I write this article as a heartfelt appeal to all Family Businesses. It is truly nerve wrecking and a massive pity when I see family businesses suffering due to an old mindset of going about things. Family businesses are unique in that they blend professional and personal relationships, often spanning multiple generations. While this dynamic …
Author: Silvan Mifsud
Building Leaders in the 21st-Century
In today's volatile business environment, the demands on leaders are greater than ever. CEOs face double the number of critical issues compared to a decade ago, requiring a new approach to leadership development. A recent McKinsey article explores the key characteristics of successful leaders and how organisations can build a robust leadership pipeline. However leaders …
What is happening to the Work Place?
A recent article by the World Economic forum sheds some light as to what is happening at the work place. The modern workplace is in a state of constant flux, driven by rapid technological advancements, evolving employee expectations, and unprecedented generational diversity. For the first time, up to five generations are working side-by-side, each bringing …
Bad time Management – Ultra Short Termism Galore!
Many family business owners and leaders have no real intention to make the lives of those around them miserable. Yet many times, I find, that they manage to achieve just that. In various instances the root cause is due to the fact that many family business owners and leaders are actually poorly trained managers that …
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Business Success Insights for 2025
A recent report by the Central Bank of Malta, based on interviews with non-financial corporations (NFCs), provides a detailed overview of the key trends and challenges that shaped the Maltese business environment in 2024. The report is based on the information that was gathered through 45 interviews conducted between October and December of 2024. This …
The deadly sins of Family Business
The first month of the year is soon over and yet again I keep facing several & repeated issues with family businesses. I find myself reflecting many times on the common problems I see in different family businesses, even if in different contexts. As a person who just loves joining the dots, I have come …
The Future of Jobs
The 2025 Future of Jobs Report, published by the World Economic Forum, a few days ago provides a comprehensive analysis of the global labour market trends and projections for the period 2025-2030. This report is based on a survey of over 1,000 employers representing more than 14 million workers across 22 industries and 55 economies. …
Does your family business have a succession plan?
Every time I hear about a family business that is closing down its shutters once and for all, my mind races about the delicate yet important subject of succession planning. This happened recently to me as the closure of a 90 year old family business in Valletta was recently all over the news. It is …
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Thinking Properly – A Family Business Perspective
Over the Christmas period I read Daniel Kahneman's book "Thinking, Fast and Slow" and I could relate much of what he said in this book to the unique challenges and opportunities faced by family business owners and leaders. Kahneman's central thesis revolves around the interplay of two cognitive systems: System 1: Operates automatically, quickly, and …
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The Gift of Listening
I meet many business owners and leaders, who are so engulfed in their day-to-day operations that they just have no time for anything else, including listening. They are so taken up to keep their hamster wheel running, that the noise of that hamster wheel is not allowing them to listen to anything else. Which is …
A Business Blog for SMEs & Family Businesses 