Institutionalizing A Family Legacy

It’s often said that the job of a third generation family business is to institutionalize the business. From a business perspective this means raising our quality standards and raising outside capital for all our new deals to increase assets under management in a smart and focused manner. From a family management perspective, it means formalizing a lot of what has been implied in the family for years in the form of a family constitution.

Last year, our family formed a Family Council consisting of my sister (Kimberly Kubin), one of my cousins and myself. Together, the three of us drafted a family constitution. As the family grows, it’s important that our core values are clear to all in the family, those who marry in, and the future G4 as they grow up in the context of our family business.

For us, working hard is first and foremost our most important value. This is a critical part of the fabric of what it means to be in our family. We want to encourage every individual to be a value creator and not a value taker. The second most important value is the concept of stewardship (bit.ly/4hrl6Tw).

In order of importance, the last three values are as follows:
3. Harmony: Family harmony and enjoying spending time with each other. We live these values day in and day out. My 98-year old grandmother lives with us and we derive tremendous joy from having three generations under one roof.

4. Golden Rule: Treat others with the respect that you would like to be treated. Be nice, kind, and honest. We support philanthropic causes and view the privilege of giving back to the community as a core motivator as we grow our business.

5. Growth Mindset (kai zen): Support an environment in which all family members can grow and learn through mistakes and achievements. For the business to be successful every generation has to reinvent what the business does and what makes it special. Be open to continued self-improvement, collaboration with others, and innovation in the business.

By limiting ourselves to five values, we are leaving out a lot and that is by design. Not only do we live these values in our personal lives, it plays a big part in how we do business and who we do business with. Thank you for continuing to be a partner and a friend as we grow our platform at Westlake Realty Group.