Family struggles in the House of the Dragon Mirror power struggles in business

While most agree that HBO’s hit fantasy series House of the Dragon (HotD) could be an interesting dive into the chaos of the Middle Ages, less has been said about its lessons for the contemporary business world.

Although modern laws make sibling rivalries much more civilized (siblings usually don’t kill each other and don’t have dragons), there are still many similarities between the claim to the throne and today’s family battles for business leadership – especially when more many brothers.

As a lecturer in entrepreneurship and strategy, I use the show – a prequel to Game of Thrones, which sees siblings fighting to inherit their father’s throne – to illustrate the complications in family business succession.

When leadership succession in a business becomes an issue, it is important for the family to be clear about the direction it is taking. Important, and often difficult, conversations around the inheritance, as well as the methods of achieving it, must be agreed upon by all family members.

The issue of succession is known to contribute to tension in the famous family businessas seen with the Murdoch family. As one of the most widespread forms of business worldwide, family businesses could certainly try to avoid conflict – and in HotD’s case, a kingdom dispute – if successions were handled more carefully.

In the show, King Viserys I Targaryen, played by Paddy Considine, isn’t a bad ruler, but when it came to succession planning, he could have done a lot more. Until he announced his daughter Rhaenyra (played by Emma D’Arcy) as his heir, it was perceived that this decision was made out of desperation, as there is no male heir.

Family business leaders typically have a stronger sense of ownership of the company than non-family employees, which sometimes leads them to retain leadership. While this is human nature, it is important that family business leaders, like kings to their kingdoms, remember their responsibility to the prosperity and stability of the business and have a clear Plan B.

The accession of an heir to a family business often sparks wide discussion, as in the case of Alexandre Arnault of the luxury goods conglomerate LVMH. He was recently appointed, aged just 32, as deputy managing director of the group’s wines and spirits business, Moët Hennessy. In the case of Rhaenyra’s heir in HotD, her half-brother contested his legitimacy to the throne, with strong support from interested parties, (ie, the lords in the series) who believed that a son would make a more legitimate heir. .

In a family business, successors often have to legitimize their position and convince senior managers (such as the Lords of HotD), employees and other stakeholders such as customers (the “little people” in the show), to accept the transition.

Although there are different stages of succession, research has shown that it extends far beyond the business arena to affect the lives of family members, with conflict spilling over into other areas.

In a family where everyone gets along, a succession can bond the next generations – to the point where they might even give up jobs in other companies to carry on the family dream. But HotD depicts a dysfunctional family and intense sibling rivalry, as is the case with another TV show, Succession.

In HotD, the king’s first son Aegon (played by Tom Glynn-Carney) was trained to fear and even hate his half-sister Rhaenyra and her children. The dysfunctional family life continued to haunt the children when succession discussions arose.

The Targaryen family in HotD was divided by goals – Viserys and Rheanyra’s team aiming to continue the Targaryen reign, and the king’s second wife Alicent (played by Olivia Cooke) and Aegon’s side trying to maintain primogeniture (where succession goes to the first). child born) and purity in the bloodline. Competing goals are often paradoxical and can be unsettling for family business stakeholders.

The role of women

In the show, there are instances where the roles and desires of the female characters are marginalized. The role of women in family businesses has also been traditionally overlooked.

But female family business members are often more important than their titles suggest in the business, where their family role in maintaining traditions, values ​​and harmony is sometimes more central.

HotD demonstrates how the sometimes quieter female voices can influence series by using a variety of strong female characters. This is a useful resource to illustrate how women could influence strategic decisions in family businesses.

The influence of women in the family and its business can sometimes go unrecognized. This could be particularly complicated in situations where multiple siblings (and even spouses) are in competition, such as the Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) retail and leisure empire, where ten family members had ownership claims.

Sibling rivalries and the challenge of female legitimacy in family business succession take center stage in HotD. The complex dynamics between heirs vying for power and the struggles faced by women in leadership roles reflect the real-world tensions that often play out in family businesses.

Viewers may be immersed in the sweeping political dramas of Westeros, but at the same time, the series offers important contemporary lessons in managing family legacies, power struggles and succession planning.

This article by Bingbing Ge, Lecturer in the Department of Entrepreneurship and Strategy, Lancaster University, was first published in conversation.