Saving Your Company By Building Consensus

We often hear it: In any business someone has to be in charge. Particularly in a family enterprise with many active members — parents, brothers and sisters, cousins — it has to be clear who has the final say. Who makes sure that the necessary decisions are made? Who provides the leadership that will prevent the business from self-destructing because of deep-seated family rivalries?

Like many parents, the late Malcolm Forbes of Forbes magazine gave stock to all his children. But you may have noticed that he gave 51 percent of the shares to his oldest son, Steve Forbes — just in case anyone wasn't sure who was to be put in charge.

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