Like Father, Like Daughter Women are running family businesses in record numbers.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
In the traditional world of the family-owned business, only sonsand male relatives were selected as heirs--not the daughters.
Those days are over: Today, female relatives are rising in theranks of family businesses--and in record numbers, no less.
"It's an increasing trend," confirms Leon Danco,Ph.D., co-founder of The Center for Family Business in Cleveland."And it started off as virtually zero."That trend includes more thanjust daughters; other female relatives, includingin-laws, are proving they, too, can be leaders.
"I think families [today] are more open to alternativestructures," says John Messervey, director of the NationalFamily Business Council in Lake Forest, Illinois. "And whatreally drives it is all-around economic self-sufficiency forwomen." Not to mention the changing views of the fathers, whoare gradually becoming more comfortable with the idea that theirdaughter may be just as good--or even better--at running the familybusiness than their son.
Perhaps that's due in part to a distinct, yet important,characteristic Messervey has observed among daughters and sons whoknow they're potential heirs: The sons tend to be impatient forsuccession to occur, while the daughters, in contrast, actuallyenjoy sharing responsibility and working with their father.
But predictably, the transition to a female successor isoften fraught with jealousy and resentment, and many women have towork extra hard to prove they can handle the responsibility. SaysDanco, "When there's anontraditional occurrence, those who felt it wasn'tsupposed to be a consideration are upset."
If the results of a recent survey by Arthur Andersen and MassMutual are accurate, more and more women will be proving themselvesin the days to come: Some 25 percent of the more than 3,000family-owned businesses surveyed indicated their next CEO willmost likely be a woman. That's a fivefold increase overtoday's figure, a mere 5 percent.
Taking Charge
It's not easy taking over the family business, especially ifyou're a woman in a male-dominated field. But that didn'tstop Mary Ann McKenzie-Goode from pulling her family'sHouston-based industrial equipment business out of bankruptcy.
Her siblings (a sister and two brothers) opted for inactiveownership after the board elected McKenzie-Goode presidentfollowing the deaths of her father and grandfather. The transitionwas complicated, and although things have since stabilized, itremains a sensitive issue. "Even though I had worked all mylife, our family business was sort of restricted to the men in thebusiness," McKenzie-Goode explains.
Despite that, she's proved she's more than capable ofsteering the company to success: In 1996, McKenzie Equipment Co.achieved profits for the first time in years and is sure to groweven more, thanks to major technological and professionaladvancements she chartered.
Although skeptical customers were slow to welcome her at first,McKenzie-Goode is convinced the climate is changing and that moredaughters will take over their fathers' businesses down theline. Her advice to other family businesses: "Choose peoplefor the positions [based on what] they're best suited for--noton gender. I see it as there being a job to do, and who's thebest person for the job?"
Contact Sources
The Center for Family Business, P.O. Box 24219,Cleveland, OH 44124, (440) 442-0800
McKenzie Equipment Co., (713) 946-1413, fax: (713)947-9998
National Family Business Council, 1640 W. Kennedy Rd.,Lake Forest, IL 60045, (847) 295-1040
