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Executive guides emerging HR leaders, with inspiration from Cornell certificate programs

Sun Holdings’ VP of Human Resources Laura McLand (left) conducts an Executive HR Roundtable at the 2025 Employee Benefits & Total Rewards Summit in Las Colinas, Texas.
Sun Holdings’ VP of Human Resources Laura McLand (left) conducts an Executive HR Roundtable at the 2025 Employee Benefits & Total Rewards Summit in Las Colinas, Texas. (Laura McLand/Provided)

Change comes fast in the dynamic and demanding private equity industry. Laura McLand faced this reality 20 years ago when she, an executive assistant to the president and CEO of an investment firm, was suddenly tasked with processing the company’s payroll.

“It was a deer-in-the-headlights moment,” said McLand, now vice president of human resources at Sun Holdings, the second-largest franchise organization in the U.S. “At that time, my experience in payroll was non-existent. The CEO had much more confidence than I did that I could learn the process in time for the next payroll.”

Her decision to accept the challenge rather than resist the responsibility changed her career. “That decision spearheaded my love for human resources, and I never looked back,” she said.

But McLand needed to gain the HR skills to succeed.

Read more on the Chronicle.

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Professionals sharpen business, legal communication in certificate program

Two peoples' hands over a paper, marking up a document

Whether drafting a critical email or examining a business issue, professionals in every role need strong analytical and persuasive communication skills. Cornell’s Legal Writing and Communication certificate program strengthens essential legal writing skills for leaders across industries.

According to the program’s faculty author Michelle Whelan, a clinical professor of law and associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion at Cornell Law School, every written word can carry legal implications.

“Whether you are an employee or CEO, you need to understand all the myriad ways you could be interacting, directly or indirectly, with an attorney,” Whelan said. “Even if you don’t interact regularly with legal counsel, you need to appreciate how this can connect with your work and how your life intersects.”

The program includes four courses: Maximizing Your Value in the Attorney-Client Relationship, Evaluating the Impact of Legal Documents, Composing Documents That Help Lawyers and Writing and Persuading Like a Lawyer.

Whelan charts the ways in which a company’s employees could come to the attention of the company’s attorney. Learners explore how to maximize value in an attorney-client relationship through proper communication and how documentation — including emails and other written communication — can help or hurt during litigation.

Participants explore best practices for building relationships with organizational legal teams, techniques for effective witness interviewing and workplace incident reporting and common misconceptions about business documentation.

“There’s a lot of talk about ‘don’t create this document’ or ‘don’t put everything down in writing.’ But for a company to function, they need documents for institutional memory, and that’s just how they function,” Whelan said. “The program helps employees understand how to create documents that are useful and not harmful.”

“What are the things that you should be looking for that are helpful for the company and the company’s attorney? The program walks through how to effectively gather information from a witness and then it turns to putting that down on paper,” she said.

While these skills are necessary for legal issues, focused expertise in these areas can help professionals excel in any field. As persuasive communication is the core of the program, Whelan emphasizes how impactful the courses can be for anyone in business.

“Persuasion is everywhere you look, no matter what you do, no matter what your role is, and this program teaches students that they’ve been using persuasion all their lives. It’s easy then to transfer some of those concepts, skills and knowledge into a persuasive document that objectively analyzes an issue using the four-step analysis that every good lawyer runs through to analyze an issue to come up with a solid, sound conclusion that’s backed by solid reasoning. And then, once you have that, you can turn it into a document that convinces or persuades.”

Whelan notes that it is important for professionals to think beyond what their business does with an attorney. “There are also specific ways that an employee interacts with an attorney, such as being asked to serve as a witness on behalf of the corporation,” she said. “One day, everybody out there could be asked to do that.”

Build your confidence in persuasive business and legal communication — enroll in the Legal Writing and Communication certificate program today!

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The power of focused listening in conflict resolution

In-studio Cornell Keynote webcast “Focused Listening: From Conflict to Collaboration” with Katrina Nobles, Liz Davis-Frost, and host Nicholas Phillips

According to The Myers-Briggs Company, managers spend at least four hours managing conflicts per week on average, with poor communication being the biggest cause of conflict. Yet, at the forefront of effective conflict resolution lies a frequently overlooked fundamental skill: focused listening. 

