Governance of Family Businesses must include the concerns of the numerous and diverse third generation. Establishing a set of councils and boards is essential in addressing critical transition issues. With a Governance Model, Family Businesses can address acute short-term challenges and prepare the business for subsequent generations. Kickstarting the change process is sometimes the most difficult part of the sibling-to-cousin transition. Ideally, aunts and uncles call the cousins together and say, “What has worked so well for us and makes us proud of what we have achieved will not work for you. You must go out and find your own model.” When siblings are wise enough to give such a mandate, the cousin generation has a greater chance of enlisting support from the earlier generation and being successful.
