Succession Planning
Enable effective leadership of your family enterprise today and in the future
The Challenge
Family businesses today face the daunting challenge of changing leaders at a time of rapid technological transformation, economic disruption, political dysfunction, and increased competition.
Additionally, research suggests that two-thirds of families intend to share control and decision-making among a group of siblings or cousins rather than vesting in a single controlling owner, introducing additional governance complexity and elevating the importance of effective leadership and coordination across the enterprise.
Our Solution
LGA’s Succession Planning services provide you with the tools you need to ensure a successful generational transition. We often begin by exploring the following key themes and questions:
Leadership selection first requires defining the strategic and organizational needs of the future. What do you want the enterprise to look like in 10 or 20 years, and what type of leadership will be required to get you there?
Leadership selection must be “data-driven” and anchored in your family’s unique vision and values. Do you have enough reliable information about the strengths and weaknesses of successor candidates to vet them fairly? Wise incumbent leaders do not choose their successors on their own. How will you involve the board and other key stakeholders to optimize the selection process?
Succession isn’t just about replacing the top leader. How can succession planning for all key leadership teams be designed and coordinated to set your family enterprise up for long-term success?
Succession is a process, not an event. How can you, as incumbent leaders, plan your departure while supporting new leaders as they take charge?
How does it work?
As we gather answers to these and other critical questions, a clearer picture of future leadership and a feasible process for transition will begin to emerge. Throughout this process, LGA advisors will support you in:
- Reviewing existing contingency plans and creating them if none exist
- Discussing your timetable for transition
- Designing and launching a transition team to manage the complex succession process
- Conducting a strategic analysis of your family enterprise’s future leadership needs
- Designing a comprehensive program to develop and evaluate rising-gen leaders
- Supporting the selection process for future leaders and helping communicate the results of that process with all key stakeholders
- Planning meaningful roles and activities for senior leaders after they have transitioned out of active leadership
How does your family benefit?
Families emerge from LGA’s Succession Planning process well-prepared to manage this complex organizational change, with a dedicated transition team, heightened engagement from all key family and non-family stakeholders, a program to develop and evaluate rising leaders, and a plan to support senior leaders as they transition into new roles.
Connect to learn more about our Succession Planning services
Case Studies
Case Study: Sustaining Engagement in a Cousins Consortium
Three third-generation Family Directors of a large enterprising family were attending a global conference focused on innovation and growth. Their 90-year old family had deep pride and gratitude for the success and leadership of previous generations. However, there were no family members currently working actively in the business, and the family’s only connection to their vast operations — which spanned eight industries and three continents — was limited to these three members of the Board.
Case Study: Beginning the Journey of Continuity
A successful entrepreneurial couple on a long overdue vacation was reflecting on the future. Together, they led a portfolio of operating companies, an investment portfolio, and a donor-advised fund. They also had three healthy adult children, the eldest of whom was about to get married.
Related insights
Why It Took Me Three Years to Finish HBO’s Succession and What It Teaches Us About How Not to Run a Family Enterprise
I tried to watch the award-winning HBO series on numerous occasions, stopping repeatedly, not because it wasn’t brilliant, but because it was brutal. The cynicism, humiliation, and constant power games felt too extreme. For anyone working closely with multi-generational family enterprises, this world of perpetual chaos and zero-sum power felt not only far removed from our reality, but was also a painful mirror reflecting everything that causes a family enterprise to fail.
LGA Insights – October 2025
In this edition, you’ll find a fresh perspective on the “three circles” from Nate Hamilton, who introduces a powerful metaphor of the Enterprising Family Tree, visualizing how Family, Ownership and Business systems are all inextricably linked.
We also feature the latest insights from Fernanda Jaramillo and Gustavo Carvajal who examine the critical role of the Board Chair in a family enterprise.
The Enterprising Family Tree: Nurturing Your Roots for Lasting Growth
Envisioning the family enterprise as a tree allows us to better understand the practical hierarchy at play: the roots represent the foundational family dynamics, the strong trunk embodies the ownership structure, and the expansive canopy symbolizes the diverse business ventures. This visual framework brings new clarity to the dynamic interplay of roles, responsibilities, and priorities across all facets of the family’s enterprise.
Stewarding businesses into institutions
In light of the many crises that haunt the daily news cycle, there is one segment of the corporate landscape that seems to be weathering the storm better than most: family businesses.
Generations Of Giving
“A thorough and powerful work, Generations of Giving: Leadership and Continuity in Family Foundations demands.
How can I start the conversation about retirement with my parents?
Tools for the next generation to approach the retirement conversation tactfully with patience, strategy and smarts.
Featured advisors
Jeremy Cheng
With over two decades of experience in the field of family enterprise, Jeremy works closely with enterprising families to develop and review their governance systems, facilitate strategic transitions of their legacies, and nurture individual and organizational capabilities to achieve their shared future.
Michal Lubovsky
Michal brings over two decades of experience as a senior HR executive and strategic consultant, specializing in guiding leadership teams through complex organizational transformations, ownership strategy, and the critical implementation phases of transition.
Lira Low
Lira Low is a conflict management specialist and a mediator, as well as a facilitator and executive coach. She facilitates sensitive conversations with and between different generations of enterprising families to support understanding, clarity and alignment on governance processes and systemic dynamics.
Isabel Pardo
Isabel brings two decades of international wealth management expertise, serving as a dedicated advisor to wealthy and enterprising families. She is passionate about cultivating lasting relationships, built on a foundation of trust and an in-depth understanding of each family’s unique vision and legacy goals.
Claire Jung
Claire Jung is a trusted family advisor with over 15 years of experience working alongside with family business enterprises and family offices across Asia Pacific region. She brings deep expertise in family governance, succession planning and legacy structures – combining technical tax knowledge with a strong understanding of family systems.
Ernie Patterson
Ernie is focused on designing, implementing, and supporting governance systems and educational programs within complex multi-generational family enterprises.