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Setting the table

Succession planning strategies for family business legacies

From passing dishes to passing on a legacy. Informed by survey data from 300 family business leaders, our three-part series helps family businesses set the table for a smooth leadership transition, ensuring their enterprise is sustained for years to come.

A recipe for continuity

At a family dinner, you pass the dishes. In a family business, you pass on a legacy. While leaders understand this intellectually, the process of choosing a successor remains a difficult and deeply personal topic. It demands preparation, trust, and the courage to let go—no small feat for founders who’ve spent a lifetime building the enterprise.


A succession plan, or lack thereof, can be the deciding factor between continuity or chaos during a leadership transition, as lack of a clear plan puts the company’s stability and family harmony at risk.

“... Leaders that embrace a ‘stewardship mentality’—one where they consider themselves caretakers of the organization...may be more successful in getting the topic of succession to its rightful place on the to-do list.” 

— Wendy Diamond, Partner, Deloitte Tax LLP

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