31st Meeting of PDFB

April 25-27, 2025 Annual Retreat
(Fri. 4pm through Sun. Noon)
Hilton Orrington House Hotel, Evanston, IL

      THEME: Facilitating Meaningful Change in Family Business Systems and the Forces that Impact Our Success

Sessions & other details TO BE ANNOUNCED!

PREVIOUS YEAR’S PRESENTATIONS

PDFB 29 - 2023 Sessions

Friday, April 28

  • Fostering Change: What Is the Place of Transparency and Authenticity When the Adviser Is Dealing with Personal Crisis? - Gerry Donnellan & Barry Graff

Saturday, April 29

  • Self Reflections on Our Challenges - Lilli Friedland

  • The Leadership Elevator model: connect deeply with family and personal history to propel leadership development - Michael Madera

  • Very Young Children: Strong Foundations for Managing Change-Preservation Tension in Families - Jeff Savlov

  • The Secrets of Change in Family Business - Tom Hubler

  • What Happens to the “I” Within the Family Enterprise System? - Jamie Weiner

Sunday, April 30

  • Role playing in case consultation: The play's the thing - Barry Graff

  • PDFB Planning and Closing Reflections - Michael Madera

PDFB 28 - 2022 Sessions

Friday, April 29th
Our Individual Wealth Biases - Countertransference in Our Work with Client Families as We Navigate the Pitfalls of Wealth– Andrew Hier & Barry Graf

Saturday, April 30th
Governance: It Is Not What You Think! – Jeff Savlov
No Philanthropy before Its Time? Jamie Weiner
When a 25% Failure Rate is Acceptable: Methods to Help Partners Decide to Work Together or Not – Mark Sirkin

Sunday, May 1st
The Future of Coaching – Grand Challenge for Academic Research – John Neff
Report from the Future Committee
PDFB Planning – Andrew Hier

PDFB 27 - 2021 Sessions (Via VideoConference!)

Friday

  • Introductions

  • Multiple Changing Influences on the Family Business/Enterprise Dynamic, Interactive Ecosystem. Lilli Friedland and Florence Kaslow

  • Modifying Metaphors, Myths, and Stories in Business Families. Barry Graff and Joanne Stern

  • Disorders of Succession: The Laius Complex. Mark Sirkin

    Chef’s Dinner Together

    Saturday

  • Standing Shoulder to Shoulder: The Rising Gen’s Quest for Legitimacy. Jamie Weiner and Frank Barbera

  • Diminishing Cognitive Capacity: Before the Fog Rolls In. Gerry Donnellan, Patricia Annino and Moira Somers

  • Options Beyond the Family Business: Building Future, Healthy Behaviors and Personal Fulfillment. Warner Babcock

  • Keys to Understand and Work Productively across the Political Spectrum. Michael Madera

    Sunday
    Transition and Change in PDFB: Where to From Here? Jeff Savlov and Gerry Donnellan

  • Andrew Hier: Facilitated Discussion re. Next Year’s Conference

PDFB 26 - April 24-25, 2020 – Meeting via Zoom

“Road Blocks, Surprises, Being Stuck -- Difficult Choice Points: Now What?”

Day 1.   Friday April 24, 1-5 PM ET

  • Introductions and check-in

  • Andrew Hier, Michael Madera, Barry Graff, and Gerard Donnellan: 
    Understanding and fostering change with stalled senior leaders: Tools, Models, Conversations and Structures.

Day 2.   Saturday April 25, 1-4 PM ET

  • 1:00  David Tate  Team Dynamics or Team Design: The Six Conditions Framework

  • 2:00 Moira Somers  Overcoming the Implementation Impasse (See her book)

  • 3:00 Succession Planning: Direction and Growth for PDFB and Planning for 2021 Retreat. Andrew Hier

  • 4:00 Meeting Concludes

2019 Retreat Presentations

Retreat Theme: “Honesty: The Best Policy?”: Reflections on the Past, Perspectives on the Future

We need our clients to be honest, to trust us, and to engage with us. They expect the same from us. We may be challenged by their lack of engagement and candor. When we perceive the work is suffering from inertia or evasiveness, what is our response and our best strategy? When should we go with the flow, and when should we rock the boat? What guides us?

Barry Graff and Paul Sessions: Two Old Guys Chasing Wisdom: Forgiveness, Gratitude, And The Unconditional State Of Mind.

Michael Madera: Using Internal Family Systems in Our Work With Difficult Projects

Ira Bryck: Getting Real: Using Improv, Strategic Questions And Psychodrama.

Thomas Hubler: Understanding The Soul of Family Business

Jeff Savlov: Honesty: A Case Study About Openness To And Capacity For Change

Kathleen Hoye: Professionalizing The Family Dynamic: Is It Even Possible?

Joanne Stern: The Tools of Self-esteem

2018 Retreat Presentations

Retreat Theme: Challenging Assumptions: The Family's, Our Own.

We and our clients carry assumptions into our work together.  Oftimes unspoken or unacknowledged, these assumptions can be useful cornerstones to begin a process of change.  "Expressing emotions is helpful", and, "This is family. We should trust each other", typify what we and our clients carry into the room.

However, if we do not bring such assumptions to light, we can get bogged and lose our way. Creative problem-solving gets sidetracked.  The work stalls.

Our retreat addresses this dynamic. This is an opportunity to deepen and enliven conversations with each other about our work.

  • Barry Graff, Paul Sessions and Prudy Gourguechon
    Title: Obsolescence or Continued Generativity. (Friday Keynote)

  • Sharon Dorsett & Michael Madera
    Title: Getting in their own way: why members of family businesses don’t change and what can be done about it.

  • Ira Bryck
    Title: You (the protagonist) are in the hot seat, working out your stuff about Them (the antagonists)

  • Jamie Weiner
    Title: In the Land of Giants: Redefining Rites of Passage

  • Thomas Hubler
    Title: Family Business Consultants as Leaders: Understanding our Shadows to Create Light for Our Clients

  • Jeff Savlov:
    Title: Interview with Ferrara Next Gen Member

  • Gerry Donnellan
    Title: The DL: Assumptions I have made.

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