家族企业薪火相传之道

4. 没有保证

    第二条规则是：一位家族成员不能仅仅因为带着米切尔这个姓就自动获得工作，他们得有资质才行，技能和激情都不可欠缺，如此才能在各自职责范围内成长。我的子侄选择了不同的领域发展：一位负责财务与管理，另一位专攻销售与推广，还有一位负责营销，剩下几位管理新设的门店。我们的外部顾问委员会和咨询师戴维•波克都支持这一政策。

    如今该规则已屹立二十年，我们的子侄已在公司内担任领导职务，其中两位目前是联合总裁，很快还会变成联席首席执行官。

5. 早日传承股权

    当我最大的两个儿子拉塞尔和鲍勃分别29岁和27岁，而比尔的小儿子泰勒才13岁时，我们兄弟俩就把很大一笔股权转到了他们名下。16年后，剩余的股权也转移了。我们很早就信赖他们能打理好家族企业，使他们成为企业的主人，由此也变得更负责更用心。他们恪守使企业发展壮大的指导原则和价值观，把每一位同事、客户和供货商都当成朋友，与他们构建良好关系，并把企业的方方面面都打理得很好。

6. 保障老一代的经济安全

    一个稳健的传承程序要求，通过财务上的规划，使老一代退休时能拥有家族企业之外的足够的资产，确保“金钱”不成为永远把握控制权的原因。通常情况下，如果家族企业所有人的全部资产都在企业之内，他们的活跃时间往往过长，迟迟不让下一代走上领导岗位，而且还可能变得过分保守，不愿大胆冒险。

 4. No guarantees

    The second rule was that a family member was not entitled to a job simply because their name was Mitchell. They needed to be qualified, possessing both the skills and the passion to grow within their area of responsibility. Our sons ended up choosing different areas: one picked finance and administration, another sales and merchandising, another marketing, and several managing newly acquired stores. Our outside advisory board and our consultant David Bork supported this policy.

    And now, after 20 years, our sons and nephews hold leadership positions within our company. Two of them are co-presidents and will soon become co-CEOs.

5. Pass the equity early

    When our oldest sons, Russ and Bob, were 29 and 27, and Tyler, Bill's youngest son, was only 13, my brother and I gave them a large percentage of the equity of the business. Sixteen years later, the remaining stake was transferred. We trusted them with our business early, and they became much more responsible and accountable because they were owners. They stuck by the guiding principles and values that had served us well, building relationships with each and every associate, customer, and vendor by treating them as friends, and measuring every facet of our business.

6. Provide financial security to the senior generation

    A solid succession process requires a financial plan that allows the older generation to retire with enough assets outside the business to ensure that "money" is not the reason to remain in control forever. Often, when all of their assets are in the business, the owners not only tend to stay active too long and block the next generation from leading, but they also become too conservative, unwilling to take bold risks out of fear that they might cripple the entire business.

7. Communication: candid and transparent

    Of course, our family has had its share of challenges. We are not perfect. And over the years, all of the family and senior non-family executives have agreed that a lack of transparent communication would be the only thing that could pull us apart. So we have many different, yet important, meetings.

    Faithfully, we have scheduled weekly Tuesday morning family meetings. We discuss in a confidential way, in a safe haven of sorts, any issues that are on the active working family members' minds.

    We have had a Family Council since the mid 1990s, which consists of all members of the Mitchell family descended from Ed and Norma, our parents, who are 14 years old and above, including spouses.

8. Have fun

    We work hard and we play hard. Of course, things are not always perfect, yet we clearly all enjoy our family fun.

    Jack Mitchell is the chairman and CEO of Mitchells Family of Stores and the author of Hug Your Customers and Hug Your People.