Article published in the Philadelphia Business Journal on June 5, 2023. Revised at 8:00 am.
Wealth, entitlement, privilege, distrust, disloyalty and betrayal create dysfunctional families. There is no better example of this than the family relationships of the fictionalized Roy family in the HBO Max series “Succession” that concluded a four-year run with its final episode on May 28. If you haven’t seen the final episode, be aware of spoilers ahead.
The casting, script, acting and character development are superb. All media reviews of this series focus on family member character flaws and shortcomings. This article focuses on the succession lessons taught by this family-controlled company.
Waystar Royco is an entertainment, news and resource conglomerate led by Logan Roy, the powerful founder, chairman and CEO of the company, and patriarch of the Roy family. The series chronicles the hopes of three of the four Roy siblings—Siobhan (Shiv), Kendall and Roman—to succeed Logan as the company’s CEO. The series also chronicles the struggle to maintain family control in the face of suitors who want to acquire the company.
Logan was shrewd, manipulative, cold, calculating and ruthless. He was a terrible role model as a father. He didn’t instill the values of honor, ethics, integrity, loyalty and trust in his children.
The lack of these values, especially loyalty, was amply demonstrated when Kendall attempted a failed board room mutiny against his own father after he reneged on his commitment to name Kendall as CEO. Logan knew that none of his children were capable of leading Waystar Royco, but never put a CEO succession plan in place. If Logan wanted his children to develop into effective corporate leaders, he should have had them do so at another company outside of his shadow.
After Logan’s death, the siblings vie for the position of CEO in the face of an aggressive effort by GoJo to acquire the company. When it’s Shiv’s turn at the board meeting to cast the deciding vote on being acquired by GoJo, she has second thoughts and abruptly leaves the room.
To the shock of Kendall, Shiv reverses her former position and tells Kendall she will vote for the acquisition. If she voted against it, the Roy family would have maintained control, resulting in Kendall assuming the position of CEO. She says to Kendall, “It’s not all about you. You’re not the most important one,” and “I don’t think you would be good … [as CEO].” She returns to the board room and votes for the GoJo acquisition—the right decision, ending family control of Waystar Royco.
Although Succession is fictional, there are many lessons taught by the series:
- How you raise your children matters, regardless of how privileged they are. They must be taught the values of character, honor, ethics and integrity.
- If children only work for their family company, they will never know if they can make it on their own.
- Family companies need a CEO succession plan to avoid the conflict that Waystar Royco went through.
- Family-controlled companies eventually need to make a choice—do they want the company to be a vehicle to employ family members, or do they want it to be an engine of wealth creation for shareholders? Their company is competing against the best in the world, requiring it to be led by the best who can successfully compete. It’s rare that the most capable leaders can be found inside the family.
The night before the last episode of Succession, my family of 10 gathered at our summer home in Margate, New Jersey, on Memorial Day weekend. As we sat in the living room munching hors d’oeuvres, sipping wine, laughing and telling stories in overlapping conversations, the noise in the room was palpable. I thought about similar scenes in Succession of Roy family gatherings dominated by patriarch Logan Roy—stiff, guarded about what was said and, just as important, what was not said. I thought, I am glad we aren’t the Roy family.
Stan Silverman is founder of Silverman Leadership and author of “Be Different! The Key to Business and Career Success.” He is also a speaker, advisor and widely read nationally syndicated columnist on leadership. He can be reached at Stan@SilvermanLeadership.com.
