Many family business owners have a romanticised and over positive view about the value of business decisions based on intuition. It is a common occurrence that when I simple ask family business owners on what basis they take their decision, they reply with a smirk on their face that they can rely on their “gut” …
Good Managers – Where are you?
It is a common occurrence that I hear from business owners that they feel disappointed about their managers. That many times they have to follow up or intervene as their managers do not really take fully responsibility of what needs to be done. Many times this is manifested by having managers and their teams show …
Listen to Grow
Quiet, attentive listening doesn’t always come naturally to us. When we talk over others or just do not take a few minutes to listen - we might waste hours — or months — as we push things in the wrong direction. Why, then, is it so natural for us all to try to dominate conversation? …
Easter & Succession Planning
If one where to sit down and think, you would conclude that Jesus Christ was likely to be the best at drawing up a succession plan. He realised that succession planning is not an event but a journey. Thus, he started from Day 1 building his core team - The Apostles. He spent 3 years …
The Operator’s Mindset epidemy across generations
A common situation I see in family business is the following. An old generation with an ingrained true owner-operator mindset in the classic sense, familiar with all day-to-day details of the family business and focused almost exclusively on daily operators. Then the next generation comes along. Many times I see next generation family business leaders …
Continue reading The Operator’s Mindset epidemy across generations
Mindset is everything
As I am just 2 days away from turning 47, I wanted to share a life reflection which is so relevant for one of the main limitations I find in family business owners and leaders. Mindset is everything. If that statement seems too strong, consider that we bring so many basic assumptions to every decision …
Why do family businesses fail to change?
I spend most of my time running from one family business to another, preaching to them that they need to change. That they need to become more professional in their approach, that their leadership needs to become more strategic and less operational, that they need to become more data driven in the way they decide …
Corporate Governance in Family Businesses
I was recently reading a Times of Malta article on publicly listed equities on the Malta Stock Exchange. It highlighted some reasons why Maltese Investors shy away from buying equities (shares). All the examples given find their root cause in Corporate Governance, or in this case, the lack of it. The topic of corporate governance …
The Labour Market
It has become a constant topic of any meeting and discussion with business owners. The huge headache business owners have in retaining employees and finding new ones. It seems a discussion on a never ending loop as it keeps being repeated, day in, day out. On one hand, businesses have to up their ante, to …
Difficulty in Persuading Others?
From one meeting to another, family business owners all grumble on the huge "headaches" they have with staff members. In many instances, these so called "headaches" are because they are finding it increasingly difficult to persuade staff members on how they can work better, be more efficient, improve their performance or be better team players. …
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