, Decisions Decisiveness amidst ambiguity 135 The Great Differentiator 138 Cutting the Gordian Knot 139 One Decision after Another 141 Failure Makes the Business Hero 142 Trap of Perfectionism 143 Think and Do: The Decision-Making Process 145 Must-Have Courage 145 A Sense of Where You Are 147 Reorientation 148 The Orientation-Locked Family 149 A Decisive Workforce 150 Willing to Fail 151  Chapter 10 The Inner Light A plan to illuminate a successor’s path 153 The Need for a Personal Strategic Plan 154 A Plan to Differentiate 156 True North 158 Values 159 Mission 160 Action Plan 161 A Flexible Plan 162 Let There Be Love 163 Let There Be Light 164 Epilogue: Stepping out of the Shadows and into the Light of Your Leadership 167 Identifying the Myths 167 Self 168 Building Internal Credibility 169 Building External Credibility 170 Appendix A Research Note 173 Appendix B A Generative Retreat: 1/3 Activity (Body), 1/3 Reflection (Self), 1/3 Planning (Future) 175 About the Author 177 Index 179