Reg Athwal is a friend of mine and I’ve known him for many years. We first met in a Professional Speaking Association meeting. We chatted about mastermind groups and what they were, including their value in helping people achieve goals and success. He is an entrepreneur and runs his own business as well as advising on family-run business. He lives in Dubai, and he’s joined me to talk about leaving a legacy and what that means.

Leaving a Legacy

Reg has several tools and processes he likes to use including a great acronym called VIP. It stands for Vision, Intentions (that need to happen to get there), and P which is Purpose, what do you want?

Some people want an empire, or foundation. Others, want to give their wealth away. Young entrepreneurs want social impact Reg finds. He feels it’s important to get clear on your purpose in life. Purpose is important because it drives your success. It can differ among age groups, experience, and family-oriented values. He’s worked with 128 family business, some of whom have 30+ members. Getting their values aligned is vital he feels.

How did Reg come to do this work?

Reg tells the story of how his Grandfather built a sizeable estate in India. As a young boy, Reg remembers sitting on his grandfather’s shoulders and told one day “he’d be looking after all this”. Some time later, his father told him the family had divided and were now unhappy. This left a lasting memory. In my experience, the next generation has to /want/to look after what someone else has built. This was the point I made to Reg. It can sometimes be very tricky and a personal journey, to work out what you do, and don’t, want as you grow up. Reg found once his grandfather passed, the next generation started fighting. Underlying tensions and problems came to the surface. It’s this experience that taught him what should have happened there. It sewed the seed about how to prevent this for others.

What did he go on to do?

Reg became a successful speaker on the subject of legacy. He wanted to support family-run business. It was whilst speaking one day that a Saudi family asked for his help. They wanted help with succession planning so Reg started working on that issue. Whilst doing so, he became aware of other issues. These weren’t business issues, but relationship problems.

It changed his life, and he remembers ‘seeing’ and ‘feeling’ what was a lightbulb for him. He went on the hunt for knowledge and tools that he could offer families. This became his purpose: to help family’s leave a legacy to the next generation. He didn’t want them to risk the future of their much-loved service or product.

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