Changing Stories, Resolving Conflicts: Building Resilient Family Offices

Family businesses thrive when collaborative learning and stakeholder engagement remain high. In this environment, resilience increases enabling all levels of the organization to assess threats and respond effectively to crises. Effective decision-making (growing assets, good outcomes) also develops in this setting, facilitating the development of a new generation of leaders ready for the demands of an ever changing business environment.

Flourishing businesses, of course are challenged by changes in the external marketplace and competitive challenges. But they are also thwarted by the persistent presence of conflict narratives that polarize, thwart, and sap energy while limiting learning.

This webinar addresses the role of destructive narratives — or stories — within organizations that stifle progress and provide the seeds for conflict. These may come in the form of beliefs about the marketplace as well as others within the organization — their abilities, role, motives, etc. Participants will complete the webinar with the tools to diagnosis the state of health of their company’s narrative environment and help them promote a healthy narrative ecology.

Dr. Sara Cobb is a professor and director of the Center for Narrative and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University. Dr. Sarah Federman is a professor of Negotiations and Conflict Management at the University of Baltimore.