Case Study: Tourism company

Edward Chu, the son of the company’s founders, has been active in family tourism business for ten years. Uncertain about whether he’ll stay in firm, including eventually taking it over. His mother, Ru-dan, also the company’s President, has a health scare, and his parents decide to retire. There is enormous pressure from other family members for Edward to ‘step up to the plate’ to keep family business going. Working with his coach, Edward discovers a passion for the most viable arm of the family firm. He decides to discuss staying on with company, but shifting its focus to the part of the business with strongest potential. His coach helps Edward identify clear goals for himself and the business, and prepare for conversation with his parents. The Chu family is currently working through this transition period, with the end goal of transferring the business to Edward, so that he can focus on a particular arm of the company.

Case Study: Financial Services

Georg Schenck , the founder of a family firm is near retirement age, and his adult children have been active in the business all their lives. They’re eager to take over the business, but Georg has spent his life building the business, and wants to continue working. His wife, Dorothea, is caught between her husband and their children. And the children are struggling, too, as each wants to become president. Family dinners are more like board meetings, and everyone is in distress. A friend of Georg and Dorothea’s suggests coaching, and Georg agrees to try it. Working with coach, he explores his dreams and plans, and what life might look like if he did retire from active management of the business. The coach also works with each of the children to explore what’s important to them, their vision for the business, and how they see themselves moving forward with the company. The eldest son, Thomas, decides he was never really happy in the family firm, and opts to explore other career options. One daughter, Alexandra, develops a strategy to expand the business, which she presents to her father. Georg begins to think through a succession and retirement plan, in consultation with his wife and their trusted professionals (including the company’s accountant, lawyer, and financial planner).

Case Study: Auto Parts Manufacturer

Family business founder Antony Giachetti engages a coach to work with his three children, all of whom work for the business. Antony is eager for his children to understand more about the business (feels they’ve been ‘too privileged’ and ‘don’t really get it’) before he can retire with confidence. With coaching, each of his offspring identifies goals and makes commitments to action plans, with each deciding independently that they aren’t interested in continuing with the family business (and that this has been the reason for their unfocused behaviour). Siblings share this news with their father, and help him prepare the business for sale.

Case Study: Entrepreneur

Leela Prajapati has been developing her professional practice for more than a decade, and as her reputation grows, she is grappling with whether to take on more staff and expand the scope of her business. Her home life is busier, with young children, and a full schedule of extra-curricular activities. Working with her coach, Leela recognizes that personal service is one of her core strengths, and that growing the business would create additional management responsibilities, and take her away from the work she does best. As a result of working with her coach, she decides to define a specific niche, fine tune her company’s list of services, strengthen her brand, and increase her fees.