If geopolitical risk was a leading concern for family offices coming into 2026, it was certainly warranted. 

A few weeks ago, before tensions escalated (drastically) in the Gulf, we had an insightful meeting with James Thorp, an advisor helping families with succession challenges.

Something that surfaced in our meeting was his notion that succession planning is fundamentally a psychological challenge being addressed with legal tools.

“Families create perfect governance documents that say the next generation has authority, but when real decisions happen, everyone still looks to the founding principal,” says Thorp. “But authority isn't granted by documents - it's earned through demonstrated judgment and psychological readiness of both generations.”

Thorp firmly believes most founding principals can't step back because their entire identity is formed around being the decider, a challenge that trust documents won’t solve. 

“Legal tools only function if the humans involved are psychologically ready for what the documents require.”

His perspective is shaped not by a consulting background, but from first-hand experience of succession inside multiple ventures within one of the Qatari royal families.

“I spent a decade embedded with them and other Gulf royal families and family offices, navigating everything from operational strategy to billion-dollar succession transitions where the real work wasn't governance documents, it was the psychology of stepping back and stepping up.”

A key regional learning for Thorp was how Gulf families integrate family identity when it comes to governance, something that can help them overcome a challenge more common in the West, what he refers to as ‘the identity void’.

“When you've spent 40 years building something from nothing, your entire identity is wrapped up in being the founder, the protector, the person who makes final decisions. Stepping back isn't a rational business decision - it's answering, ‘Who am I when I'm no longer the builder?’” 

“Most founding principals have never constructed an identity separate from the business. So they maintain control under the guise of ‘mentorship’ because facing that void is unbearable. Succession documents can't solve an existential crisis.”

While the psychological dynamics of succession are nearly identical across cultures, Thorp has noticed markedly different approaches to next-gen transition between the Gulf and Europe and the US-based clients.

“Western families usually try to create authority through structures - board seats, titles, documented decision rights. Gulf families understand authority is earned gradually through demonstrated judgment and cultural fluency over years.” 

As an example, Thorp points out a British heir that received a COO title immediately after business school, essentially authority on paper, but zero genuine authority in practice. 

“His modernization initiatives were quietly undermined within six months. Contrast that with a Qatari next-gen leader who spent five years handling progressively larger decisions under his father's advisory oversight.” 

Where the former succession collapsed, the Qatari transition worked seamlessly because authority was built through demonstrated judgment, not granted in documents.

“That approach fails because you can't transfer authority like a legal asset. The Gulf model works because the next generation builds authority slowly by proving wisdom, respecting elder counsel, and earning family trust before they're given consequential decisions. Once trust is established, the transition actually works because it's cultural, not mechanical.”

Most of Thorp Advisory’s clients are first or second-generation UHNW families, either based in the Gulf or with significant Middle Eastern business interests. 

Despite better family integration, they also face succession problems where they get stuck on the psychological dynamics.

“What makes them right for my work is they recognise this isn't a technical problem requiring better documentation, it's a psychological challenge requiring deeper work with both generations.” 

Yet he often finds both generations try to solve the wrong problem. 

“The senior generation thinks the challenge is transferring wealth successfully, so they focus on governance documents. The next generation thinks it's proving they're capable, so they pursue credentials.” 

“But the real challenges are completely different: the senior generation needs to reconstruct identity when they're no longer the decider, and the next generation needs to build genuine authority in a context where they inherited rather than built.” 

It’s the gap between involvement and actual authority where most families get things wrong, and where external parties like Thorp add value.

Beyond succession, he also advises on cross-cultural business dynamics, particularly for families and founders navigating between Western and GCC markets.

Much of this work involves shifting perceptions, particularly where the Gulf wealth culture is viewed through a more transactional, Western lens. 

“Western business assumes relationships are networking, decisions are about ROI, and speed equals efficiency. In Gulf families, relationship-building isn't overhead before business - it is the business.” 

He notes how the slower pace in the Gulf isn't bureaucracy, but rather methodical trust-building and assessing if they’re meeting someone they’ll want to work with in five years. 

“Western founders often mistake English fluency for cultural alignment, missing that the decision logic is still rooted in family honor, elder wisdom, and relationship loyalty.”

While the family office world has become sophisticated financially, Thorp sees enormous value in the industry becoming more psychologically advanced.  

“What's completely underdeveloped is helping the next generation build the internal architecture that makes them effective stewards: genuine authority earned through demonstrated judgment, independent identity beyond their parents' shadow, cultural intelligence, and processing the psychology of inherited wealth. 

“Right now families get either technical advisors who don't do psychological work or executive coaches who lack business sophistication. The innovation is bringing these together.”

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