While there are likely dozens of lessons to be learned from Publix, family business owners and leaders should consider three areas key to Publix’s success over the last 90 years: long-term planning, smart diversification, and strong family culture.

The boards of family businesses must find the proper balance between compensation for the management team working in the business and earnings for the family shareholders who own the business. It is likely that some family members will wear both hats, which heightens the challenge of distinguishing the return on labor (management) from the return on capital (shareholders).

Revenue growth and profitability are critical measures for the health of any family business, but by themselves, they tell only half of the story.  As a family business director, you need the whole story.  We’re not aware that Paul Harvey was a financial analyst, but if he were, we suspect his favorite performance metric would have been return on invested capital, because it tells you the rest of the story.

The meaning of a family business is a function of both family and business characteristics. In turn, it influences the dividend policy, investing, and financing decisions of the company. In this week’s post, we will identify the four potential meanings and correlate family & business characteristics with those meanings.

From the perspective of family business, “Next Man or Woman Up” is one approach that the board of directors can take to management succession. Perhaps for some family businesses, management succession is as simple as pulling the next available candidate from the management depth chart. But we suspect that approach falls short for most family businesses.

European investment banking icon Rothschild & Co. recently announced that 37-year old Alexandre de Rothschild will be taking the reins at the firm, succeeding his father at the bank’s May shareholders’ meeting. The new chairman is a member of the seventh generation of the family. While the future performance of the bank under the younger Mr. Rothschild will be the ultimate barometer of success, the Rothschild family clearly has fostered a culture of developing the next generation. Few families have the long history of next-gen development that the Rothschild’s do, but it is a task that becomes more important with each successive generation. The long-term health of any organization ultimately depends on the quality of the rising generation of leaders, and families are no different.

Management accountability is hard for any company; effective management accountability within a complex web of family relationships can be an order of magnitude more difficult. Since some family members may fill multiple roles, clear and appropriate expectations paired with measurable outcomes are foundational to a management accountability structure that promotes business sustainability and family cohesion.

Communication determines the success of any relationship, and the relationships among shareholders of multi-generation family businesses are no exception.

Based on discussions with family business leaders from across the country at the most recent Transitions conference, we wrote an article addressing themes among attendees, and we continue the discussion in this article. One challenge noted by leaders of multi-generation family businesses was how to promote positive shareholder engagement.

An engaged and informed shareholder base is essential for the long-term health and success of any private company, and a periodic shareholder survey is a great tool for achieving that result.