NextGen Leadership: Preparing the Next Generation to Lead the Family Business – London, 25–29 Jan 2027

Programme overview

Technical depth: Practitioner · Practical mode: Role-play

Introduction

Family enterprises invest heavily in the business but often leave the development of the next generation to chance. Successors join without clear entry rules, struggle to earn the respect of non-family managers, and avoid the conversations with parents, siblings and cousins that would settle their role. This Core Concept course prepares next-generation family members to lead and own responsibly, combining leadership, ownership literacy and the difficult conversations family roles demand. Participants rehearse those conversations in role-plays and leave with a NextGen Leadership Development Plan for their own path in the family enterprise.

Course Objectives

• Assess personal readiness, motivation and preferred role in the family enterprise using recognised next-generation frameworks
• Interpret financial statements and board papers well enough to act as an informed owner
• Build credibility with non-family managers through structured feedback, coaching and situational leadership
• Negotiate role, responsibility and development expectations with the senior generation
• Handle sibling and cousin tensions and perceptions of nepotism constructively
• Produce a NextGen Leadership Development Plan agreed with a mentor or sponsor

Target Audience

• Next-generation family members holding or preparing for management roles in the family business
• Family members preparing to take up board or family council seats
• Next-generation owners responsible for stewarding shares they hold or will inherit
• Family employees rotating through functions as part of a structured development programme
• Managers and advisers responsible for next-generation development within business families

Course Outline

Day 1: The Next Generation in the Family Enterprise

• Three-Circle Model: Roles Open to the Next Generation
• Successor Commitment Types: Affective, Normative, Calculative and Imperative (Sharma and Irving)
• Emotional Ownership and Psychological Ownership of the Family Firm
• Family Employment Policy Entry Rules and Outside Experience Requirements
• NextGen Readiness Self-Assessment with the Johari Window

Day 2: Leadership and Ownership Frameworks

• Stewardship Theory and the Responsible Owner Role
• Situational Leadership II for Leading Non-Family Teams
• 70-20-10 Development Model and Kolb Experiential Learning Cycle
• Owner Financial Literacy: Reading IFRS Financial Statements and DuPont Analysis
• Family Governance Institutions: Assembly, Council and NextGen Committee

Day 3: Earning Credibility at Work

• Feedback to Non-Family Colleagues Using the SBI Model
• GROW Coaching Conversations with Direct Reports
• Board Paper Review and Shareholder Question Preparation
• Mentor and Sponsor Agreements with Senior Family and Non-Family Leaders
• 360-Degree Feedback Interpretation and Development Priorities

Day 4: Difficult Conversations and Problem Cases

• Principled Negotiation with the Senior Generation (Fisher and Ury)
• Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Modes in Sibling and Cousin Rivalry
• Entitlement, Nepotism Perceptions and Merit-Based Safeguards
• Career Pathway Matrix: Operator, Board Member or Engaged Owner
• New Venture Proposals Using the Business Model Canvas

Day 5: Role-Plays and the Development Plan

• Role-Play: Proposing a Role Change to the Senior Generation
• Role-Play: Presenting a Proposal to the Family Council
• Role-Play: Leading a Sceptical Non-Family Team
• NextGen Leadership Development Plan Drafting
• Peer Coaching Review and Commitment Statement

Skills You Will Gain

• Self-Awareness and Reflection
• Owner Financial Literacy
• Situational Leadership
• Coaching Conversations
• Intergenerational Negotiation
• Family Conflict Management
• Stakeholder Credibility Building
• Responsible Ownership

Why Attend This Course

• Return with a NextGen Leadership Development Plan, rehearsed in conversation and ready to agree with a mentor or sponsor
• Walk into a family council or board meeting able to read the papers and ask the right questions
• Practise the conversations with parents, siblings and non-family colleagues that are hardest to hold at work
• Build a peer network of next-generation leaders from family enterprises in other sectors and countries

Conclusion

The next generation earns its place in a family enterprise through capability, credibility and a clear sense of the role it wants to play. This course moves from understanding the family, ownership and business system and personal motivation, through leadership and ownership frameworks, to the feedback, coaching and board skills that build credibility and the conversations that settle roles and tensions. The final day rehearses those conversations and turns them into a NextGen Leadership Development Plan that participants take back and agree with their mentor or sponsor.