In this episode, my guest is Patti Durand - author, speaker, facilitator, and mediator ​​specializing in succession planning for family businesses. Patti has just released her first book, The Future Leader - which is effectively a workbook families can read together and use as an instruction guide to work through the tough stuff. We discuss how much of the strife families experience is simply because they do not yet have the language to communicate their needs in a clear and effective way.

Patti shares key information about how assumptions, accountability, and avoidance play a big role in the success of the successor and what you can do to assure it. Our conversation is geared towards folks in agriculture, but Patti has made it a priority to make sure anyone reading her book, no matter their background or gender, is able to benefit from the wisdom within.

Access the full show notes for this episode at elainefroese.com.

Discover more about our guest: Patti Durand

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Timestamps

0:00:30 Introduction to Patti Durand 

0:01:21 Why the title to Patti’s book changed

0:03:00 Patti’s path to Brightrack Consulting

0:05:52 Patti’s key messages

0:06:53 Why the book was written in 2nd person and without gender 

0:09:21 Giving farmers the language they need for hard conversations

0:10:30 The thing about assumptions

0:13:23 Awareness and better decision-making at an earlier age

0:16:14 What’s stopping people from breaking down assumptions

0:17:15 Transparency and personal wealth bubbles

0:20:23 Accountability when you don’t know the answer

0:21:58 Why founders find financial transparency so difficult

0:23:39 Communication habits that are not serving us

0:24:50 A peer network beyond your family

0:29:30 What drives Patti’s passion