Develop a Family Development Strategy to Equip the Next Generation

Education has been a core value in my family for as long as I can remember.  There was never a question about IF I was going to college, but where and what to study.  My parents were denied a college education.  Although my dad could have gone to college after WWII through the GI bill, he had other obligations at home.  He had to help support his family financially.  My mom went to court reporting school but wasn't encouraged to go further since she was female.  Her brother did finish college and went on to law school.  With my parent’s lack of a higher degree, they taught us that education would be the only way to succeed.  We would become a bum on the street if we didn’t get a college education.  However, I now understand that education is more than just a degree.  Instead of encouraging just a formal degree, teaching the next generations about having a growth mindset for learning is more critical.

Children (and adults) with a growth mindset believe that intelligence and abilities can be developed through effort, persistence, trying different strategies and learning from mistakes.

Carol Dweck, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

Schooling is only part of having a growth mindset.  If you have a degree but didn't learn anything, you aren't growing.  I know young adults who spent 5, 6, or 7 years getting a piece of paper only to be left unemployable and in debt.  Growing in knowledge is the objective.  Knowledge incorporates skill, understanding, and acumen.  It comes from learning and experiencing inside and outside a formal environment.  Recognize that the core values of resilience, persistence, and making mistakes are part of gaining knowledge.  Creating a growth mindset in your family must begin with a plan.

Begin with listing skills that would be important for the next generation.  The list could be general skills such as Leadership, Financial Acumen, Stewardship, Personal and Interpersonal Skills, Communication Skills, Resilience, Sound Decision Making, Strategic Skills, Courage or Energy, and Drive.  Or it could be more specific such as Family Business, Philanthropy, or Succession.  Once you have completed the inventory, assess who might require those skills.  The evaluation could be done by formal assessments (i.e., DISC or Outmatch) or internal assessments.

Next, determine the core competencies for each skill.  For example, the core competencies in Strategic Skills would be Understanding Business, Making Complex Decisions, and Creating New and Different.  To get some ideas on developing core competencies for each skill, use FYI, For Your Improvement: A Guide for Development and Coaching.  This book is a reference for suggested readings and tasks to advance the identified competencies.

You can now develop an intentional plan for leaving a multigenerational legacy.  Having a growth mindset engages the next generations in assessments, development, and overall strategy. An educational process will be the difference between the 70% failure rate of succession and wealth transfer to a 30% chance of success. 

Develop the next generation to be able to continue the family legacy. Add to the individual’s forms of capital (Intellectual, Human, Social, and Spiritual), not just financial. Doing so will equip the next generation to handle the financial capital.

All good men and women must take responsibility to create legacies that will take the next generation to a level we could only imagine.

Jim Rohn, American Entrepreneur