Steven: I know your previous experience will be invaluable to us, but I can’t work just when I want to. So is it right for you to be able to? Karen: My life is more complex with two young children and a house to run. But with “flex-time” I could still work with you […]
In our work together as consultants to family businesses, we’re frequently called in at the stage when long-standing conflicts between family members have reached the boiling point. Most often, we’re able to iron out even the most seemingly intractable interpersonal business problems, but occasionally by the time we’re consulted, the relationships are so badly fractured […]
It’s easy to assume that job descriptions and well-defined roles and responsibility guarantee clearly autonomous decision making. But that’s not always the case. For a business to be successful, it’s critical that there be clarity on the powers of decision making. When the rules and expectations around decision making aren’t made clear, the consequences can […]
The typical tenure of a CEO in a family business is close to 20 years, three times that of a non-family business. And while many family business CEOs love what they do, have a deep sense of stewardship and are eager to train their successors, there are others who feel trapped. For them, it’s a […]
Ellen (daughter): I’m convinced the economy is starting to rebound, Dad. All the economic indicators seem to be pointing in the right direction. Charlie (son): I agree. Housing starts and sales are up and mortgage rates are even rising a bit. If we don’t open a new location now, then when? Henry (father): Whoa! […]
There’s a great saying; “The family that plays together, stays together.” We believe that family members spending time together helps create those integral intergenerational bonds and furthers the right type of communication. A structure for family meetings and communication fosters stewardship. It allows the upcoming generation to learn about the history of the business, […]
When we ask family members in business together what they do, the response is frequently a rather glib, “Whatever needs to be done.” That’s what entrepreneurs do when they start a business. But as the business grows and matures, especially through multiple generations, clarity and agreement around who does what and who reports to whom […]
Sam: Look, Robert, this is getting to be ridiculous. When your oldest daughter wanted to come into the business, I never gave you an argument. She was focused on marketing and we needed her help. But now you want your other two kids to come in also? Robert: Sam, we’ve been brothers-in-law and partners […]
Ben, the founding father of his family business, has always gone with his gut when making tough choices, and it’s served him well. But his adult kids, with their MBA’s and insistence on analytics, numbers-crunching, and the market, are trying to put the brakes on him – and he wonders if they’re so risk-averse they’ll […]
Ed has a tough choice before him – one that could conceivably fracture his family and wound the family enterprise. His three adult kids, all of them executives under him in the business, are all capable and hard working. Any one of them could serve as CEO when he steps down. Now, with his retirement […]
