Family Business Succession Planning & Executive Search Blog

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.

Your parents didn't succeed by preserving artifacts. They succeeded by being willing to make tough decisions and adapt to changing circumstances.