Conflict is part of the human condition. Therefore, it is neither negative nor positive, but rather a natural phenomena (Espinoza, 2011). The negative connotations traditionally attributed to conflict are at odds with current theories that explain the use of the term as an engine of change and generator of competitive advantage. Such consequences can only …

Continue reading Conflict in Family Businesses

I was recently in Billund Denmark and visited the so called LEGO house and could read and learn about the LEGO business - yes a family business! LEGO knows its origins to Ole Kirk Kristiansen who hasda carpentry business that by the end of the 1920s, due to the Great depression, was suffering and ultimately …

Continue reading LEGO – Succession planning is a journey

It is heart breaking when I meet family businesses that suffer because the next generation was ill prepared to lead the family business. Family business should give priority to well prepare their next generations as potential successors for operational or board roles within the family business. Educating the next generation on family business matters is …

Continue reading The Importance of Educating the Next Generation

As Simon Sinek rightly puts it, “A team is not a group of people who work together. A team is a group of people who trust each other." So the question every business leader should be asking is "How do I make sure that I build a trusting team?" What I find mind boggling is …

Continue reading Building Trust

Many next-generation family members may decide to join their family businesses, exhibiting the desire to be part of the family business. However it is a common occurrence that their subsequent behaviours in relation to the family business will vary, with huge implications for their effectiveness and the actual family business performance (cf. Morrison, 1994). So, …

Continue reading Is the next generation really committed to the Family Business?

As I keep repeating many family business owners are exclusively focused on operational matters. Such a mindset is based on continuous steady improvements. It is a mindset that works well when the need for change is slow and easily manageable. A level of change that can be handled through investments, work faster in some areas, …

Continue reading Who is seeing the Big Picture?

Educating the next generation on family business matters is complex for both senior and next-generation family members. The list of activities that help shape and prepare the next generation can be very long. Education can be a mix of mandatory, self-imposed or discretionary activities. To ensure a successful journey, families should keep the next generation …

Continue reading Why Training the Next Generation is Essential

They where all family businesses which either went belly up, as they failed to see shifts in their markets, as they where not strategically focused, or had to sell off the family business due to lack of succession planning or proper policies to prevent conflict. The collapse of KodakThe Eastman Kodak Company, founded by George …

Continue reading What do Kodak, Sears, Budweiser, Toys “R” Us, Cadbury and Subway have in common?

It is invariably true, that whenever I meet a family business owner or leader that grumbles about everything under the sun, including how his or her managers are not doing enough to push the company forward, the end result is that more than his or her managers or colleagues, the main problem is himself or …

Continue reading Delegate & Empower

The external environments has been challenging in recent years between COVID, supply chain issues, inflation, changing consumer trends, ever tight labour markets and the list goes on. Add to that the fact that many family business owners and leaders are still stuck too an operational way of doing things whereby they would want to be …

Continue reading Burned out Family Business Owners & Leaders