Succession planning is one of the biggest challenges family businesses face, with aging leaders often reluctant to let go of their power.
While we’re experts in family business and not politics, we couldn’t help but notice striking parallels between our research and the dynamics of the 2024 election campaign. For much of the race, the leading candidates were former incumbents – both over age 75 and both resistant to stepping aside.
As the race unfolded last year with both candidates digging in their heels – well, we can’t say we were surprised.
While Joe Biden eventually ended his run after an intense pressure campaign – a decision he reportedly regrets – Donald Trump stayed in the race and campaigned his way to victory. In fact, Trump, despite being unique in many ways, acted like a typical owner of a family business. Which, of course, he is.
That’s why research into family business offers a useful lens through which to understand current events.
What research reveals about family business leaders
Family businesses are the backbone of the American economy, by some estimates representing about 90% of all U.S. enterprises. Up to 40% of family businesses at any given time are facing a succession issue, yet many avoid planning for it, opting to wait out the leader. And by 2030, more than 30% are expected to lose their leaders to retirement or death. The challenges of finding a successor are particularly significant when a leader is buoyed by what family business researchers call “heroic self-concept.”
People with a heroic self-concept – an idea that was introduced to the family business literature in 1989 – believe they have a heroic mission and derive a sense of heroic stature from their attachment to leadership roles. Examples from history include Winston Churchill and Theodore Roosevelt. From business, think Richard Branson of the Virgin companies, or Steve Jobs of Apple.
But while anyone can be a hero, not everyone has a heroic self-concept. In our recent study of more than 1,000 family business leaders – 785 men and 263 women – we found that male but not female leaders of family businesses were motivated by heroic self-concept.
Our work was informed by “precarious manhood theory,” a concept from social psychology that argues manhood is a status men have to fight to achieve. It’s hard-won, easily lost and must be proven continually.
Our findings suggest “letting go” is a particularly fraught issue for male leaders for precisely this reason: They’re more likely to feel a need to continually pursue a heroic mission and cultivate their heroic stature.
Trump as the family business patriarch
With his long history as a family business leader, Trump offers a natural extension of our work. His entire career has been spent cultivating a heroic stature. He consistently emphasizes his business successes, portraying himself as a dealmaker, a winner and a man with a mission.
While it’s important to note that this analysis is based on our research findings and doesn’t represent a clinical evaluation, we think Trump’s reluctance to let go illustrates three key insights from family business research.
First, family business leaders are motivated by a sense of unfinished mission. Trump’s tagline, “Make America Great Again,” speaks to the heroic mission. The heroic mission is an achieved status that, according to the precarious manhood theory, must be continually reproven through risk-taking, competitive aggression and other acts of masculine swagger.
Meanwhile, family business leaders tend not to talk about leaving and eschew retirement planning, research shows. They stay in office much longer on average than nonfamily CEOs – on average by about nine more years in a privately held company and by about 20 more years than the average for the CEO of a publicly traded company. And in retirement they often yearn for lost stature.
Likewise, Trump has framed his return as a necessary step in completing his unfinished business and cementing his legacy. Running for office again allows Trump to step back into the spotlight, reclaim the narrative and reinforce his image.
Second, when older leaders hold on to power, frustrated successors become casualties. Aging leaders who are reluctant to let go can deter potential successors from joining or remaining with the business, leading to a loss of talent. Uncertainty about the timing of the succession process combined with the view that the leader may never fully give up control can leave potential successors frustrated and resentful, feeling their ambitions have been stifled.
We believe this tendency isn’t confined to family business but can be seen in U.S. government, too. When the leader is reluctant to let go, it can lead to a situation where potential successors seek opportunities elsewhere, leaving a shortage of qualified leaders. It can also prevent the introduction of fresh ideas and innovation, making it difficult for a business to adapt to change. This is the classic institutional drama that plays out in a gerontocracy. And perhaps it’s no coincidence that Democrats are struggling with similar concerns.
And yet, while this tendency can create long-term problems for an institution, insiders are often complicit. There’s little evidence that Trump’s family – or party – wants or expects him to step down. Similarly, we found that when leaders prioritize their personal need for control and status, family members, supporters, employees and associates often respond by avoiding the issue entirely, suppressing their real views.
Our research also suggests that a leader’s prolonged quest for immortality can strain family unity. Evidence of this for Trump may include the defection from the administration by prior Trump family and team members.
Our study adds nuance to a significant body of research showing that older male leaders are steeped in society’s expectations for men, which valorize “youthful” masculine behaviors and identity. That leaves them with little to guide or inspire their behavior in later life. The pressure on men to constantly prove their worth and manhood can leave them strongly attached to the status and identity they get from being a leader.
The dynamics of leadership, succession and the influence of the heroic self-concept that we study aren’t limited to the boardroom. They play out on a much larger stage, shaping the decisions and actions of individuals who hold immense power, even on national and global scales.
Across the world, national leaders keep getting older. Let’s get curious about why they don’t let go.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
