Family Business Academy

Family business course

Succession

Handing over the business from one generation to the next.

  • 6 units, at your own pace
  • Online: lessons, case films and assessments
  • Certificate anyone can check
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What you will learn

  • Tell apart the four handovers: ownership, board, management and family
  • Spot what slows or blocks a handover, and plan for the unexpected
  • Read a leader's readiness to let go and their exit style
  • Prepare the next generation as successors, owners and board members

What the course covers

Short lessons, each with a few questions, and a checkpoint at the end of each unit.

  1. Unit 1

    What gets handed over

    • Lesson

      Succession of What?

      See that a family hands over four things, not one: shares, board seats, the top job and family leadership

    • Lesson

      How Much Stays in the Family

      Place ownership, management and family leadership on a scale from all-family to none

    • Lesson

      Keep, Share or Sell

      Weigh the main options: stay all-family, bring in outsiders, list the company or exit

    • Checkpoint

      Checkpoint: What Gets Handed Over

      Five questions on the kinds of succession and the options a family has

  2. Unit 2

    Why succession is hard

    • Lesson

      Why Handovers Stall

      Find the six reasons succession is harder than it looks, from fear of change to valuing the shares

    • Lesson

      What Stops a Family Successor

      Sort the barriers to a family handover into individual, relational, family, financial, process and context barriers

    • Lesson

      Fictional Consensus

      Spot when a family picks the answer that keeps the peace instead of the one that works

    • Lesson

      When the Unexpected Happens

      Prepare for the day a leader falls ill or a crisis forces the handover early

    • Checkpoint

      Checkpoint: Why Succession Is Hard

      Five questions on what slows, blocks or rushes a handover

  3. Unit 3

    A process, not an event

    • Lesson

      An Event or a Process?

      See succession as a road with a before and an after, not a single day

    • Lesson

      Before the Handover

      Prepare the family, the leader, the successor and the shares before anything changes hands

    • Lesson

      After the Handover

      Keep supporting the new leader and the old one once the handover is done

    • Lesson

      Writing the Succession Plan

      Learn why the conversation behind a succession plan matters more than the document

    • Checkpoint

      Checkpoint: A Process, Not an Event

      Apply the succession process and the succession plan to five questions

  4. Unit 4

    The generation handing over

    • Lesson

      Founders, Siblings, Cousins

      See how succession changes when the senior generation is a founder, a group of siblings or many cousins

    • Lesson

      Three Ways to Face Succession

      Compare staying informal, formalizing governance along the way and pruning the family ownership tree

    • Lesson

      Ready to Let Go?

      Read a leader's readiness to step back on two dimensions, money and mind

    • Lesson

      Six Ways Leaders Leave

      Recognize the monarch, the general, the ambassador, the governor, the inventor and the transition leader

    • Lesson

      The Quiet Voices

      Bring relatives who do not work in the business into the succession, and plan for family wealth

    • Checkpoint

      Checkpoint: The Generation Handing Over

      Apply the incumbent's exit, the three strategies and the exit styles to five questions

    • Case film

      I Will Never Retire

      He says he will never retire. What would you advise?

  5. Unit 5

    The generation taking over

    • Lesson

      Beyond the Throne

      Look past the top job to the many roles the next generation can play

    • Lesson

      Why Heirs Say Yes or No

      See what shapes a young relative's wish to join, and how parents help or hinder it

    • Lesson

      Four Paths for the Next Generation

      Place heirs on two dimensions: what they expect and who they are doing it for

    • Lesson

      Ought, Want, May, Need

      Tell four kinds of commitment apart, and what each one means for the successor

    • Lesson

      Joining and Growing

      Set entry rules, pick a starting point and grow the successor's skills and standing

    • Checkpoint

      Checkpoint: The Generation Taking Over

      Apply the career-path intentions, the four commitments and the entry rules to five questions

  6. Unit 6

    What changes after

    • Lesson

      Keep, Fix or Rebuild

      Use pressures from the family and the market to predict what a new generation will change

    • Lesson

      Who Owns Next

      Compare three ways to shape the next generation's ownership structure: prune, let the law decide, or plan

    • Lesson

      Raising Responsible Owners

      Prepare the next generation to own well: roles, numbers, emotions and enterprise

    • Lesson

      The Next Seats at the Table

      Bring the next generation into the board and the family council with a path of their own

    • Checkpoint

      Checkpoint: What Changes After

      Apply the model of change, the three ownership paths and owner education to five questions

Final test and certificate

Questions across the whole course. Pass it and you receive a certificate with your name and a number anybody can check, ready to add to LinkedIn.

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