Leadership Development for Family Business C-Suite (2nd & 3rd Generation)

Learn the basics of crafting a family charter to guide leadership and governance across generations.

78% of family businesses expect a CEO transition within the next decade , which means many leadership teams are already operating inside the succession window whether they have admitted it or not ( Deloitte , 2025) .

78% of family-business executives expect a CEO transition within 10 years . In practice, that means a familiar family disagreement is often unfolding at the exact moment the business needs clear authority, fast decisions, and visible alignment ( Deloitte , 2025) .

You announce the successor at the quarterly leadership meeting, and everyone nods. Then the real decisions still route back to the founder by Friday. That is the succession paradox in a second-generation family business .

85% of family business executives say strategic CEO succession planning is critical to long-term success, yet many still approach the transition as a date on a calendar, not a system of leadership transfer ( Deloitte , 2026) .

Over 3,000 enterprising families have worked with The Family Business Consulting Group since 1994—so ask yourself: if family values are so central, why do they still fail so often in leadership transitions?

Only 5 to 15 percent of family businesses continue into the third generation —so what exactly are you still assuming informal governance will handle? If your family firm is approaching that handoff, the real risk is rarely a lack of commitment.

Around 70% of family businesses do not survive the founder-to-second-generation transition. That is not a commentary on effort; it is a warning about what succession demands from leaders who inherit both a business and a story ( Springer Nature , 2023) .

78% of family businesses expect a CEO transition within the next decade. That sounds like readiness. In practice, it often means a deadline is approaching faster than the business is preparing for it.