From family in business to business family: The blind spot of family identity.

We uncover the "blind" spot of family identity when families own a diversified portfolio of businesses. By doing so we recognize and embrace the reality, helping business families to see the things in a new but realistic way. All in all, "seeing is believing". Therefore, we highlight the need to develop a new collective family identity by building on bright spots that may have been overlooked. Business families that are highly attached to their legacy identity may not be able to realize the need to adapt their identity to reflect their current portfolio of businesses. Identity needs to evolve over time intentionally and that process can be steered by family business advisors. Advisers need to understand the importance to find the what, the who, and the storytelling for modifying the identity and eventually developing the new collective identity.