CO-AUTHOR:
The Harvard Business Review Family Business Handbook: How to Build and Sustain a Successful, Enduring Enterprise
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Rob Lachenauer

Managing Partner

Rob Lachenauer is the co-author of the Harvard Business Review Family Business Handbook and co-founder and Managing Partner of BanyanGlobal. That was not the career path he initially imagined for himself. Rob was groomed to be a hardball businessperson. After graduating from Harvard Business School, he joined the Boston Consulting Group, the top business strategy firm. While at BCG, he co-authored Hardball: Are You Playing to Play or Playing to Win?, which described seven strategies to trounce your competition. Hardball sold over 45,000 copies and been translated into ten languages.

After his third daughter’s birth, however, Rob needed to make a choice to be either an all-in BCG partner or a great dad. He chose the dad track. Committed to both family and business, he eventually co-founded BanyanGlobal.

Banyan advises owners of top family businesses, helping them navigate the decisions they face as owners while also strengthening family relationships. Banyan has twice been awarded the prestigious STEP award for the top family business advisory firm in the world. Rob is an expert in leadership, strategy, and governance for family businesses.

Rob is also a frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review, including “Making Better Decisions in Your Family Business,” “What Happens When You Lose Your Mentor,” and “Why I Hired an Executive with a Mental Illness.”

Rob holds a BA from Cornell University and an MBA from Harvard University. He is co-inventor on several U.S. patents. He lives with his wife in Boston, Massachusetts.


Read a conversation with Rob about a Family Man in Business.