Two family CEOs

Whoa! I had the privilege yesterday morning of listening to a high-intensity presentation by E.G. “Jay” Link, president of Kardia, Inc., a legacy planning service, and John Bandimere, Jr., president of the Bandimere Speedway here in the Denver metro area. They were talking about Link’s methodology of legacy planning. (Bandimere is one of Mr. Link’s clients.)

I garnered several really worthwhile insights from the presentation (most found in Link’s book, but, for some reason, I found some of them presented with greater force or clarity this morning). I expect to share them over the next several days. Each one in its own post.

First insight:

In most families, there are two CEOs–and they are usually not the same person! One is the Chief Emotional Officer, the other, the Chief Execuitve Officer.

You’re not going to find yourself with a truly workable estate/legacy plan until both CEOs are in agreement.

Link didn’t come right out and say it, but it was pretty obvious that, in his experience with male business owners who are used to serving as the undisputed executive officers in their family businesses, they often think they can operate in the same way when it comes to the family itself. And, too often, they fail to discuss the details of their estate or legacy plans with their wives.

Well, it doesn’t work that way, Link said. He told the story of one man whose wife, when her husband told her what he had in mind to do (expecting a simple “rubber stamp” on the “perfect” plans he had decided to implement) said, “That’s fine, dear. You do whatever you want. But, of course, I will likely outlive you. And the moment you die, I will rework the plan the way I believe it ought to be.”

Oh!

Link offered several other examples of situations where husbands and wives need to communicate and come to agreement on what will best enable them to fulfill their family and Kingdom purposes.

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