Case 7: Small Family Business: The Ambivalent CEO of the
Construction Company
Try to Understand Family Influences
Thomas M. Hubler
Family influences often cloud an otherwise straightforward process of leadership
selection and development. In order to address the management-selection issues in his
business. Dick needs to understand the impact of his family on the process of succession.
The Symanskis also need to understand the negative effect that the first wife’s
alcoholism still has on the family. Through reading about the impact of alcohol on
families, family therapy, and participation in Alanon, a national organization for relatives
of alcoholics, Dick and his sons will begin to see how alcoholism has impeded their
closeness. Such understanding should increase their ability to express feelings and
communicate eff
Paul Frishkoff
Unlike some legendary command-control tycoons in the construction industry, Dick
is an analyzer. He is thorough and cautious, craving data before reaching a decision.
(Witness the conservative balance sheet and the sharp pencil bidding tactics that have
sustained his company.)
Analyzers hate being pushed to make decisions and his sons are pushing. It is
doubtful, by the way, that Dick s interactions with his own father or the difficulties of his
be a family retreat, facilitated by a consultant or therapist with considerable expertise in
dysfunctional families and in alcoholism particularly.