The Strategy Was Ready. The Family Wasn’t.

By Prof. Enrique N. Soriano

I have reviewed many strategic plans over the years, and most were thoughtfully prepared. The market analysis was rigorous, the financial projections realistic and the growth initiatives well considered. Yet months later, many of those plans remained largely untouched—not because the strategy was flawed, but because the family enterprise was unprepared to execute it.

The professionals had completed their work.

The family had not.

Family members were still debating decisions that should have been settled years earlier. Siblings disagreed over authority. Some waited for the founder to make every important decision, while others resisted initiatives they had not personally proposed. Entitlement replaced accountability, and long-standing family dynamics slowed decisions that the business could no longer afford to delay.

The strategy wasn’t waiting for the competition.

It was waiting for the family.

Not long ago, a founder proudly handed me a beautifully prepared five-year strategic plan. It reflected months of work by the leadership team, supported by extensive market research, financial analysis and carefully evaluated growth initiatives. Confidently, he concluded, “This will take us to the next level.” It was an impressive plan, and on paper there was little to question. Yet six months later, very little had changed. The strategy itself remained sound. The family enterprise had simply not evolved enough to execute it.

As we reviewed implementation, the underlying issues became increasingly apparent. Important decisions still waited for the founder’s approval. Family executives carried impressive titles but had limited authority. Professional managers hesitated to challenge long-established practices or make significant decisions independently. Departments pursued different priorities with little collaboration. The strategy identified the right direction, but the enterprise had not yet developed the leadership depth, governance discipline and organizational capability required to support its ambitions.

That experience reinforced a lesson I have encountered repeatedly while advising family enterprises across Asia. Growth does not create organizational weaknesses; it exposes the ones that already exist. Many leadership teams approach strategic planning as an exercise in identifying new markets, launching new products or increasing market share. Those discussions are important, but the most valuable planning sessions often uncover issues that have little to do with markets and everything to do with the enterprise itself. They expose founder dependency, unclear accountability, leadership gaps, weak governance, siloed decision-making and organizations that have quietly outgrown the systems that once made them successful. Ironically, these discoveries are often more valuable than the strategy because they determine whether the strategy can ever be executed.

Strategic planning should therefore answer two equally important questions. The first is familiar: Where should we grow? The second is far more revealing: Are we truly prepared to grow? That question forces founders and leadership teams to confront realities they often postpone. Who is genuinely empowered to make decisions? Can management execute without waiting for the founder? Is the next generation ready for greater responsibility? Does the Board provide strategic oversight or merely endorse management’s recommendations? These are not operational questions. They are strategic questions because they determine whether even the best strategy can become a lasting reality.

I concluded my previous article by saying that a business plan helps manage today’s operations while a strategy defines tomorrow’s direction. Allow me to add one more thought. Neither can succeed unless the family enterprise itself is prepared for the future it hopes to create. After more than three decades working with and advising family enterprises—from entrepreneurial start-ups to some of Asia’s largest conglomerates—I have come to believe that enduring businesses are built on three disciplines: understanding their markets, uniting around a shared purpose and continuously strengthening the family institution that sustains both. A strategy may define tomorrow’s ambition, but only a family that is willing to evolve can transform that ambition into an enduring legacy.

Prof. Enrique M. Soriano is Executive Director of W+B Advisory Group. He is a Fellow and Mentor of the Singapore Institute of Directors’ (SID) Board Readiness Programme, a former World Bank/IFC Governance Consultant, and advises boards and multi-generational family enterprises across Asia on governance, strategy, succession and long-term stewardship.