Stakeholder Coaching, Moderation & Mediation

Wherever families and businesses meet, tough discussions, underlying conflicts or even open disputes can arise. How much economic and emotional value is destroyed in the process depends crucially on how the individuals have developed their perspective and resilience as well as how good the conflict management of the family and its professional advisors is. Family enterprises fail much more often due to conflicts within the family than because of difficult market conditions. They are dependent on a functioning power-sharing relationship between the family and the business. If this no longer works, the shareholding family’s ability to act and manage is threatened, and decisions on important strategic issues become impossible.

Our experienced moderators, mediators and certified coaches are experts in resolving these painful situations – by ending disputes peacefully, without involvement of the press and courts, and before adversarial lawyers are called in. Internal disputes waste a huge amount of energy that is needed elsewhere. The aim is to repair some of the trust that has been destroyed – in such a way that people can get on well with each other again afterwards. Ideally, by continuing to cooperate as family members and as shareholders – and in some, more extreme cases by separating and parting ways.

We support you in addressing and managing conflict situations, by:

• Conducting 1:1 highly confidential discussions with all stakeholders involved.
• Analysing the foundation of the conflict, separating ‘emotional baggage’ from the past and identifying areas of common ground.
• Providing feedback individually and – in an anonymized format – to the family.
• Organising and moderating workshops with the aim of helping the family to regain its ability to act as responsible shareholders.