In the Cornell Keynote webcast “Focused Listening: From Conflict to Collaboration,” Katrina Nobles, director of conflict programs, and Liz Davis-Frost, mediation and training extension associate, both from the Cornell University Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution, discuss how focused listening promotes interpersonal understanding and collaborative problem-solving.

What is focused listening?

Nobles: “Focused listening, sometimes called ‘deep listening,’ is a tool that comes from the transformative mediation model. It relies on being present and listening to listen — not to respond, craft an opinion or solve a problem. This approach requires us to suspend our judgments and try to truly understand what the other person is saying.”

How can practicing focused listening contribute to effective team dynamics, particularly in supporting less assertive members?

Nobles: “First and foremost, I recommend reflection — reflecting back to the person what you heard — because it prompts you to pay attention to what the other person said without jumping to respond or diminish their words. Pairing focused listening with reflection gives the other person space to correct any misunderstandings.

Secondly, one thing that is largely missing in U.S.-based workplaces is the consideration of nonverbal communication styles. Deep listening works with written communication, like anonymous feedback forms, which are particularly helpful in situations with power imbalances. For instance, a new employee might be less assertive because they are still navigating when it is appropriate to speak up and share their opinion.”

Davis-Frost: “Some of us didn’t grow up in cultures or communities where sharing thoughts, unless explicitly asked, was encouraged. It’s important to recognize that assertiveness, or lack thereof, isn’t due to singular reasons but is shaped by a lifetime of circumstances and experiences.

Everyone in the room has a unique life journey leading to this moment. Sometimes, those more attuned to these nuances try to share with those less aware, but this can feel awkward or become therapeutic, so it’s essential to navigate these dynamics with care.”

Why is conflict a good thing, especially when trying to solve a problem or finish a project?

Davis-Frost: “If I go into every conflict thinking it’s a bad thing, that will influence how I navigate it and my results. Going into conflicts knowing they are inevitable allows me to approach them with curiosity and think about how the situation can help me learn and grow. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to not make mistakes, which is unrealistic. We need to build a capacity for grace and understanding and patience while being able to hold each other accountable.”

Nobles: “Conflict is often perceived as a negative thing. Eradicating conflict altogether isn’t helpful because it limits the variation of perspectives and ideas within a group. Conflict can be destructive, but it can also be constructive, and we need to mentally reframe it as a powerful tool for problem-solving. When a conflict arises in the workplace, we have to figure out how to approach it in a way that respects team members’ differing perspectives and incorporates them into creative solutions.”

How can teams implement focused listening to help problem-solve together?

Nobles: “One way to use deep listening in team meetings is to combine it with reflection. If you make an agreement with your team that you’re going to reflect back what you just heard before countering it or adding another idea, you can allow for enough of a pause to consider how you plan to contribute to the conversation without escalating beyond the point of control. Another way to use deep listening is in brainstorming. When we’re brainstorming, we’re often throwing out ideas so quickly that we may either miss an idea or the point of an idea. Again, implementing focused listening gives just enough of a pause to reflect on what was said to ensure you understand the idea so you can clarify your own thinking before sharing even more options.”

Davis-Frost: “Sometimes, in brainstorming, ideas are presented with no points. If team members are asking clarifying questions, it’s an indicator that people are having a hard time understanding the point and that I need to think a little further and develop that idea, which the team can support me in doing.”

What first step should managers take when introducing focused listening to their team?

Davis-Frost: “Beyond this Keynote and our prior webcast, I recommend spending time practicing and working through deep listening skills yourself before bringing them to the workplace. We see a lot of people try to implement these tools without fully developing them, which is contributing to conflicts because people have questions about what deep listening is.”

Nobles: “I would definitely try deep listening out for yourself as a first step so that you can speak to it genuinely. Second, I would have a conversation about it with your team where you highlight wanting to create an environment where team members can hear each other better and be more creative together. Offer for the team to try it out in a meeting and see what happens.”

Davis-Frost: “Adding to that, don’t hesitate to reach out for support if you need it. There are lots of practitioners out there who are supporting people and having transformative conversations, so don’t put all the pressure on yourself to do a dissertation’s worth of research on focused listening in a couple of nights and then present it to your staff.”

How can one adjust their deep listening approach when they don’t have much in common with someone and still be genuine?

Nobles: “Keeping in mind that we have more connections than we think we might, deep listening can be more impactful with the people you don’t have much in common with because you are genuinely trying to understand where they’re coming from. If you come to a conversation with genuine curiosity, it can make a really powerful connection of being open and providing space to another person.”

