Borrowed from Your Grandchildren

CHAPTER 14Family as a Cross-Generational Learning Community

Consider a young third-generation family member from a wealthy and successful family. She grew up barely knowing her cousins who lived in different cities. She is proud of the business that bears her mother's maiden name, but neither her cousins nor the family business are a day-to-day reality for her. Her parents and siblings are her anchors, but she has never seriously considered any specific role in the family enterprise. Not that she isn't capable—it's just not on her radar.

When she is about to start high school, the extended family holds the first of what becomes an annual family retreat. She spends fun time with her cousins and discovers how much she has in common with them. Upon learning the history of the family's legacy business and the role of the new family office, she has the notion that perhaps she might study business and eventually have a role in sales and marketing. She then takes a mini-course with her cousins about budgeting, household expenses, and credit cards, topics she had never thought about, as her parents paid for everything. She loves the summer meetings and volunteers to join the committee to plan next year's meeting. This is how a third-generation family initiates the opportunity for the next generation to become a legacy family.

By learning with her extended family, she became aware of new opportunities and found a possible path for participation in her generative family. The previous ...