FamilyNavigator Assessment
Data Informs Your Family's Future
Many family businesses want continuity in ownership and management from one generation to the next. While many senior generation primary shareholders have implemented estate plans to transfer ownership of the corporation to the next generation, they have not paid adequate attention to developing a method for the transfer of the leadership of the corporation.
Since tax codes can be extremely complicated, many families seek legal and accounting advice critical for the successful transition of the business and family wealth between generations. But too often there has been little effort made to clearly and comprehensively capture the voice, vision, values, and wisdom of the family leaders as well as the goals of the rising generation.
A Research-Based Model for Multi-Generational Success
Based on his research, family business expert Dean R. Fowler, Ph.D. developed the FamilyNavigator to highlight four Focus Areas, which are critical for successful intergenerational family transitions. Each of the four Focus Areas has three Competencies which measure and reflect a family’s progress towards transitional success. The FamilyNavigator provides quantitative results for each of these twelve Competencies.
Rooted in a purposeful approach to planning based on the culture, vision, and values of the family, it’s best to work through the four Focus Areas sequentially starting with Family Dynamics and moving on to Preparation & Development and then Business Preservation & Growth. Thinking through and discussing the first three Focus Areas provides the underlying foundation to address the fourth Focus Area of sustainable Transition Planning.
Too often the technical issues of the twelfth Competency – Estate, Financial, and Tax Planning – drive and dominate the planning process. We have discovered the best technical planning occurs after first addressing the other eleven Competencies and building solid foundations of family dynamics, the development and preparation of the rising generations of the family, and family governance rather than simply developed to minimize tax or provide asset protection advantages.
The FamilyNavigator report is based on the analysis of the responses of all the participants who completed the FamilyNavigator questionnaire. It illuminates areas of agreement and disagreement and equips families and their advisors with data that can be used to have important conversations to set the family and business up for multi-generational success.
What is FamilyNavigator?
Developed by Dean Fowler, Ph.D. a pioneer in family business consulting, FamilyNavigator quantifies the inextricably linked ecosystem of individual family members, the family, the family’s organization, and the governance and estate plans that hold it all together.
FamilyNavigator’s statistically validated 69-question assessment surfaces opportunities and risks related to succession and transition planning, necessary for creating an actionable roadmap for optimal transition success.
Much like a SWOT analysis, the FamilyNavigator identifies the perceived strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats faced by the family and family business.
The FamilyNavigator provides ranked results with measurements for each of the 12 Competencies organized into four Focus Areas:
FamilyNavigator ROI
The FamilyNavigator provides family members with clarity, equal stature, and nuanced insight into each other, allowing us to collectively identify specific areas of strength and opportunity, ranging from unique ways to maximize an individual’s interests and special talents to recognizing a true competitive advantage.
With this level setting knowledge, we are then able to successfully guide families through complex alignment discussions and create customized and actionable strategies for the family and its organization, using the discovered strengths to bolster those necessary but under indexing competencies.
Building on the foundational FamilyNavigator discovery, alignment and strategy, we then work to codify ownership, leadership, control and governance, creating the best road map for optimal long-term family and family business success as defined by our clients.
