In his book, “Outliers,” Malcolm Gladwell speaks of many topics relevant to leadership, management, competence and family business. He argues, and with good reason, that it takes a minimum of 10,000 hours of focused effort to develop a skill, even more to be come skilled to the point where others call you “gifted” in that …
Consensus Decision-Making in Family Business
Reaching agreement on decisions in family business is no small task. When members of a family enterprise fail to make wise decisions, the business suffers. When decisions are made that polarize group members, family relationships are put at risk. Consensus decision-making helps to alleviate these problems. If a family is committed to working together for …
Creating the “Elegant Agreement” for Family Business
In my last post, which you can read here, I gave the background of the Yost family, with whom I worked as a consultant. The Yosts own a group of successful car dealerships. Brothers Alan and Charlie make up the third generation of this family business, and both worked in the business. Alan is determined …
When Family Business Leads to Family Conflict
One of the families I worked with as an advisor was going through such turmoil in their family business that it threatened to tear the family apart. This story is about that actual case, somewhat “sanitized” to protect the identity of the company and the individuals. The business is a group of car dealerships, which …
Form Should Follow Function in Family Business
Surely we’ve all heard the edict “form follows function.” This means that the form or shape of a structure is correlated to the purpose or function of that structure. Having the right shape, structure and form is important, and when conditions dictate, a being or entity must evolve. There are plenty of animals that are …
Best Practices & the Power of the Golden Share
In my last post, I summarized the situation of Sharpe Enterprises, a family-owned business that became the largest producer of citrus fruit in the United States. Fred Sharpe, founder, brought each of his four children into different areas of the business. Along the way, he created a holding company that held the stock in the …
Spilled OJ – Creating a Family Business Mess
Fred Sharp moved from the Iowa farm he had inherited to Florida his wife, Alice, and their four children in 1940. He planned to become the largest citrus producer in Florida… and that’s exactly what happened. It was a great time to purchase land in Florida, and Fred had received a great price for his …
Taxes, Heartburn and Family Business
Seeing as how it’s tax season, I thought it would be apropos to include a bit on the subject of taxes. Taxes are no fun to deal with. When tax issues become intertwined with family business decisions, it’s even less fun. The four Stockton brothers – Charlie, John, Kevin and Dean – are members of …
Avoiding the Pitfalls of Nepotism – A Quick Review
In my last two posts, I discussed nepotism – how it can hurt a family business and the good kind of nepotism that can actually help a business. Nepotism is the practice of showing favoritism toward one’s family members or friends in economic or employment terms, for example, granting jobs to friends and relatives, without …
The GOOD Kind of Nepotism
As discussed in my previous post, nepotism is the practice of showing favoritism toward one’s family members or friends in economic or employment terms, for example, granting jobs to friends and relatives, without regard to merit. Such practices have damaging effects on businesses, eroding the support of other employees, reducing the quality and creativity of …
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