Reading the Harvard Business Review article “How to Lead When Things Feel Increasingly Out of Control,” I was struck by its particular relevance for family-owned firms—businesses often criticized for delaying critical decisions and missing opportunities amid uncertainty and volatility.
This perception notwithstanding, many family businesses bring decades of hard-won experience in navigating uncertainty. They have weathered economic crises, business cycle shifts, family tensions and complex generational transitions.
Yet today’s context feels different. Companies are no longer dealing with passing crises but with perpetual uncertainty: abrupt geopolitical shifts, accelerating technological change, markets destabilized by tariffs and antidumping measures, and an expanding regulatory burden.
These converging forces are intensifying pressure on leaders and their teams, prompting an increasingly urgent question in boardrooms and family councils alike: how do you set direction when you don’t have all the answers?
When fear becomes a roadblock
According to recent leadership studies, the greatest risk facing global organizations is not a lack of information but fear.
Fear rarely appears openly. Instead, it subtly shapes decisions: delaying investments “until we have more clarity,” tightening control, avoiding difficult conversations or protecting the current business at the expense of future growth.
In family businesses, fear is often amplified by three core factors. The first is the weight of legacy: no one wants to be the generation that “botched” what others built.
The second is the overlap between family and business, which makes mistakes feel personal rather than professional. And the third is succession, which adds an emotional layer to any significant strategic decision.
When fear takes the helm, leadership loses its bearings. Prudence is confused with paralysis, control with good governance and activity with direction. The organization stays busy but slowly loses a clear sense of where it is going.
Yet the greater the uncertainty, the greater the need for clarity. So what can family-owned firms do?
Three key ideas for setting direction
1 – Progressive decision-making
One practical step is to choose progress over disruption. Instead of framing investments as all-or-nothing bets, companies can effectively advance through smaller, manageable steps such as pilot projects, limited experiments and staged investments.
This approach reduces perceived risk, enables learning and keeps the business moving forward rather than paralyzed by fear.
2 – Deliberate time for reflection
The second step is to deliberately protect time for long-term strategizing. During turbulent periods, business leaders become consumed by operational fires, conflict resolution and reactive decision-making.
Without dedicated space to reflect on vision and direction, family enterprises drift into purely tactical management, which is where a strong board becomes invaluable.
External directors bring something the family cannot: clarity unclouded by internal dynamics or emotional attachments. That distance allows them to see the forest while others are caught among the trees.
3 – A shared narrative
The third step is to invest in a shared narrative. People crave meaning when certainty is scarce. Family members, non-family executives and employees alike need to understand how their daily work connects to something larger—a vision that extends beyond an immediate moment.
Today, more than ever, the essential act of leadership in a family business is sustaining vision when circumstances push toward short-term thinking. Leading through uncertainty is not about eliminating fear but about channeling it into learning, purpose and focus.
The family businesses that thrive are not those that avoid change but those that balance legacy with adaptation, prudence with action and family with business.
Homepage image: Sina HN Yazdi on Unsplash