Resources
Items of interest are posted here from time to time. Just click on the highlighted phrase to open the article up.
When people ask me how they are doing as a family business, I always refer them to a quiz that I excerpted from the book, Keep the Family Baggage Out of the Family Business, by Quentin J. Fleming. It assesses the extent to which family priorities or business systems are driving your business’ actions and is an indicator of your business’ health. Take the quiz and have other family members also complete the quiz; regardless whether they work in the business or not. See if your scores agree or come close to each other.
Included here will also be links to items that I send out via my eNewsletter. Be sure to send me your email address if you'd like to be notified whenever I post a new article on this website.
Accountability:
Five Accountability Pitfalls that Kill Companies. You've seen them; I've seen them. Here they are.
Creating a Culture of Accountability. Here's a really good article on the challenges of holding people accountable and also a 'how to' create a culture of accountability in your business.
Boards:
A Planning Guide for Transforming Your Company's Board of Directors. A lot of family owned businesses have boards that are comprised of family members and internal managers. The capabilities of these boards could be significantly enhanced by adding independent directors. Why? Read this author's perspective on the question.
Demystifying family boards; is an article put out by Ernst & Young. Very worthwhile reading if you're still wondering whether or not to have a board of directors. Options and alternatives are discussed in this easy to read article.
Look Beyond Your Personal Network to Recruit Top Level Board Members. When you're recruiting for your company, you want to find the best talent available. Recruiting for your board is no different. This author provides their perspective on what to look for in a potential director and how to go about getting them on board.
Conflict:
How Frequent is Conflict in a family business? Is this healthy? Is conflict divisive? How can we manage conflict?
Dealing with Conflicts of Interest on a Family Business Boardis an interview with Stephanie Brun de Pontet of the Family Business Consulting Group. Read her comments and viewpoints on how to handle conflicts of interest.
Core Values:
Business Core Values are important foundational items. Do you know what your core values are?
Kikkoman is a Japanese company that is over 300 years old and has transitioned to the 17th generation. They credit, among other things, the Core Values that their business is built upon.
Entitlement:
Entitlement; what is it and what can i do about it?
Family Constitutions:
Family Constitutions are a collection of agreements and policies that families adopt to help govern their relationships with the business. Every family business would benefit by discussing and adopting agreements and policies that address potentially sensitive ownership issues.
Leadership:
Turning Potential Into Success; The Missing Link in leadership development; A Harvard Business Review article that offers insights into the challenge that every business and every organization faces as they contemplate the need to provide future leadership and top level management for their respective organizations. Their solutions make a great deal of sense.
Servant Leadership; my thoughts on what it takes to be an effective leader in any business and in any organization.
Leading in an increasingly VUCA World; by Eric J. McNulty, director of research at the National Preparedness Leadership Institute, talks about the increasingly fast pace of change that we have all faced, and will continue to face. I'm sure that you will agree with McNulty that our world have become more volatile, more uncertain, much more complex, and many more options (ambiguous) to choose from.
Ownership:
Passing on the Torch without Blowing Up the Family; read one family business owner's experience with transitioning from one generation to another. Plus take a look at a checklist of things to consider.
Cultivating Ownership in the Next Generation; how do owners successfully get their children to take an active interest in the family's business?
Stockholder Agreements are important for any family owned business to consider and adopt. Take a look at what the issues are in this short article.
What if a Business Owner Loses Cognitive Ability? asks Steve Parrish in an article posted in Forbes. If you’re the owner of a business, save your family members and key management staff from agonizing over whether the problem. As the article points out, doing nothing will just make the problem worse.
Strategic Planning:
On Strategic Planning; A lot of what I help customers with relates directly to planning for the future for family owned businesses.
10 Principles of Leading Change Management Helpful suggestions that will help you implement change in your company; even with employees who have been with you for ten years or more.
Five Behaviors can Create an Innovation Culture is an article by Rob Shelton, PwC US. What sets you apart from your competition? How can you gain a competitive edge? How can you encourage those who work for you to come up new ideas to help improve your operations or help improve the company's performance and profitability? Read Shelton's thoughts on encouraging innovation.
Creating a Strategy that Works proposes five unconventional management practices that help to build distinct capabilities that can provide you with competitive advantages. Do you have a winning strategy? Are you missing out on major opportunities? The authors challenge you to examine how you development strategies.
Bill Ruh on the Industrial Internet and Digital Empowerment. Ruh, the head of GE Digital talks about how the digital revolution is changing the digital environment and changing the way that they do business. GE used to be defined by the appliances, hardware and equipment that they manufacture. They are changing to be a "producer of software driven offerings."
Succession Planning:
How to work with Parents, a challenge for many next generation family members.
10 Tips for Bringing Your Children into the Family Business by Wayne Rivers in the Wall Street Journal, discusses some of the strategies and policies that a family business should consider and adopt.
Developing a Family Education Programdiscusses an important tool that families can use to bring family members together. improve their knowledge of the business, provide them with skill sets to be able to evaluate the business' performance, and develop as owners and leaders. Written by Anna Nichols of Altair Advisors, her comments echo my sentiments as well.