 

To learn more about focused listening as a tool for conflict management, watch part one of this conversation, “Listen Closely: Gaining Clarity During Conflict,” on the eCornell website and explore Cornell’s Conflict Resolution certificate program authored by Katrina Nobles.

This Q&A, drafted by former eCornell writing intern Margot Baker, has been edited for length and clarity. Experience the full Keynote “Focused Listening: From Conflict to Collaboration” on the eCornell website.

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Certificate program primes professionals for risk analysis in business

Computer mainframe lit up by blue light. Small dots of red and yellow punctuate the rest of the mainframe with several computer chips.

Every company and venture comes with risk. In eCornell’s Risk Analysis certificate program, developed by Linda Nozick, director of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell, professionals learn how individuals and businesses can avoid, mitigate, share and diversify risks. The certificate includes four key modules: risk analysis foundations, risk evaluations, risk modeling and risk perception.

In a recent conversation with eCornell, Nozick discussed how the program charts out risk in a quantitative and statistically focused manner.

How do we quantify risk?

“Measuring risk is actually really difficult. It is one thing to say: Something’s risky. But once you have to ask ‘how risky,’ you have this question of how to put that risk in context with other risks. And we can talk about this really in an interesting way, when we think about valuing human life or how we handle risk in the public sphere. We make very different decisions about investment for risk mitigation on the highway system than we do in a nuclear power plant. You see the massive difference in funding. We try to illustrate that by looking at specific application domains and statistics with understanding that probability distribution. How likely is an outcome and how bad is it?”

What is risk perception and how does risk attitude affect decision making?

“Risk has a lot to do with how people interpret things, and we don’t interpret them all the same way. And so I think it’s important in the risk space to kind of understand how your perceptions, your attitudes toward risk make you more vulnerable to risks or help you mitigate risks. Somebody who’s really risk prone doesn’t worry so much about risk, and they take more risks than their company would like them to. You are trying to understand how risk attitudes affect decision making. Attitudes actually do drive how you make choices . . . that’s really what this whole thing is about: How does your mental headspace impact your decision making when it comes to risk?”

Is this course content constrained to risk professionals?

“Not at all. This course really is agnostic with respect to the application domain. We talk about financial risk. We talk about health risks. We talk about all sorts of risks. There really is that opportunity to see the applications across different types of business professionals and roles and industries, which could really give folks interesting perspectives and a lot of fundamentals as they’re changing careers or moving up in their career.”

Equip yourself with the tools to identify risks and apply strategies that protect you and your hard work — no matter your industry — in eCornell’s Risk Analysis certificate program. Learn more and enroll now.

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Cornell Keynotes podcast: How to transition to management

Smiling businesswoman in office

For many employees, the promotion from individual contributor to their first managerial role is the most important promotion of their lives.

In the latest episode of Cornell Keynotes podcast, Cornell lecturer and technical entrepreneur Dirk Swart shares how employees can elevate their managerial and business acumen to transition into management.

The episode covers the “rules of the game” to successfully make the transition to management, how to position oneself to increase the chances of promotion and tips for success as a junior manager.

Read more on the Chronicle.

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Cornell Keynotes podcast: AI today – laws, ethics and protecting your work

Abstract multi-colored objects on blue background

Understanding the ethical and legal use of AI is important for any business. In a new episode of the Cornell Keynotes podcast from eCornell and the fourth installment of the “Generative AI” series, Cornell Tech professor Karan Girotra pairs up with professor Frank Pasquale from Cornell Law School to discuss the laws and ethics of generative AI while looking at performance guarantees as well as unintended consequences and outcomes.

The conversation highlights how organizations in finance, health, education, media and manufacturing are using these technologies in clever ways and charts a path for the next generation of use cases — ones that go beyond using assistants to enhance individual productivity.

Read more on the Chronicle.

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More than recovery: Examining life after depression

Host Chris Wofford (L) and Jonathan Rottenberg, professor of psychology, in the Cornell Keynotes studio.

Experiences with depression have hit record highs, with nearly 30% of U.S. adults reporting diagnoses. In the workplace, the figures present greater cause for alarm — around three in four employees have grappled with matters that impact their mental health and stigma that inhibits their access to care. The costs of this double-edged challenge are significant for workers and organizations; the latter lose billions of dollars related to mental health issues annually.

