This article was contributed by The Arthur Andersen Center for Family Business, Phil Kupperman, Associate Director. Analysis of corporate failures usually focuses on finance, management or strategy. But especially in family businesses, we are reminded to look deeper - to the psychological roots of the decisions that business leaders make. Levinson focuses on psychological reasons that make change so difficult for once successful organizations.
Past leadership is often paternalistic.
The paternalism fosters loyalty, dependence and uni-dimensional thinking. Paternalistic heritage also makes affecting change very difficult for successors. Successors feel guilty challenging the decisions of great predecessors. Such narcissism promises denial of new realities. Success fosters organizational confidence in how things have been done and how the business is organized.