Every family business board has priorities. Unfortunately, most of them are never explicitly named.
For example, some family businesses prefer flexibility. They hold extra cash, avoid locking into long-term commitments, and stay nimble enough to pivot when markets shift. Other families are committed to a certain direction. They pick a goal, back it with capital, and accept short-term risk, because they believe in where things are headed.
Both approaches work. The tension mounts when a board says it’s committed to a certain direction but allocates capital elsewhere. Or the reverse happens.
This is just one of four tensions family business boards navigate. You can read about the other three tension areas in this article.
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