Policies Before It’s Personal
Family businesses are built on trust, shared history, and close relationships. But as Christina Wing highlights in her recent article for Harvard Business Review, “The Formal Policies That Protect Family Businesses from Interpersonal Chaos,” those same strengths can become vulnerabilities without clear structures in place.
Drawing from real-world examples, Christina shows how quickly personal events—like a marriage, a new hire, or a divorce—can escalate into business crises when ownership rules, employment standards, and decision-making processes aren’t clearly defined. Without policies, issues like fairness, succession, and equity ownership often get handled emotionally rather than strategically, putting both the business and family relationships at risk.
In the article, Christina emphasizes her core message: “Make policies before it’s personal.” She encourages families to proactively develop governance structures focused on three key areas:
Ownership: Create shareholder agreements that define who can own shares, address what happens during major life events like marriage or divorce, and establish clear buy-sell mechanisms.
Employment: Implement formal hiring practices for family and non-family members alike, with written job descriptions, performance metrics, and clear compensation standards to prevent favoritism.
Governance: Establish independent advisory boards to provide objectivity, guide strategy, and ensure that critical decisions are made with professionalism, not emotion.
Formal policies are not about creating distance between family members; they are about strengthening relationships by reducing ambiguity, promoting fairness, and protecting the legacy for future generations. Clear agreements around ownership, employment, and marital transitions allow families to focus on growth, leadership development, and unity—rather than untangling preventable disputes.
At Wingspan, we see every day how proactive structure creates space for families to thrive together. Christina’s article is an important reminder that good governance isn’t a reaction to problems—it’s an investment in preserving what makes family businesses so powerful.