Jonathan Rottenberg believes there is a rarely discussed and remarkable silver living: A meaningful number of individuals who have experienced depression not only go on to experience well-being but flourish in their lives. Rottenberg, a professor of psychology and director of the Better Outcomes Laboratory at Cornell, shared his research and reasons for optimism in a recent Cornell Keynote.

What is depression — how do experts define it?

“Depression is a mood disorder, and it’s a profound state involving symptoms like feeling sad, losing interest or pleasure in things, and then a number of other associated symptoms. These symptoms come together, and unfortunately, depression tends to be disabling and also is accompanied by a lot of distress of people who feel quite bad, and in severe cases, people might actually become suicidal.”

What is the typical prognosis for depression? Do most people experience recovery or recurrence?

“Typically, depression is recurrent, meaning if you had one episode, you’re likely to have another. In addition to that, it’s likely that you’ll have some degree of continuing symptoms, so even during better periods, there’s still some burden of depression with you.

“For about half of people who have depression, it is recurrent, but for the other half it is not. People who have only one single lifetime episode of depression — that’s very common, and we don’t actually know so much about that very large group of people.”

Why is symptom reduction the focus of most depression research?

“The field of clinical research and treatment research is 100% geared toward symptom reduction as the main outcome, but our research suggests that depressed people have a wide variety of aspirations for their life, and reduction in symptoms is just one piece.”

How are broader recovery goals addressed in mental health treatment?

“Practitioners will have discussed with their clients these other themes because, in part, these are things that the clients will themselves bring up. As part of the nature of depression, people feel desperately cut off from their past. They have trouble even imagining times when [they weren’t] depressed, and so they desperately want this reconnection with [their former selves]. That said, researchers really haven’t studied this nearly as much in clinical practice and in real people. This is very important, but our researchers have not caught up to the reality of what the people on the ground really care about.”

What do we know about good outcomes, both historically and in present-day state-of-the-art research?

“I think it scared a lot of people off in the sense that we had all this research that suggested rather strongly that ‘not so good’ outcomes were the norm. Typically, if one had an episode of depression, one could expect to experience a recurrence and continuing symptoms, even during better times. There would often be some ongoing burden of symptoms. I think that’s partly why people maybe didn’t have the imagination to wonder whether, in addition to these not-so-good outcomes, there might also be people who not only recovered but actually flourished.

“We’ve always known that some people recover in the sense that they no longer have symptoms, which is great, but we didn’t imagine that people might be flourishing — doing really well in relationships, jobs, spiritually or emotionally. And if you don’t imagine that something is very likely, you might not research it, and that’s how it was until about a decade ago. There was virtually no research on good outcomes other than recovery, which is, of course, important. Recovery — meaning the symptoms are gone — is one kind of good outcome, and we know that many people fully recover from depression.”

What are the challenges individuals face when considering disclosing a mental health condition?

“There are some forums, in particular, where disclosure is extremely difficult. One would be in workplace settings. Many people have all kinds of negative associations and fear about mental health problems and . . . really fully empathizing with what this person is going through because that is part of the reality and we cannot ‘happy talk’ our way out of that. We still live in a society where there’s a lot of judgment. The younger generation is making progress, but there are still these domains where we haven’t made as much progress as you would think, and employment is a big one.”

Has the research at Cornell’s Better Outcomes Laboratory disrupt historical assumptions about depression recovery?

“Our research aims to challenge the bleak outlook that’s often associated with depression. We look at whether people can not only recover in the sense of losing symptoms but also go on to thrive emotionally, socially and professionally.

“So many of these outcomes you could say would be tricky to measure . . . we might have different ideas about who’s doing well. I wanted to start with a good outcome that most people think is important: happiness. We started with psychological well-being, and that had the dual good quality of a) being important to a lot of people who experience mental health problems, and b) being readily measurable.”

What did your research reveal about the likelihood of achieving high levels of well-being after a diagnosis of depression?

“The conventional wisdom would say that this is going to be pretty rare, right? These people had serious diagnosed depression . . . [we expected] 1% who are really flourishing and reporting these very high levels of well-being. What we found was that depression cut the chances of reporting high levels of well-being about in half, and about 10% of depressed people went on to report these very high levels of well-being. This really challenges the conventional wisdom that this kind of good outcome is rare. These good outcomes are real, and this is not an insignificant group of people.”

What are the next steps for your research, and what direction do you see yourself going?

