Family Business Successor Mentoring

Family business successor mentoring gives the next generation one dedicated, outside mentor for the personal side of succession: getting ready, working for a parent, earning the respect of longtime staff and making decisions under family pressure. At Blackburn, sessions are by video anywhere in the United States or in person in Los Angeles. It complements, and never replaces, the family’s succession consultants, attorneys and advisers.

What does a successor mentor work on?

Readiness: building a work history, including time outside the family business, and the habits a leader needs.
The first year inside: routines, priorities, listening before acting and following through on commitments.
Decision making: thinking through hard calls with someone who has no stake in the outcome. See how to make decisions.
Relationships: with parents, siblings, cousins and non-family managers.
Life outside work: sleep, health, money habits and relationships, so the business does not swallow everything.
The question of whether to join at all, asked honestly. Our joining the family business checklist is a good starting point.

Who it is for, and who it is not for

It suits young adults preparing to join, those in their first years inside, and those being groomed for leadership who want a confidential sounding board. Parents and family offices sometimes suggest it; the successor should want it too, or it will not work.

It is not a substitute for a succession plan, governance work, legal structuring or family therapy. Where family conflict has become serious, a licensed family therapist or a family business consultant is the better first step.

How is this different from a succession consultant?

A succession consultant works with the whole family and the company on ownership, governance, timelines and leadership transfer. A mentor works with one person, week after week, on how they show up. Put simply: the consultant designs the plan, and the mentor helps the successor become ready to carry it out.

Succession consultants and attorneys handle structure, ownership and legal matters.
Financial and tax advisers handle the money. Our mentors do not give financial, legal, tax or estate advice.
Executive education and leadership programs teach management skills in a classroom.
A mentor turns goals into weekly steps and checks in between sessions so they happen.

How do you handle working for a parent?

This is often the hardest part. A mentor can help a successor:

Separate the parent from the boss: different conversations, different times, sometimes different places.
Ask for feedback directly instead of guessing from tone at Sunday dinner.
Prepare for difficult conversations about role, pace and authority.
Notice when they are seeking approval rather than making the right call.
Set boundaries that protect the family relationship. See setting boundaries with parents.

How do non-family managers fit in?

Longtime managers often know the business better than any successor will for years. Smart successors treat them as teachers, report to one of them if possible, and earn trust through competence rather than title. A mentor helps the successor plan those relationships, handle the awkward moments and avoid the common traps: changing too much too soon, going around a manager to a parent, or treating loyalty as a given.

What it looks like week to week

One dedicated mentor. The same person every week, who gets to know the client’s goals, schedule and habits.
Goals broken into weekly steps. Big aims become small, specific actions with a day and time attached.
Sessions weekly or several times a week, 30 or 60 minutes, by video anywhere in the United States or in person in Los Angeles.
Text and phone contact between sessions, so a plan made on Monday is still alive on Thursday.
A weekly plan (billed week to week) or a monthly plan. We do not publish prices; rates are reviewed on the free intro call.

With the successor’s permission, updates can go to parents or family advisers. The successor helps decide what is shared.

How to start

Take a short assessment. Tell us about the student or yourself and the goals. It takes about five minutes.
Have a free intro call. Our team reviews it personally and sets up a short call.
Meet the mentor. We match each person with a mentor whose experience and style fit.
Start the plan. 30 or 60 minute video sessions on a weekly or monthly plan, scheduled in your local time.

For the broader service, see next generation mentoring, and advisers can read our page for wealth advisors and family offices.

Questions to ask any provider

Is the mentor independent of the family and the business?
Who is the client, and who receives updates?
Does the mentor stay out of legal, financial and governance advice?
How often do you meet, and what happens between sessions?
How will we know it is working?

Common questions

Who usually hires a successor mentor?

Often the family or the successor, sometimes after an adviser suggests it. Either way, the successor needs to want the work for it to help.

Is this the same as executive coaching?

Not quite. The focus is broader and more personal: readiness, routines, family relationships and follow-through, with one mentor who checks in between sessions.

Will the mentor report to my parents?

Only with your permission, and you help decide what is shared.

Do you work with family businesses outside Los Angeles?

Yes. Mentoring is by video anywhere in the United States and in person in Los Angeles.

Get started

Preparing to step into the family business and want an outside voice? Call (888) 305 5422, email contact@blackburnmentoring.com or start with a short assessment. A member of our team reviews every assessment personally and sets up a free intro call.

Mentoring for Family Business Successors