Monthly Archives: January 2018

01/27/18

Time Together–Indispensable To Family-Business Success

What keeps venerable old families together?
They are, after all, only as strong as the roots that bind them.[1]

The above quote comes from a Dec 30, 2017 article in the NY Times that I had saved because in it I see an important message for all family businesses—a message that cannot be repeated enough.

The article, Keeping the Family Tree Alive https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/29/your-money/family-business-wealth.html features descendants from three famous families: Sylvia Brown, whose family name adorns Brown University, Alessia Antinori who is a 26th generation member of the Italian wine making company bearing that name and Mitzi Perdue, heiress to the Sheraton Hotel chain, and widow of chicken magnate Frank Perdue.

For me, the overriding message is: members of successful family enterprises spend time together. Eating dinner together and vacationing together are examples. Time together helps family members embrace a common sense of purpose, create and sustain a culture of cohesiveness across generations.

It’s interesting to note that the representatives of the three families written about in this article are women. Women are typically perceived as the archetypical force for family cohesiveness. Considering that more family businesses fail because of family related challenges than business ones, the extent to which women participate in their family enterprises might justifiably be seen as a significant factor for failure or long-term success.

 

[1] Sullivan, P. (2017, December 29) Keeping the Family Tree Alive: Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/29/your-money/family-business-wealth.html

 

01/23/18

Sharing your family story makes your business stronger

Guest Blog: By Sally Collings

“We have no direct access to historical truth … Our only truth is narrative truth, the stories we tell each other and ourselves.”
— Oliver Sacks, The River of Consciousness

A team of researchers who set out to analyze the business attributes of family-owned wineries in Germany came across a strange fact. They were studying 21 wineries that were, on average, 11 generations strong; the oldest dated back to the 10th century, when Vikings were still colonizing Europe. About half of these family wineries had continued to innovate across generations in areas such as growing new grape varieties or adopting the latest production technologies. The other half were more inclined to follow than to lead, only adopting new techniques or entering new markets after their competitors paved the way.

Among the attributes that distinguished the more entrepreneurial wineries, one in particular was somewhat surprising. These business families had what you could call an “entrepreneurial legacy story” that they shared from one generation to the next. It might be the tale of a great-great-great-great-uncle, say, who rode his horse to Paris so that he could attend an auction to buy back the family winery after it was seized by Napoleon. At family meals and festive gatherings, stories of persistence in the face of peril, theft, adversity and war were told over and over again.

What is the significance of that? “These stories give meaning to today’s entrepreneurial actions and put current risks and problems in a broader context,” Peter Jaskiewicz of Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business reasoned. “It is hard to complain about losing a customer knowing your great-grandparents overcame war and starvation to build the business.”

From speaking with both the current generation’s leaders and their children, the research team found that the families less inclined to innovate lacked pride in their ancestors’ achievements. They either did not know the stories, or they played them down as being simply a matter of chance with no enduring significance.

Who would have thought that stories could actively make a difference to the capacity for innovation? Of course, this correlation will not be confined to German wineries. Stories are the glue that hold any family together, and the mortar that makes a business strong going into the future. If the current leadership connects the next generation to their shared narrative, the result is a more cohesive unit with aligned values and goals.

When the Mouawad family celebrated 125 years in the diamond, jewelry and watchmaking business, they set about creating a book that would capture their heritage so that future generations could appreciate it, as well as providing insights for other families seeking longevity for their business. After completing the process, current business leader Fred Mouawad says, “By better understanding our history we were able to set a better trajectory into the future.”

Set aside some storytelling time at your next family gathering. It is far more than an indulgence for the older generation: it could be the difference that makes your family enterprise a leader in its field, rather than a follower.

Sally Collings (founder and CEO of Red Hill Publishing, specializing in writing books for family businesses and social enterprises)

01/15/18

Family Business—A Three-Way Balancing Act

Open up a family business and you will find within a three-way structure of dynamic subsystems; the family, the ownership and the business. These three must continually adjust to one another to maintain balance among themselves for their own health and that of the entire business. What’s tricky about that? Each of the subsystems has its own set of priorities.

Priorities for the Family subsystem are:

  • Harmony
  • Unity
  • Acceptance
  • Loyalty

Priorities for Ownership are:

  • Dividend Distribution
  • Stock Appreciation
  • Control

For the Business subsystem priorities are:

  • Growth
  • Profitability
  • Market Share
  • Innovation

Set out like this, it becomes easy to see where points of contention may exist as the systems’ moving parts meet and inevitably impact one another; where family harmony intersects dividend distribution; where innovation meets control; where market share runs aground of stock appreciation…

These are a just a few of the many ways these three subsystems can become unbalanced, creating inter-family conflict, operations slowdowns, loss of profitability and overall damage to the sustainability of the business and the family.

01/3/18

Thoughts On The New Year

The Holiday Season has come and gone, with it’s festivities and colors lighting up the winter darkness. And it’s January 1st once more. We have again accomplished that crossing between year’s end and another beginning.

As we reflect on this crossing, make promises or resolutions. and set our sights on the challenges and adventures that beckon ahead, we may pause to contemplate that yet another year of our life has gone by.

One can see time as passing by, and we can also see that we are travelers, participants on a journey of possibilities from youth to the wisdom of old age—through days, months and years.

It is a journey not to be feared, writes Thomas Moore in his book Ageless Soul, The Lifelong Journey Toward Meaning and Joy.[1] Rather, he writes, it should be embraced and cherished. In Moore’s view, aging is the process by which one becomes a more distinctive, complete, fulfilled, loving, and connected person. May this be, in 2018, a promise for you and all your loved ones.

We, at The Family Business Leader™, wish you and all your family
a very wonderful and prosperous New Year.

 

1  Moore. Thomas. (2010) Ageless Soul: The Lifelong Journey Toward Meaning and Joy, New York, New York: St. Martin’s Press.