About

Randel Carlock

I research, speak and consult on large family businesses, entrepreneurship and leadership based on my experience as a CEO,when_family_businesses_are_best_video_screen
 management professor, advisor and psychotherapist. I am the first Berghmans Lhoist Chaired Professor in Entrepreneurial Leadership and the founding Director of the Wendel International Centre for Family Enterprise at INSEAD. Previously I was the first Opus Professor of Family Enterprise and founder of the family business center at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis (USA).

 

randel_carlock_video_imageI have 25 years of leadership experience, serving first as an executive with a NYSE family business – Dayton-Hudson (now Target Corporation) – and as a CEO and Chairman of four companies I founded, including a NASDAQ listed corporation. I currently advise global business families, banks and corporations on strategy, leadership development, family relationships and governance, specializing in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

I am author and co-author of several books, articles and case studies, including my latest book When Family Businesses are Best: The Parallel Planning Process for Family Harmony and Business Success with John L. Ward (Macmillan, Autumn 2010). In addition, I wrote Family Business on the Couch: A Psychological Perspective with Manfred Kets de Vries and Elizabeth Florent-Treacy (John Wiley and Sons, 2007), Strategic Planning for the Family Business with John L. Ward (Macmillan, 2003) and Organization Development in Successful Entrepreneurial Firms (Garland Publishing, 1994)

Achievements

  • 2009 European Foundation for Management Education Case Writing Award for “From Swords to Ploughshares: Three Generations of Family Entrepreneurship, Conflict, Transitions and Connection” (with Elizabeth Florent-Treacy).
  • 2008 recognized with the Family Firm Institute International Achievement Award for “furthering the understanding of family business issues through educational programs with the primary focus on the work of family businesses crossing international borders”.
  • Received the 2006 Family Business Network Research Award for the best published family business research article (Family Business Review, March 2005) – “Fair Process: Striving for Justice in Family Firms” (with Ludo Van der Heyden and Christine Blondel)
  • Awarded the 2005 IMD-European Foundation for Management Education Family Business Case Writing Award – “The HP-Compaq Merger: A Battle for the Heart and Soul of a Company” (with Elizabeth Florent-Treacy)

All from the University of Minnesota:randel_carlock

  • MA in education and training (1976)
  • Executive MBA in strategic management (1983)
  • PhD (1991) – my doctoral dissertation explored the role of organization development in managing high-growth entrepreneurial firms.
  • Post graduate certification in family and marriage therapy at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College, University of London (1998)
  • Certificate in psycho-dynamic counselling at Birkbeck College, University of London (1999)
  • Awarded a Certificate in Family Business Advising with Fellow Status (2001) by the Family Firm Institute, Boston (USA).
 

Personality

Randel is an entertaining and charismatic personality, who brings energy, practicality and sophisticated fun to the complex and often challenging arena of running large family businesses.

He has the ability to bring together intellectual thought leadership with the real world and has a deep understanding of the emotional complexities that often exist, in particular across generations. His extensive training in psychotherapy provides him with the all-important skills to facilitate, with all personalities involved, towards a workable strategic plan.

Randel’s expertise allows him to clearly interpret the issues that so often create tensions in family businesses. He has the ability to quickly identify and demystify the challenges and to find and apply innovative and practical strategic solutions with his unbiased external advice and expertise.