

Families and Wealth: Why Important Conversations Don't Have to Be Uncomfortable with Leonora Zilkha Williamson, Tom Levinson, and Elizabeth Kieff
Welcome back to the Colloquium Podcast! In this episode, I welcome Leonora Zilkha Williamson, Tom Levinson, and Elizabeth Kieff!
Tom Levinson and Elizabeth Kieff are a husband and wife team and founders and principals of LK Advisors. Elizabeth is also a psychiatrist, coach, and avid sailor. Tom also helps lead a family-owned investment advisory firm (and is working to improve his 3-pointer). Leonora Zilkha Williamson coaches families in business. With a 25+ year career that includes time at JP Morgan, BCG, and Estee Lauder, Williamson is now an International Coach Federation Professional Certified Coach with a focus on family business leaders and the governance, family, and operational systems that support them. In her spare time. she teaches Negotiation and ESG to undergrads at Vanderbilt University. She serves on the board of her family's company, Sabre Yachts.
In this episode, our guests talk about what makes business families successful and how they, as advisors, can make important conversations about the transition of wealth less uncomfortable, more fun, and creative. Join us and listen in!
[00:01 – 08:11] Opening Segment
- Welcoming today’s guests
- Leonora, Tom, and Elizabeth share their backgrounds
- What LK Advisors provide
[08:12 – 20:21] Fact Patterns That Made Families Successful
- Looking at family systems through a three-part lens
- Family in the family system
- Business operations of the family
- Ownership and governance structure
- The power of core principles
- Discernment and communication tools
- Elizabeth on how the coaching mindset help work with families
- Creating fun but important conversations
[20:22 – 35:31] Adding an Element of Fun and Creativity to Important Conversations
- Managing energies associated with money during conversations
- Elizabeth on the things they do when interacting with families
- Understanding of what humans need across their life cycle
- Developing a curriculum that makes it fun
- Examples of the games they play/organize
[35:32 – 37:01] Closing Segment
- How you can connect with today’s guests
- Closing words
Tweetable Quotes
“We created LK advisors with a few bedrock truths in mind. One is that family can be wonderful and complicated. The second is that wealth can be a blessing and a burden. When you combine wealth and families, there's a great deal of possibilities. Also, too frequently and unfortunately, a great deal of pain and suffering.” - Tom Levinson
“Structure is incredibly important, but adding to it a deepening of discernment and real communication tools allows families to have a process that works.” - Elizabeth Kieff
“Sometimes in life, we tend to overlook the things that are really important because we're focusing on the things that are urgent.” - Leonora Zilkha Williamson
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Connect with Leonora on LinkedIn!
Connect with Tom and Elizabeth via their website or email!
Connect with me:
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