Monthly Archives: December 2016

12/30/16

Familiness–At Work and At Rest

Familiness in family businesses: The nature or set of resources of the family in business contributing to its competitive edge including its culture, reputation, degree of confidence, level of communication, entrepreneurial spirit, management and decisions making capabilities, trust between individuals and interest groups, shared beliefs, commitment, flexibility, creativity and innovation. (Adapted from Family Business wiki, http://www.familybusinesswiki.org/Familiness)

Familiness and the winter holiday season: That time in which we pause from our business activities and the routines of our ordinary daily lives to be in community with friends and family, to eat a bit more and perhaps sleep a bit more, to recall the fantasies we learned as children, and to retell mysteries of Hanukkah and Christmas.

I hope that you found your winter holidays joyful restful and rejuvenating, and that you enjoy the very best of familiness in the year ahead.

12/25/16

The Longest Night

The Longest Night

The sun is disappearing… we must bring it back.

Throughout parts of the globe where the seasons change people have been observing the winter solstice for millennia—imploring the sunlight to return and celebrating its readiness to do so.

I find myself writing this blog on the evening of December 21st—the winter solstice—the longest night of the year. Images of families come to mind—the elders and the young ones.

On winter solstices past, members of the Iroquois Nations went to sleep early to invite “the dreaming” where visions would instruct their lives for the following year.Iroquois Nations

The darkness of this night, open to interpretation, inspired many different traditions and rituals. Ancient Mongolians entered a mystical tent that represented the world, where their shaman undertook a spiritual journey to the North Star to clean their souls of sins. In ancient Rome the people honored the God Saturn with the weeklong feast of Saturnalia. With the return of the light many cultures celebrated the rebirth of a God, and from these traditions the holiday of Christmas was derived.

Modern astronomy has revealed that the sun does not disappear…that the cycle of the seasons is due to the earth’s axial tilt. But the psychology and emotional impact associated with the winter solstice has not changed. We shrink from the darkness, the winter cold, and gather our families and communities to call back the light and warmth. 

As citizens of the earth, cycles and our responses to them are built into our DNA. Everything about our lives is cyclical, and that applies to family businesses no less than individuals. To them as well comes an inevitable time of change; a time that calls for the transition of leadership to the next generation, and the next. Here too, such a transition is open to interpretation. How will the family see this change? As an end, and frightening? As a beginning, and hopeful?

A family business, guided by the light and warmth of its incumbent leadership may struggle with their vision as that light wanes. And just as the sun when it dips below the horizon is not really gone, the wisdom and perspective of the founding generations continues to influence future ones.

Light endures.

12/10/16

Authentic Leadership–Suggested Holiday Reading

Over the past month I have found myself recommending Warren Bennis’ book, On Becoming a Leader, to a number of people. Bennis, who passed away in 2014, was a prolific writer on leadership and, according to management guru Peter Drucker, this is Bennis’ most important book. I find it intriguing that I am now recommending it so often.

As per Bennis, ingredients of leadership include vision, passion, integrity, self-knowledge, constant learning, curiosity… even daring. Bennis writes: “Good leaders engage the world. Bad leaders entrap it, or try.”1

One of Bennis’ most popular quotes illustrates his perspective on how leaders can be creative: “There are two ways of being creative. One can sing and dance. Or one can create an environment in which singers and dancers flourish.” Visit Freedom Inc. to hear Mr. Bennis expand on this quote in a video interview.

In the ideas he set forth in this book, originally published in 1989 now a classic, Bennis lays a foundation for authenticity and personal ethics in leadership.

Since a capacity to develop leadership qualities in all family members is characteristic of family businesses, I strongly suggest On Becoming a Leader as productive holiday reading for all. It’s on my list to re-read in 2017.

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1.Warren Bennis, Becoming a Leader (Basic Books, 2009), 38

12/3/16

Bequeathing Family History

Storytelling is basic to human society. Around the globe and throughout history storytelling has been used to communicate traditions, beliefs and values. Stories help to strengthen the form and order of the cultures and societies to which they belong. According to Judith Kolva Ph.D., professional personal historian and CEO of Legacies in Ink:”Our stories are the heartbeat of the human experience. They teach us who we were, who we are, and who we can be.”1

In her article: Story Power: Families’ hidden asset, posted on November 30th in The Practitioner, the online publication of The Family Firm Institute, Dr. Kolva cites sources that extend the importance of storytelling to longevity in family businesses. Her sources speak of the telling and retelling of a family’s most important stories as best-practices for successfully preserving wealth.

Despite the critical importance of making time at family gatherings to share their unique history, it seems few families do. They fail to understand that family stories are important assets; legacies that can help make them less vulnerable to the all-too-common ‘rags-to-riches-to-rags’ scenario within three generations. Or, they just cannot see how to get started.

Dr. Kolva describes the difficulties involved in initiating and continuing the storytelling process as “Someday List Syndrome.”2 In her article she offers many suggestions and strategies for overcoming these difficulties.

Why not visit the article page and pick some of these suggestions to try within your own family, https://ffipractitioner.org/2016/11/30/story-power-families-hidden-asset/.

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1.Judith Kolva. “Story Power: Families’ hidden asset, ”The Practitioner, November 30, 2016. https://ffipractitioner.org/2016/11/30/story-power-families-hidden-asset/

2. Kolva.