Transitioning from one generation to the next is one of the biggest challenges in family businesses. I liken it to changing canoes in a middle of a lake. While there can be different issues at play, sometimes the challenge is that the parent can’t let go because of a felt loss of identity giving up the role they have had.

Rather than a sense of loss, Richard Rohr (https://cac.org/richard-rohr) believes letting go is the source of a renewed peace of mind. As long as you think you’ve got to fix everything, control everything, solve all the problems, explain everything, and understand everything you will never be at peace.

Unique to family businesses is that the dance of life is at hand. Simple in thought, though recognizably more difficult to achieve, your identification with the pattern of life of next generation going forth from the vantage point of having ridden on your shoulders is the beginning of letting go and peace.