Talking Business with Tom Garrity: The Next Generation’s Dilemma 

Stay in the family business or blaze their own trail?

In my last column, I wrote about the “silent risk” facing Lehigh Valley family businesses: the next-generation stall-out that happens when leadership transfer gets delayed, avoided, or forced by circumstance. The natural follow-up question I hear from both parents and their adult kids is simpler — and harder: Should the next generation even stay?

Nearly 886,000 people call the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metro home, and our economy is a mix of manufacturing, health care, logistics and retail. The Lehigh Valley’s workforce board reports that these four sectors account for about 45% of local employment. Translation: There are plenty of solid careers here that don’t require inheriting anyone’s last name.

Add the region’s strong higher-ed pipeline — LVAIC alone includes six local colleges and universities — and you can see why many Next Gens look at the broader market and think, “Why come back … especially if it comes with family drama as a signing bonus?”

Here’s the core tension

The family business can be a rare platform — REAL responsibility, REAL upside, REAL legacy.

It can also be a pressure cooker — unclear expectations, limited autonomy, and a performance review conducted at Sunday dinner.

If you’re a parent-owner, the worst mistake is assuming loyalty will do the heavy lifting.

If you’re Next Gen, the worst mistake is treating the decision like a binary: Stay forever or leave forever. Most successful paths are staged and intentional.

One note that surprises both sides: “Stay” doesn’t have to mean “start Monday and never leave.” Healthy transitions often use an on-ramp: a few years outside the firm, then a planned return with rotations through operations, sales, and finance, and a clear line of sight to leadership. That approach fits this region’s reality — an economy big enough to build experience, and a family business big enough to benefit.

What’s driving Next Gens away:

1. Ambiguous roles. “We’d love you to come in” is not a job description.

2. No real authority. Title without decision rights is a fast track to frustration.

3. Leadership bottlenecks. When the founder is still the hub for every big call, the Next Gen is stuck as a spoke.

4. Compensation confusion. If pay is unclear, fairness gets questioned.

5. Family conflict. Unresolved issues don’t disappear at the office door.

Action steps for parents (future former-CEOs):

1. Make the offer real. Define the role, outcomes and decision rights.

2. Build a development track. Assign stretch projects that matter — customers, operations, P&L — not busywork.

3. Set staged handoffs. Not a magic retirement date, but clear milestones: “You own this role by Q3.” “You lead that team by year-end.”

4. Professionalize governance. A real board and clear rules reduce the emotional fog that drives talent away.

5. Separate love from performance. You can be a supportive parent and a demanding leader — just don’t mash them together. Love, power and money are powerful forces in a family business.

Action steps for Next Gens:

1. Get clear on your “why.” Are you staying for opportunity — or for approval?

2. Earn outside credibility. A few years in another organization builds judgment, resilience and confidence that can’t be manufactured inside the family firm. You learn how other leaders think, how other systems run, and how performance is measured when no one feels obligated to protect you.

3. Ask for clarity early. Role, authority, compensation, expectations. If the answers are vague, your future will likely be vague too.

4. Learn the enterprise, not just the job. Know how cash flows, how risk is managed and where money is actually made.

5. Don’t confuse respect with silence. If something isn’t working, name it.

A better question for both sides

Instead of “Are you coming back?” or “Are you leaving?” try this:

“How do we design a path where the next generation can choose this business — not just inherit it?”

Because the truth is, the Lehigh Valley has options. If you want your Next Gen in the family business, make it a place where capable adults can lead, grow and be trusted.

Otherwise, they’ll blaze their own trail – and they won’t be wrong.