Family Business Succession Planning & Executive Search Blog

When the long-serving HR leader at Bundy Baking Solutions passed away unexpectedly, the second-generation family business faced a critical challenge. The company had grown from a regional manufacturer into a global enterprise, and this loss left a gap when sophisticated people leadership across international operations was most needed.

At Stranberg, we're considering an internal question that guides every decision we make about technology implementation: How do we use artificial intelligence to foster genuine human connection? This is the reality we're navigating: artificial intelligence offers tremendous capabilities to enhance how we work, but it simultaneously threatens the people-first foundation of what makes our work meaningful.

If the phrase "I plan to die at my desk' is uttered by a family business leader, you need to stop and pay attention, because you've just stumbled upon a key risk we call the 'Die at my desk' rule. At the top of an org chart is a single accountable person who keeps an office, and in that office is a desk. If the incumbent leader plans to die at that desk, you have a succession planning problem that has the potential to thwart even the best of plans.