Myths and Mortals

Myths and Mortals

by Andrew Keyt
Released July 2015
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9781118928967

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Book description

Establish credibility as the new family business leader

Myths & Mortals, Family Business Leadership and Succession Planning provides insights and strategies for successors of family businesses.  Successors often find themselves in the shadow of their parents making it difficult to establish credibility in the family business and tap into their own strengths. The stress of emulating a parent begins to clash with who they are and who they want to be as a leader. 

Written by internationally known business strategist and succession planning expert Andrew Keyt, this guide shows you how to establish credibility, take your place at the head of the table, and run your business your way. In groundbreaking research, Keyt interviewed more than 25 successors of family business legends including Massimo Ferragamo, Bill Wrigley Jr., Christie Hefner, and John Tyson to find out how they overcame the challenges successors commonly face.The analysis from that study formed the basis for the strategies presented here—to help you win the loyalty of those stuck in the old way of doing business, and still focused on their former leader's vision. You'll learn how to take charge without sacrificing your own leadership style, and how to get everyone on board with your vision for the business.

Growing up in the shadow of legendary family business leaders creates a unique challenge for successors to the leadership position. You cannot remove the emotional power of family dynamics from the business, but you can change how you choose to react to it. To be successful, you need to create a sense of identity and credibility, and step out of the shadows of your forbears. This guide provides strategies for doing just that, so you can take the reins and be the effective leader your business needs.

  • Overcome the obstacles successors commonly face
  • Win over those still loyal to their former leader
  • Build your own credibility, separate from your parents
  • Develop your own leadership style and do business your way

 Credibility is elemental to business leadership, but establishing that credibility is the successor's biggest challenge. Myths & Mortals, Family Business Leadership and Succession Planning helps you plan around the obstacles and avoid common missteps so you can lead more effectively right out of the gate.

Table of contents

  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright
  3. Dedication
  4. Preface
  5. Acknowledgments
  6. Prologue: Born in the Shadows
    1. Born in the Shadows
    2. Definition of the Myth
    3. A Journey to Generative Leadership
    4. I Am Not My Father (Differentiation)
    5. It Takes a Personal Vision
    6. Moving the Past into the Future
  7. Chapter 1: Making of a Myth: How stories of heroism help and harm a successor
    1. The Power of the Myth
    2. The Good Story
    3. The Bad Story
    4. Understanding the Reality of the Myth
    5. Origins of the Myth
    6. Feeding the Myth
    7. If It Makes You Happy
    8. Keeping the Next Generation in the Shadows
    9. Idealization's Alter-Ego
    10. Reality and True Truth
  8. Chapter 2: Out of the Shadows: The journey of the successor to lead apart from the myth
    1. Differentiation and the Life Cycle
    2. Overcoming the Successor's Curse
    3. From Hero to Human: Deconstructing the Myth of the Founder
    4. When Successors Chart Their Own Course
    5. When Idealization Interferes
    6. Shining the Light Inward
    7. Asserting the Self in the Family Legacy
  9. Chapter 3: You Gotta Earn It: Earning your way to the top
    1. Your Own Way
    2. Be Honest with Yourself
    3. Building Resiliency
    4. Show Up for Work
  10. Chapter 4: The Strength of Failure: Running the obstacle course of success
    1. Developing Gut Instincts: Learning through Action
    2. The Hard Road to Leadership
    3. No Mistakes; Just Learning
    4. Supporting Failure
    5. Obstacle Courses
    6. The Family Launching Pad: Go Out and Get It
    7. The Shape of Success
  11. Chapter 5: “I Can See Clearly Now”: The origins of a fresh vision for the family business
    1. A Story for the Future: Mission, Vision, and Values
    2. Respect the Past; Do What's Right for the Future
    3. The Rudder of Conviction
    4. Working through Personal Values
    5. Family Planning
    6. Mission
    7. Back to the Future
  12. Chapter 6: Nonstop Learning: Know your weakness and improve
    1. Sustaining Credibility
    2. Respectfully Pushing the Limits
    3. Defining Success: Future Forward
    4. Know Thy Motives
    5. The Necessity of Continual Development
    6. Disciple of the Disciplines
    7. Staying Power
  13. Chapter 7: Feed the Family: Caring for relationships, caring for the business
    1. Dare to Be Different
    2. Heart and Soul
    3. Family Assets
    4. How Competition Can Cripple
    5. From the Founder to the Family
    6. Next Generation
  14. Chapter 8: Me versus We: Sharing the glory of the family business story
    1. The “I” in the “We”
    2. From Legendary to Ordinary
    3. When the Magnetic Center Is Gone
    4. Feels Like Family
    5. More than Money
    6. Dream Weaver
    7. The Brick Wall
    8. Re-Generation
  15. Chapter 9: Decisions, Decisions: Decisiveness amidst ambiguity
    1. The Great Differentiator
    2. Cutting the Gordian Knot
    3. One Decision after Another
    4. Failure Makes the Business Hero
    5. Trap of Perfectionism
    6. Think and Do: The Decision-Making Process
    7. Must-Have Courage
    8. A Sense of Where You Are
    9. Reorientation
    10. The Orientation-Locked Family
    11. A Decisive Workforce
    12. Willing to Fail
  16. Chapter 10: The Inner Light: A plan to illuminate a successor's path
    1. The Need for a Personal Strategic Plan
    2. A Plan to Differentiate
    3. True North
    4. Values
    5. Mission
    6. Action Plan
    7. A Flexible Plan
    8. Let There Be Love
    9. Let There Be Light
  17. Epilogue: Stepping out of the Shadows and into the Light of Your Leadership
    1. Identifying the Myths
    2. Self
    3. Building Internal Credibility
    4. Building External Credibility
  18. Appendix A: Research Note
  19. Appendix B: A Generative Retreat
  20. About the Author
  21. Index
  22. End User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: Myths and Mortals
  • Author(s): Andrew Keyt
  • Release date: July 2015
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9781118928967