Setting Up a Family Council the Right Way
In many successful families, the very traits that fuel business achievement—confidence, boldness, and persistence—can create unintentional silence around the dinner table. One person’s power may quiet another’s voice. Over time, this imbalance can weaken the unity that families need to sustain shared purpose and wealth across generations.
Enter the family council: a structured forum where all family members are invited to listen, speak, and co-create the values and vision that bind them. It is not a board of directors, nor does it govern shareholders. Instead, it is a platform for consensus-building, long-term thinking, and preserving what matters most: the family itself.
The Importance of Communication Before Structure
But before you rush to form one, consider this: a family council cannot succeed without a foundation of open communication. In fact, as Rodríguez-García and González-Cruz (2024) put it:
“It is only advisable to establish a family council when the family meets certain requirements. Otherwise, the results may be counterproductive… If the family is unbalanced in terms of communication, the family council will be unlikely to have a positive outcome”
The paper Is ‘Something Else’ Needed Before Establishing a Family Council? reveals a simple but often overlooked truth: families must be ready to communicate before setting up formal structures. If communication is strained, forced governance can backfire, intensifying conflict rather than resolving it.
The researchers studied three business families. In one, called Bennu, the council became a success because the family had already cultivated dialogue, listening, and emotional safety. In the others, deep tensions and broken communication turned the council into either an empty ritual or a battlefield.
“Unless these minimum communication standards are met, the business family will struggle to address complicated issues or make decisions on complex matters.”
— Rodríguez-García & González-Cruz, 2024
This is why at The Cecily Group, we focus first on building family communication and cohesion before supporting council formation. Once that’s in place, the council becomes a living, adaptive body as opposed to a rigid, formal structure.
What a Family Council Is—and Is Not
The family council is not about authority; it’s about inclusion. It doesn’t replace the board or investment committee. Its purpose is to strengthen the relational glue that holds a family enterprise together by:
- Encouraging all voices, including dissenters (via the “Tenth Man Principle”),
- Creating shared values and a long-term vision,
- Addressing intergenerational goals like philanthropy and education,
- Supporting wealth preservation through unity.
It’s a forum that allows families to shift from “my way” to “our way.”
The Tenth Man Principle: Hearing Dissent
One powerful idea behind family councils is the Tenth Man Principle, a discipline of giving space to the dissenting view. In any decision-making group, majority thinking can become an echo chamber. The lone dissenting voice may see risks others overlook.
Within the family council, listening to every voice matters, especially the uncomfortable ones. Disagreement, if managed well, makes the family stronger and the vision clearer.
Unity and Togetherness: Keeping the Wealth Together
A key goal of the council is unity: strategic, emotional, and financial.
Without structure, inherited wealth often fragments by the third generation. If each child takes their share and invests separately, the family loses scaling advantages and collective leverage. Coordinated investment, shared philanthropic goals, and thoughtful governance can help maintain performance and reduce risk.
Still, differences in risk tolerance or interest in business among siblings are natural. A well-run council can accommodate those differences by setting shared rules and building consensus around how wealth is managed and distributed.
The Role of External Advisors
Forming a council and keeping it healthy requires continuous effort, and this is where external advisors can offer valuable help.
Salvato and Corbetta (2013) describe how advisors can act as temporary leaders, helping successors or families build confidence, legitimacy, and a shared understanding of leadership before stepping away:
“Transitional leaders need to gradually withdraw as the successor builds competence and earns recognition.”
They also point to three things advisors can support:
- Individual Internalisation – Helping each family leader or participant understand their role and values.
- Relational Recognition – Supporting a successor in gaining trust and respect within the family and business.
- Collective Endorsement – Encouraging the broader family to align behind shared leadership or decisions.
In other words, a good advisor doesn’t run the council; instead, they help the family run it themselves and facilitate communication within the family
Family councils also support hands-on philanthropy, a powerful unifier. Not every family member is interested in business. Some excel in education, the arts, or social causes. The council gives these individuals a place to shine and contribute meaningfully to the family’s legacy. This is where the “5 C’s” come in—Curiosity, Commitment, Courage, Capability, and Confidence—key traits that can be cultivated in all family members, regardless of their role.
To support this collaborative process, families and advisors can benefit from using structured tools like the Family Council Canvas. This interactive framework provides a shared space for family members and advisors to co-create the council’s strategy.. By bringing clarity and structure to early conversations, the Canvas helps families move from ideas to action while reinforcing transparency, trust, and inclusion. Whether you’re just starting out or rethinking your current setup, the Family Council Canvas can make the work not only easier but also more meaningful.
How to Start a Council That Works
Begin with a commitment to communication. Then:
- Start Small: One facilitated meeting per year is enough to begin.
- Create Space: Remove daily distractions—host councils in workshop settings.
- Include All Generations: Involve the young, even as observers.
- Use Advisors Wisely: Not to lead, but to facilitate, coach, and step back.
- Build Slowly: Increase frequency over time as trust builds.
- Revisit Goals: Let the council evolve as the family grows.
Closing Words
A family council, done right, is about creating a safe space for the family to listen, plan, and stay united across generations. But the structure is not the starting point: communication is.
Only when voices are heard, trust is present, and values are shared, can the family council become the meaningful, guiding force it’s meant to be.
As Salvato and Corbetta (2013) put it:
“The Advisor offers a role model to the Junior successor, endorses Junior’s leadership, and eventually withdraws from the transitional leadership role to further confirm Junior’s accomplished leadership.”
If you’re thinking about forming a family council, make communication your first step. And if you’d like support, The Cecily Group is here to help.
References:
Rodríguez-García, M., & González-Cruz, T. F. (2024). Is ‘Something Else’ Needed Before Establishing a Family Council? The Role of Communication in Business Families. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-06-2022-0540
Salvato, C., & Corbetta, G. (2013). Transitional Leadership of Advisors as a Facilitator of Successors’ Leadership Construction. Family Business Review, 26(3), 235–255. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894486513487091
