It will be quite some time before we understand the full impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. But the history of such shocks tells us two things. First, even in severe economic downturns and recessions, some companies are able to gain advantage. Second, crises produce not just a plethora of temporary changes but also some lasting …
Are family business owners an asset or a liability?
Freud observed that the intensity of family and work relationships is created by the conflicts between ‘lieben und arbeiten’ (love and work). He suggested that love and work are the main sources of self-esteem and pleasure in life and only when both are balanced do we achieve satisfaction. So what does this tell us on …
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What’s the future of the office?
This debate is still making the rounds. Some businesses remain uncertain as to whether they will ever return to their pre-Covid office routines. I was recently reading an article which outlined that data from Google that indicate that workplace activity in cities like London, New York and San Francisco are running at half what they …
Vaccination Policy
This is likely to be a difficult subject. However I see various employers struggling with this - on whether to require their employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Some lawsuits from employees who feel "coerced" to take the vaccine have been filed around the world (click HERE and HERE), but so far it seems that …
Family Businesses – Succession Planning
With all that is happening around us it is likely many Family Businesses will face a difficult time. Then only way they can survive is to make sure that the foundations on which the family businesses rests upon are strong enough to withstand whatever comes along. One of the foundations that needs to be tackled …
Leadership – Top Skill Needed
I was recently writing a report for a client and my research led me to go through the "Future of Jobs report - 2020" which was issued in October 2020, by the World Economic Forum. This analysis report lists the following cross-functional skills which will likely be needed in the future, across various jobs and …
You are not Apollo (the Sun God)
I hope that by now you have realised that I am absolutely against micromanagement. However, I am frequently faced by micromanagers who then complain as to why everyone keeps coming to them to get things done. Well maybe because you made all the arrows point towards you? Or because you fomented a culture whereby everyone …
Resilience – Lessons from SMEs that weathered the storm well
A few days ago, I was speaking to the Managing Director of a leading family business and he told me "Those that are not investing now to adapt and change things, will find it hard to survive when things pick up". In a world that is still trying to overcoming the gripping fear of the …
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Family Businesses: The Next Leader(s)
Whenever one reads about Family Businesses, the very first topic one encounters is succession planning. It is likely to be so, because many family businesses seem to fail or encounter existential problems when they arrive at this stage. However, the so called one million dollar question is, does succession planning exist in a vacuum or …
From soft skills to core skills
In the past few days I was lucky enough to start the process of training all employees of a company in the so called soft skills, with a special focus on Teamwork, Leadership and Communication. It shows the real foresight of this company, who understood that these skills will be needed more than ever, as …
A Business Blog for SMEs & Family Businesses 