John E. Messervey

John Messervey is an organization behavior consultant who counsels high wealth families throughout the United States and overseas. Among the earliest family business/wealth consultants, Mr. Messervey serves as President and Founder of the National Family Business Council, a private consulting group and resource center in Lake Forest, Illinois, USA.

Over the years, John has resolved numerous complex issues including family matters, growth and strategy, generational transfer of wealth, dispute resolution and mediation, next generation coaching and mentoring, family office governance, succession and related issues of earned/inherited wealth. John has consulted with almost 400 families throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia since 1980. He often guides families, owners and managers through very difficult conversations and is known for his consultations with very complex family challenges.

John served as a founding board member of the Family Firm Institute (FFI) and launched the first Family Business Study Group at the Menninger Management Institute. He is one of the most experienced advisors in the field of family business and family wealth. Mr. Messervey has presented cases and topical discussions to a variety of groups including the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), the Menninger Management Institute, UBS, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan/Chase, Merrill Lynch, Northern Trust, Baird, William Blair and the Tokyo LTCB Research & Management Institute.

John is a featured family business advisor having appeared on ABC, CBS, CNBC, CBS radio and NPR. He is frequently quoted in national publications including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Forbes, and Fortune. Mr. Messervey has a Master’s degree in Organization Behavior from the J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University; he is an Economics graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. John has served as an advisor to four philanthropic boards in the fields of education, public policy, the arts and the environment.

The National Family Business Council is a private research and consulting group quietly serving family businesses and high wealth families. NFBC applies a breadth of resources to resolve family issues that directly affect the creation and continuity of wealth among America’s leading families. The Council also develops strategies for successful management, succession and growth of closely held businesses. NFBC has assembled a client resource list that is broad and deep; some of the finest and most experienced resources in the field are readily available to NFBC consulting clients.

NFBC clients are among America’s leading families; including winners of the Horatio Alger Award, America’s Best Places to Work, multiple members of the Forbes 400, the Wall Street Journal’s Best Small Business Award and the Inc. Magazine’s 500 Fastest Growing Businesses in the U. S. The Council provides on-going family consultations, mediation, coaching and mentoring of the succeeding generations, facilitation of family educational gatherings and guidance for the sale of family owned businesses. NFBC is at the forefront in facilitating Harvard’s internationally recognized Leading Change vision/mission/values program for families in business.

Each year, NFBC sponsors the widely acclaimed, invitation only FEW (family/enterprise/wealth) Conference in Chicago.