“The next step is to understand what explains these good outcomes and how people transition from depression to states of well-being. My strong hypothesis is that there won’t be one single road to well-being; rather, there might be various paths involving cognitive, behavioral, biological and social factors that explain why some people experience good outcomes.”

What do you think can be done to destigmatize conversations around depression?

“Being matter of fact and really normalizing it as part of the human experience, realizing that depression is probably going to be some part of your identity — not your whole identity but part of your identity — and creating forums like this for people to engage are really important. I think that there’s going to be big changes, particularly in younger people [who] are way more comfortable talking about mental health problems. I think there are going to be some sea changes to finally get our society to less stigma.”

 

In his research, Jonathan Rottenberg, Ph.D., explores long-term outcomes and well-being after depression and other mental health issues. Rottenberg served as the director of clinical training and director of the Mood and Emotion Lab at the University of South Florida. He is the author of “The Depths: The Evolutionary Origins of the Depression Epidemic” and “Depression: What Everyone Needs to Know.” Learn more by watching Ever After, Rottenberg’s video series about life after depression.

This Q&A has been edited for length and clarity. Experience the full Life After Depression Keynote video or podcast.

If you or someone you know is experiencing mental health challenges or considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, texting “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741, or visiting 988lifeline.org.

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Master active listening to enhance decision-making

Four people, two men and two women, are gathered around a table covered with various supplies, such as notebooks, pens and coffee mugs. They are looking at two large whiteboards filled with colorful sticky notes. Picture a colleague grappling with a tough decision — they’re probably feeling the weight of uncertainty and pressure. In such moments, it’s tempting to step in with solutions or advice. But real support means resisting that urge, putting your own ideas aside and listening carefully to understand their concerns, priorities and the help or reassurance they seek.

In the Cornell Keynote webcast “Active Listening: Supporting People During Difficult Decisions,” Cheryl Strauss Einhorn, an adjunct professor at the Cornell SC Johnson School of Business and Cornell Tech, shares the four types of active listening and how utilizing them can support decision-makers.

What is active listening?

“There are two kinds of listening: passive and active. In passive listening, the responder is just taking it in, and the person speaking may not get any feedback. We don’t have a sense of whether or not the responder really got what we meant to say. Conversely, active listening is the practice of making sure you make the other person feel heard. You’re listening for cues in what they’re saying so that you can respond, not from your vantage point, but from the vantage point of what they’re truly inquiring about.”

Why is active listening essential in the decision-making process?

“Decision-making is a holistic process, and for too long, we’ve been under the impression that our decisions are ours alone. For our decisions to truly succeed, we need to be able to take into account other stakeholders’ viewpoints, which means actually asking them questions. What to ask is going to stem from what it is they’re talking to us about.

I was interested in coming up with a framework for listening to people and then asking questions that show we are responding to what they’re asking. And, if we’re unsure what that is, how can we further open up the conversation to ask them what they mean.”

What are the four types of active listening support?

“The four types of active listening I discuss are emotional, informational, analytical and reflective.

  1. Emotional support is listening with empathy, making space for the emotion and doing it without judgment.
  2. Informational active listening is about providing the information the other person needs, whether it be knowledge, facts or data.
  3. Analytical support helps them to interpret and understand what they’ve already gathered and how the information can be synthesized into something that has meaning.
  4. Reflective listening is really about mirroring. How often has someone come to you, and you think, ‘I believe they already know the solution.’ By asking questions that mirror what they’re saying, you help them prioritize and clarify their own thoughts.”

How can each type of active listening help support decision-makers?

“Emotional support can benefit the decision-maker by validating their feelings and making them feel heard. You may hear the other person say, ‘I feel,’ and you could respond with, ‘That sounds difficult,’ or ‘I hear your frustration.’ You listen for the cue the other person is giving and respond without bringing judgment to their emotion.

A decision-maker in need of informational support will ask if you have the information they need available. If you do, you can provide it. Otherwise, you can ask what information or data would be useful for them at this point. In a professional setting, speaking to what a decision-maker is asking for makes them feel like you are truly collaborating and giving them the support they need.

When offering analytical support, you can listen for something like ‘How would you interpret’ or ‘What does this mean?’ In these instances, somebody is asking for some kind of interpretation or synthesis. If you think that you have that at your ready, terrific. If not, you could say, ‘What kind of analysis would help you think this through?’ so that you can be directly responsive.

