Meet Banyan’s Thought Leaders
Vlad Barbieri
Partner
Owners have the right to define what are the high-level financial and non-financial priorities for the businesses that they own together. When they are able to align and articulate those, it gives direction (goals) and limits (guardrails) for those making decisions on their behalf.
Josh Baron
Co-founder and Senior Advisor
There’s nothing wrong with your family if you’re struggling with any of these challenges. Rather than assigning blame, focus on how to support each other, as well as what you can learn for the inevitable next time you experience a disruption.
Leigh Blank
Principal
Owner strategy conversations provide a special opportunity for family members within and across generations to share their goals and expectations. Working through differences can bring your family closer together and set a clear path forward.
Fernanda Brasil
Principal
Most of the time, conflict is not about who is right, it is more about what is better for each person. It’s about conflicting perceptions. Investing your time trying to convince the other person that you are right and they are wrong is, most of the time, useless. Listening to what’s important to the other side and discussing possibilities of how to address it is halfway to building an agreeable solution.
Nick Di Loreto
Partner
Disruptions are inevitable both in life and in family business. But how you prepare for those disruptions and the decisions you make in the face of them can fundamentally shape or reshape your family and your business.
Ben Francois
Partner
Family business owners benefit from thinking like investors by answering a few questions: What are we trying to accomplish with this business? What are our financial and non-financial expectations? What risks are we willing to take? How will we measure performance against our expectations? Alignment on the answers to these questions allow a family to commit financial and non-financial resources to a shared vision of long-term success.
Alison Isaacson
Principal
New spouses can play a significant role in the fate of your business family. Find ways to engage them and leverage the unique experiences they bring. You don’t want them to feel like outsiders.
Dennis Jaffe
Senior Research Fellow
In an uncertain, volatile world, you can’t anticipate what will happen or when. But there are two things you can do: create a structure and family mindset that is open, flexible and responsive to change, and put in place processes for managing the most likely disruptions.
Rob Lachenauer
Managing Partner
One of the best things about family ownership is that you don’t have to define success the way other companies might. You can follow your own path in determining what matters most to you and your family.
Judy Lin Walsh
Partner
It’s inevitable that inequality will develop among business families over time. But what’s not inevitable is how you respond. You can choose to be upset or you can choose to grow.
Marion McCollom Hampton
Senior Research Fellow
In the best cases, people marrying in to a family business bring that outside culture of their own family, and that makes the business family stronger.
Aline Porto
Partner
We’ve seen many leaders for whom being an engaged shareholder is a better fit than a day-to-day manager, and vice versa. Find you own path, and remember: it is possible to respect and honor the family legacy and seek personal fulfillment at the same time.
Ana Resende
Principal
Transition and succession are a process, not an event. So, use time in your favor: the sooner you start thinking about it and making intentional choices, the easier the eventual transition will be.
Omar Romman
Partner
Conflict is natural in family businesses, and often comes from family members having different perspectives. We find that when you foster an environment where individuals can hear and be heard, they generally find common ground and are able to mitigate the type of conflict that can be hurtful or make it hard to come to agreement.