Roadmap to a Legacy Family

Abstract

Jack was one of the entrepreneurs in business who read Peter Drucker’s books every night before going to sleep. He prided himself on being a strategic planner. Everyone in his business, even at the lowest ranks, participated in building the great plan for the company. And it worked. The business was very profitable and Jack had turned down a cash offer of several hundred million dollars. But, when it came to his family, it never occurred to him that you needed to plan for anything more than your vacation or your kid’s college choice.

While sitting at his office desk, surrounded by pithy statements like “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail”—Benjamin Franklin, Jack seemed unusually perplexed. “I run a $150 million dollar a year business with 350 employees and worldwide sales. Why can’t I jumpstart my own kids?” Jack’s three young adult children were educated, grew up in a loving home with solid parents, seemed to like each other, and had all the opportunities that money could buy. But none of the children were working at a steady job. Only one of the three children, now 32, had moved out of the home. One child, then 27, was doing part-time work at Jack’s company, but only because he was told to work or get out of the house. The youngest child, who had just turned 25, was in the fifth year of college, which had been interrupted by 18 months of living abroad during a period of “soul searching” and “personal discovery.”