The UHNWI Institute DECEMBER MONTHLY THEME – Family Dynamics
Happy Holidays,
We are grateful to our board, faculty and membership for the collaboration that helped make the 4th Annual UHNW Symposium the best year yet. A combination of training — the product of our community’s unique thought leadership — shared learning and opportunities for connection and networking made this event our most engaged and best attended.
For members who were unable to attend, we invite you to visit the Member Portal for session recordings (available starting 12/19), resources, and the best part, tools you can use within your practice.
Family Dynamics and the Holiday Season
This month, in connection with the holiday season, we focus on family dynamics with the expectation that the combination of stress and relatives in close quarters — not to mention the recent election results — may stir the pot, creating uncomfortable conversations that rattle family dynamics. Fortunately, the Institute has several useful resources.
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ARTICLES, WHITE PAPERS & BOOKS
Five Steps to Family Engagement – An Advisers Guide to Family Dynamics
Amy Szostak, Stan Treger, 2024
This white paper identifies five steps that help foster engagement and continuity in multigenerational client families. The concepts shared are supported by both empirical evidence and research in psychology and neuroscience. The steps are accessible and customizable. Emphasis is placed on communication, the power of common purpose and on process over outcome
Family Wealth Advisors Need Skills in Family Dynamics
Dennis T. Jaffe
Advisors have begun to learn that the family is a human system composed of members who are deeply connected emotionally and whose personal relationships often make it difficult to focus on their financial or business choices. As a result, the advisors must learn to understand and work with family relationships and dynamics in order to do the job they were trained to do.
Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High (Second Edition)
Kerry Patterson
Provides the tools to prepare for high-stakes situations, transform anger and hurt feelings into powerful dialogue, make it safe to talk about almost anything and be persuasive, not abrasive.
Values Over Valuables: Daring to Live the Life Money Can’t Buy
Harmon Kong
Shares the wealth managers views on the importance of passing on meaningful values rather than just material wealth.
Tsitsi M Mutendi
Family wealth advisors working with multigenerational families will inevitably confront issues arising from differences in cultures, religions and traditions. Advisors may serve their clients well by developing cultural competency skills to help identify the underlying causes of many family conflicts. This article asserts that wealth advisors also must hone “cultural humility skills,” described as a disposition to be open to learning from clients with cultural differences.
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PODCASTS
Wealth of Wisdom Podcast, Episode 76: Using Genograms to Understand Family Patterns
Tom McCullough and Guillermo Salazar
In this episode, co-editor Tom McCullough interviews Guillermo Salazar, a family business advisor, exploring the power of genograms as a tool for understanding family patterns. Genograms go beyond traditional family trees, using symbols to depict the dynamics and interactions among family members. Join us as we explore the fascinating world of genograms, uncovering hidden stories, identifying patterns and discovering how they can help families shape their legacies and create a brighter future.
Beyond the Balance Sheet
Arden O’Connor, Diana Clark / O’Connor Professional Group, 2022
Advisors to UHNW families are increasingly serving a multitude of roles and, therefore, need well-developed holistic skill sets. Modern trusted advisors are often called upon to recommend valuable resources related to family dynamics, substance abuse and mental health problems, to name a few examples. This podcast series taps expertise from industry leaders to help listeners learn how to identify, discuss and refer client families for needed services.
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VIDEO
Conflict Transformation: Empowering Tools for Positive Change (Part 1) – Masterclass
Arne Boudewyn, Moira Somers, Stacy Allred, 2024
Although disagreements in families can be important drivers for positive change, too much conflict can damage relationships or even lead to estrangement. In this initial masterclass on the topic, three family dynamics experts helped attendees learn how to help clients and families find a balance between too much and not enough conflict. Participants had opportunities for personal reflection and to share in small breakout groups. Part Two will build on the concepts discussed and continue to follow the fictional family case study introduced in this session.
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TOOLS & RESOURCES
21/64 created the Motivational Values Cards as a catalyst for engaging in meaningful conversations about what drives decision-making processes. Each card in the deck represents a value that influences a personal, philanthropic or financial decision. Users can prioritize cards by sorting from top to bottom those values that most motivate their decisions. Utilized with family members, the cards can serve to catalyze discussions across the generations.
