Interview: Handing Over a Family Business Without Losing Its Soul
A second-generation owner on handing over a sixty-year-old company without losing what made it work.
By Maia Lafortezza, Founder and managing partner , 1 min read
A second-generation owner on handing over a sixty-year-old company without losing what made it work. A second-generation owner on handing over a sixty-year-old company without losing what made it work.
Separate family roles from business roles
The family council decides ownership questions; the leadership team runs the business. Writing that distinction down early, she says, prevented most of the conflicts she had seen in other family firms.
Hand over decisions before titles
She moved responsibility for pricing, hiring and suppliers to the next leaders over three years, one area at a time, before any titles changed. By the formal handover, the team was already used to deciding without her.
How we apply this with clients
In client work this usually becomes one priority on the quarterly plan, with a named owner and a measure the leadership team reviews every month. Our leadership partners start with a short diagnostic of where the business is today, then agree the smallest change that will make a visible difference within ninety days.
Key takeaways
- Separate ownership decisions from management decisions.
- Transfer decision areas gradually before titles change.
- Write the family’s principles down while everyone agrees.
Want to apply this in your business? Book a discovery call with a Maia Lafortezza partner.
Maia Lafortezza
Maia Lafortezza founded the firm in 2019 after nearly two decades across corporate finance, strategy consulting and operations. She began her career in transaction advisory, led growth and operating-model projects for mid-market and family-owned companies, and then served as chief operating officer of a European industrial group through a period of rapid expansion. Today she leads the firm's strategy and leadership practices, advises founders and boards directly, and writes on operating models, decision rights and building companies that last. She works in English, Italian and French.
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