The cost of conflict

When most people hear the phrase “dysfunctional family,” they take it to mean that a family has issues or challenges that may have broken down traditional loving bonds. While unfortunate, episodes of dysfunction, or even conflict, are fairly common in many families, but in most cases they don't have fiscal repercussions.

That's certainly not the case when a family business is at the center of family conflict. And, if the underlying issues that have led to surface issues like compensation, hidden agendas, and communication are left unresolved, the family will derail — and so will the business.

The fact is, most complex conflicts at family businesses aren't really about a specific issue, but are the result of relationship-driven problems that could go back to childhood. These underlying issues can include: