Hello, I am Zach Saint James,
financial advisor with Katterhenry Investment Group of Nest Capital,
and I wanted to take some time to talk about Family Mission statements.
While we don't often think of our family unit as a business, there is overlap
of the day in and day out motions of how businesses and families are ran.
Let's talk about the idea of creating a family mission statement.
Often, when familial and generational wealth start accumulating,
some family members can become left in the dust unintentionally,
especially if this wealth was unknown to them for some time,
or happens suddenly when families come together
to craft a mission statement very similar to business.
We start to see members while living independently,
working together for the good of the family unit.
This will create a shared sense of purpose.
Open up dialog for members to speak freely.
Create space for the rising generation to get involved and incorporate
each family member's unique thoughts, talents and contributions.
Your family mission statement does not need to be an essay.
It can be whatever suits the family, but it should answer these four questions.
Who is your family?
What does your family stand for?
What is your family want to do?
How will your family accomplish your goals?
This is an example of a family mission statement.
Introduction.
Our family has made a conscious decision to remain connected.
We believe that remaining together enables us to actively
and purposely support individual members in realizing and pursuing their callings,
and support members and developing their gifts for the benefit of society.
So where do you go from here?
A family mission statement is not composed by one single member.
Get everyone involved to start outlining what is most important
to each individual that contributes to the family unit.
Start answering questions such as
what are our core values as a family?
Why do we want to stay together?
What family traditions do we want to preserve,
and what impact do we as a family want to have on the world?
How much do we want to be connected?
Versus being independent?
Answering these questions,
we'll start creating the outline of your mission statement.
If those questions seem too daunting at the beginning.
Start simply by asking what matters most to me and why.
One last thing to note
is that when creating these statements, brevity is your friend.
Just like with a business, if it's too long, it is hard to remember.
Hard to track and hard to execute.
Keeping the mission statement short and sweet will be your key
to successfully living out the family's common purpose.
I hope this has given you food for thought as you begin exploring
what your family is all about.
Have fun with creating these open conversations with your family,
and remember that it is never too late to start creating a common goal
and purpose for your family's wealth.