By Russ Haworth, Founder, Family Business Partnership

Some events stay with you long after you leave the room. The StoryKeep Symposium in Amsterdam was one of them.

As I sat on the flight home, reflecting on an incredibly impactful few days, I found myself thinking not just about what was said, but about what was felt.

What Is StoryKeep?

StoryKeep is dedicated to the power of family narrative. The belief that the stories families carry across generations, the ones left unspoken, and the ones still being written, shape everything. They shape how families communicate, make decisions, govern themselves, and ultimately thrive together.

I am proud to serve on the advisory board of StoryKeep, and events like this Symposium are exactly why. The vision that Jamie Yuenger and Piet Hurkmans have brought to life fills a genuine gap in our field.

Amsterdam: The Right Setting for the Right Conversations

The Symposium was held at the Embassy of the Free Mind, a museum celebrating freedom of thought. It was the perfect setting for the kind of conversations we were there to have.

Jamie, Piet, and Kristen Oliveri created something rare: an environment where people genuinely felt safe to open up. The openness with which attendees shared their stories was extraordinary. Brian Hughes guided us through a carefully curated programme, with sessions from Fredda Herz Brown PhD, Bryn Monahan, and Christian Broyhill LPC, each bringing depth, experience and genuine humanity. Meeting these leaders in person for the first time was a privilege.

The Session I Facilitated: Narrative, Governance, and the Person at the Centre

I was honoured to facilitate a session exploring how the stories a family holds about itself directly influence how it structures itself, communicates and makes decisions.

That means a great deal. Because what I wanted most was not to present, but to open up a conversation.

The ideas I explored are ones we see played out time and again with families at Family Business Partnership.

• Emotion is not separate from governance. It is at the heart of it. Governance structures are only as effective as the mindset and behaviour of the people within them. If the emotional undercurrents in a family go unacknowledged, even the best frameworks will struggle. Narrative gives us a way into those undercurrents, not to dwell in them, but to understand them.

• Individual purpose can get lost in the collective. Decisions made for the good of the whole can quietly leave individual family members feeling unseen or unheard. Reconnecting people to their own sense of purpose is often the necessary first step before any meaningful alignment can happen.

• Every family is different. There is no one template. What works beautifully in one family can create friction in another. Understanding your own narrative is the starting point, not borrowing someone else’s structure.

• Mindset and behaviour matter more than structure. Governance and process are useful tools, but they follow from the right mindset, not the other way around.

A Personal Moment

I also had the opportunity to record some personal reflections on my own upbringing. A quietly profound experience, and a reminder that doing this work well means being willing to go to the same places we ask our clients to go.

Why This Matters

At Family Business Partnership, we talk about clarity before change. Before a family can make meaningful decisions about governance, succession or strategy, they need clarity about who they are, what they value, and what stories are shaping their behaviour.

Narrative is one of the most powerful tools for that. It is not soft or peripheral. It is central.

The StoryKeep Symposium reminded me why, and I am already looking forward to next year.

Where Does Your Family Business Stand?

If this has prompted questions about how your own family’s narrative might be shaping the way you work together, a useful starting point is our free Family Business Alignment Questionnaire. It takes just a few minutes and gives you a better picture of where you are.

Russ Haworth is the Founder of Family Business Partnership and serves on the advisory board of StoryKeep. He works with family businesses and family offices across the UK and internationally, helping families navigate the challenges of being in business together.