When Family & Business Collide: How Leaders Handle It

Family-run contracting businesses often start with built-in trust, but blurred roles and boundaries can create challenges as they grow. Jill Bloom and The Glo Group CEO Melissa Chapman discuss how clearer responsibilities, shared goals and healthy boundaries can strengthen both the business and family relationships.

The Glo Group, launched in 2021, works with contractors to align teams, strengthen leadership and scale their businesses. Chapman said the company grew from seeing organizations invest significant time, money and resources into growth initiatives, only to have internal misalignment prevent them from fully executing those plans.

When Family and Business Collide

Chapman said one of the biggest advantages of a family business is that trust is often already established. The challenge comes when family relationships and business responsibilities become too intertwined.

Accountability can become harder, and conversations that would be routine in another organization can feel much more personal. 

Those issues become especially important when the next generation steps into leadership. Chapman noted that what worked for a founder may not work for the second or third generation as markets, customers and the overall business environment change.

Family members who have spent their entire careers inside the company may also lack outside experience that could provide a different perspective on how the business operates.

Processes and expectations can become institutional knowledge rather than clearly documented responsibilities, Chapman said. That can make it difficult to hold people accountable and create confusion over who is responsible for what.

A good place to start is with a shared vision.

Chapman recommends asking owners and key decision-makers where they see the company going. If one person wants to grow while another is comfortable maintaining the status quo, that difference can create friction throughout the organization.

“If the vision from each individual owner or the decision makers are not aligned, that's a big red flag,” Chapman said.

Clarity Creates Accountability

Clearly defined roles are another critical piece.

Chapman said employees and leaders should understand their responsibilities, decision-making authority and when an issue needs to be escalated. That clarity gives people the confidence to make decisions while creating a structure the company can use to hold everyone accountable.

Instead of telling someone they are not doing their job, leaders can point to an agreed-upon structure and determine where expectations are not being met.

“Clarity is so important because with clarity brings confidence,” Chapman said.

Bloom and Chapman also discuss what happens when disagreements become toxic. In those situations, an outside coach, facilitator or mediator can help remove some of the emotion from the conversation and keep everyone focused on what is best for the company.

Healthy boundaries are just as important.

Chapman, who grew up in a family business, recommends keeping work conversations at work and home life at home whenever possible. If a business issue needs to be discussed outside the office, family members should first agree that it is an appropriate time for the conversation.

That separation can help protect family relationships while also ensuring non-family employees don’t feel like outsiders.

For family-run contractors, the message is clear: trust may provide a strong foundation, but long-term success also requires alignment, defined roles, accountability and a willingness to have difficult conversations.