Books and Tools
What others are saying ABOUT FREDDA’S NEW BOOK…
"Fredda Herz Brown gives a gift to our field, capturing the unique intersection between a family's emotional system and its economic systems. Her depth of knowledge, real-life case studies and practical suggestions bring light to an otherwise opaque and complex topic.”
— Sharna Goldseker, Founder & Vice President, 21/64
"This book is a wonderful articulation of immense wisdom. The chapters on gratitude, generosity and resilience are so well articulated. These lessons are most essential for families to achieve lasting sustainability.”
— Mark Rubin, Head of Tax, Geller Advisors
"Fredda Herz Brown knows this territory well. In the bumpy, sometimes acrimonious journey of owners, she shows us how to find common ground and chart a way forward. This read delivers the benefits of her long experience and lessons learned helping steward enterprising families toward a better future.”
— Roy Richards, Jr., Board Chairman, Southwire Company
“This book's five dimensions of sustainability provide the 'thinking' framework a family needs to tackle the challenge of building a plan to sustain the family's present and future needs. The vignettes bring reality back into focus and are a welcome humanizer to what can feel like theoretical work.”
— Laura Cabot Carrigan, Executive Chair, Cabot-Wellington
"This book's definition of sustainability could not be more spot on. Every decision must be made as a family, for the sake of the family and its business. Unless the family views the development of human capital as an enduring value, versus as an afterthought, the sustainability of the family enterprise will be compromised”
— John D’Addario III, CEO & President, D’Addario & Company
The family enterprise sustainability index
We created the Family Enterprise Sustainability Index (the Index) to answer a central question: “Is my family enterprise prepared to bridge multiple generations in an enduring manner?” The Index looks at five areas our extensive research attributed to successful enterprising families:
Family Legacy and Connection
Governance Structure and Processes
Financial Accountability and Management
Human Capital and Leadership Development
Generosity and Gratitude
In a confidential and anonymous manner, the Index allows families to analyze their current capabilities in each of these five areas, and hone in on where they can place additional resources going forward to bolster sustainability.
We partnered with 21/64 to develop Exploring Wealth as a tool that gets to the human side of wealth, enabling families to thoughtfully consider how their attitudes and behaviors impact their decisions around wealth. This deck of topical questions can be effectively used in a variety of settings and among multiple audiences.
A revolutionary system to assess and develop leadership talent
We believe that the future of family enterprises depends on their ability to cultivate, build, and develop leaders. We created the Family Enterprise Leadership System (FELS) to provide an objective, confidential and comprehensive method to cultivate the leadership abilities and potential of key participants in the family enterprise.
FELS addresses family leadership in a systematic and dynamic way—building an engine for organization-wide leadership development.
We created the Family Diagram in partnership with 21/64 to be a high-touch tool that connects users to the richness of their multi-generational family histories—to your narratives. As users craft their diagram, they will begin to see patterns of behavior at work within their family systems and gain insight into the family dynamics in operation today.
The Family Diagram comes with:
One 14” x 8.5” custom 25-page pad with a legend of key symbols for users to easily draw their diagrams
One pack of colored pencils that allows users to customize their own perspective on their family systems
One stencil of custom shapes so users can clearly build their awareness of their family dynamics while drawing their diagrams
One extended legend of symbols to capture the nuances of the unique roles and relationships that exist within every family
One detailed how-to guide for both users and facilitators
