They got over it in part because they realized that each family member in fact played several different roles, Molina adds. “Sometimes you are an owner, sometimes you are an employee, and sometimes you are a family member. The trick is to understand what role you are playing at any particular time.” Those who stepped aside in favor of professionals understood that although they might be losing the opportunity for advancement as employees, they would benefit as owners, and the family overall would benefit.

Compass, Flashlight, Map
Gerry Murak, a family business consultant who practices in the Buffalo, N.Y., area, says many families can profit from establishing a written framework for making these types of decisions. This family business constitution, which Murak calls a family creed, is similar to the family mission statement described in our December issue (page 59), only this document focuses on goals, values and decision-making principles specifically geared toward the family business.

Murak observes that, as in the Molino family’s case, it is often a succession or liquidity event—be it the death or retirement of a patriarch or matriarch, or the sale of a large interest in the company—that forces the family to take these issues in hand. “Family businesses keep their cards close to their vest,” he notes, and the often-secretive nature of these private entities, combined with the desire to avoid discussion of family matters with an outsider, often delays action in the absence of a succession or liquidity event.