How can a family office align finances with purpose? The recently released book
Reshaping Reality: Unlocking the Potential of the Single Family Office, edited by Greg McCann, founder, board member, and advisor of Generation6 Family Enterprise Advisors and Jill Barber, president of CYMI Holdings., explores this issue from a number of perspectives. Each chapter is written by a different family office expert, offering advice on topics such as leadership, the perception of wealth, and keeping the family office relevant.
Jill Barber says the book is aimed at two audiences:
Families thinking about setting up a family office: “If you go to your accountant and your attorney, they’ll likely say that the family office is about protecting the money,” says Barber.. “That’s important, because money is the fuel – but it’s not the oxygen. So what’s the oxygen? We ask people to think more broadly about the intellectual capital, about the cohesion of the family, about relevancy. Step back and not only think about the financial capital but about the other types of capital you should consider when setting up this endeavor.”
Professionals who work in family offices: “You’ve built a great foundation of technical expertise. Now can we take it to the next level of really being in partnership with the family?” Barber says. “Healthy, wealthy families change the world: If the family is healthy and has the wealth, they will make enormous change in the world for the good. That doesn’t mean just protecting the money – it’s helping the individual be healthier. If you have a 27-year-old billionaire that doesn’t know how to get from point A to point B in a day, what are they going to do with that money? But if you have one that has the resilience and competency to make decisions, then that wealth is in a good place and will improve not just the individual but the world as a whole.”