Reflective support helps decision-makers clarify their own thoughts and priorities. You might hear a decision-maker say, ‘I can’t decide’ or ‘I’m conflicted.’ This does not mean they’re asking you to decide for them. You can ask them back, ‘What’s the goal you want to achieve?’ or ‘What’s your priority here?’ and that can help them to bring forth again their own priorities and a solution that they already may have in mind.”

What are some common challenges people face when practicing active listening, and how can they overcome them?

“The toughest thing to remember when actively listening to another person is that you are not the decision-maker. The idea that the other person is a capable decision-maker and their decisions are their own is very important, and one way to pair active listening with this idea is to simply pause. We’re so trained to jump right into conversations that it feels unnatural to take an extra beat, but waiting for a moment to consider what the other person is trying to convey and having that metacognition come forward is going to make it easier for you to be in service to the other person.”

How do you see the principles of active listening evolving in the future to support decision-making across different industries?

“One of my recent research projects, which we discussed during an earlier eCornell Keynote, identified five different ways people approach decisions, each of which has a different underlying value structure. This means individuals are optimizing for different things in their decision-making process. Once you can identify which problem-solver profile somebody is, the act of listening becomes much easier.

For example, if you know someone is a ‘detective’ — like I am — when you come to them with an answer, they’ll want to see the data that supports it. So, if you say to me, ‘Cheryl, this is the evidence I have that supports this hypothesis, and I think we should move in that direction.’ I am going to feel so appreciative that you recognized my need for evidence and allowed me to assess whether that evidence makes sense to me.

That is a great way that I’ve seen companies and teams really bring this idea of active listening forward to streamline decision-making, build trust between team members and increase productivity by aligning communication styles with individual problem-solving approaches.”

Interested in learning more? Discover how you can leverage your problem-solver profile to tackle challenging problems in the Complex Decision-Making certificate program, authored by Cheryl Strauss Einhorn.

This Q&A has been edited for length and clarity. Experience the full Keynote “Active Listening: Supporting People During Difficult Decisions” on the eCornell website.

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Family business owners strategize for longevity in new certificate program

Workers review documents while standing in front of items on a store shelf

For Joseph Astrachan, a co-author of Cornell’s Family Business Leadership online certificate program, a family-run business is a generational tradition. Since Astrachan was young, his family has operated businesses in fields ranging from pharmaceuticals to shipping. He is no stranger to the difficulties that come with owning a company tied to the fabric of a family, including managing close relationships in the face of business challenges.

With Daniel Van Der Vliet, executive director of the Smith Family Business Initiative within the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, John Engels, president and CEO of Leadership Coaching Inc. and Holly Isdale ‘86, founder of WealthHaven, Astrachan has blended academic theory and industry practice in a certificate program that helps others navigate the obstacles and opportunities of running a family business successfully.

“There is no way around it: Navigating a family business is distinctly different from the traditional corporate model,” said Astrachan, a Professor Emeritus and former executive director of the Cox Family Enterprise Center at Kennesaw State University’s Coles College of Business.

The certificate program uses a hands-on approach to address how the personal and professional overlap in family businesses. Courses include:

  • Family Business Leadership Fundamentals
  • Managing Family Relationships
  • Stewarding Family Wealth and Values
  • Implementing Family Governance Systems

Just like with any other business, management in a family-run venture evolves over time. For family businesses, there is often an added layer of grief associated with leadership changes. Sometimes assumed agreements and familial relationships complicate these transitions.

“Continuing a family-run business requires perpetuation through transition, passing it from one generation to the next,” Van Der Vliet said in a recent conversation with eCornell. “Even though all business begins with family . . . some of this expertise around family business does not exist in academia. Family business is very specialized.”

To help learners understand the nuances, the Family Business Leadership program combines advisory parties – like lawyers and accountants – and family members into one cohesive group of learners. The courses organize behaviors in family businesses into familiar workplace relationships and help make sense of common patterned dynamics. Learners gain practical insights they can immediately apply to their own operations.

“Family members are not asked to share anything deeply personal,” Van Der Vliet said. “Their projects could become more personal if they choose, which can be beneficial for their takeaways from the course… and for those that are not family members in the family business, on the advisory or service side, they can have an opportunity to realize [how family dynamics] broadly affect the company.”

Discover how to manage relationships, steward wealth and implement governance structures in Cornell’s Family Business Leadership certificate program. Learn more and enroll now.

Quotes have been edited for clarity.