Championing CEOs Of The Future - two program focus on teaching children of chief executive officers - Brief Article

Nation's Business, March, 1999 by Sharon Nelton

Two Midwestern universities are on the cutting edge of what may be a coming trend in family-business education: focusing on the preparation of successors.

Loyola University Chicago's Family Business Center will launch its second 18-month Next Generation Leadership Institute (NGLI) in May. The Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland introduced its 10-month program, "From Sons and Daughters to CEOs," in its 1998-99 academic year, which began in September.

MBA programs and executive-education programs are not sufficient for tomorrow's family-business leaders because they don't address family and ownership issues, say the directors of the new programs--Melissa Shanker at Loyola and Ernesto J. Poza at Case.

Shanker speaks of the NGLI's desire "to be the champion of the successors" and provide them with an opportunity to reflect on what they want rather than blindly follow the lead of a father or an uncle.

"We try to help the successors identify their strengths and weaknesses, get a better understanding of their family culture and how it affects their business, and get a clearer vision for the business and for themselves," says Shanker. The NGLI is designed for individuals ages 30 to 45 who are serving in a top management position or hold a post with substantial responsibility.

"Ideally, they would be slotted to either assume the top leadership role or some sort of shared leadership situation of either the family or the business," she says.

The Case program, says Poza, "talks about succession, development of leadership qualities, dealing with nonfamily members, and becoming skilled and comfortable as a top decision-maker of the family business."

Both universities provide participants with a confidential environment, where they can talk openly with peers who are facing the same issues. Both offer a combination of workshops and seminars and give students an opportunity to test--and gain confidence in--their own leadership styles. The programs are not cheap--$15,000 for Loyola's and $9,000 at Case.

The 15 students from Loyola's first program, launched in 1996, are still meeting with one another monthly, and Shanker sees that as a sign of success. And she believes the students will be "better people" because they've learned so much about themselves.

But the full measure of the NGLI, she says, won't be known until "we see these guys in action five to 10 years from now." The question then will be: Are they better leaders for having gone through the program? That's the real test.