I was recently asked this question by the owner of a family business with four sons working in the firm: “How do I choose which one will run the business?”Wow! There are so many ways to answer this question. Family business succession can be complicated. My first response was to ask, “Who wants to?” To which the owner did not know the answer. So that is a good place to start; however, there is more running the family business than just who wants to.
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Doris was the type of employee you could set your watch to. She arrived at 7:50am each day and left no later than 5:10pm. Her day was spent doing administrative work—much of it routine, identical to the day before, and the day before that. Through the years everyone got used to her reaction to change. If her schedule was interrupted, you needed to give at least a 48-hour notice. Larger interruptions, such as painting the office or a software upgrade would require a series of one-to-one meetings, coddling, and accommodation. Reading this, one might think that people resented Doris when, actually, the opposite is true. The vast majority of employees liked and valued Doris. She was punctual to a fault, extremely dependable and as emotionally predictable as they come.
Do you have people on your team like Doris? How about the person who isn’t exactly a ball of fire, but also doesn’t make waves? What about employees who don’t want to become supervisors or even team leaders? They just want to do their job and go home.
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Embracing change...This is a sore subject for some, and for others, an exciting one. No one likes to talk about it for fear of how people will react. When it comes to change, there are two ways people tend to react. For some, it’s new and exciting. It creates motivation. But for others, it’s scary, it’s unknown, and can be the center of their frustration and despair.
Do you ever feel like people are constantly trying to mess up your routine? Or they’re always asking you to try something different? For those of you who do, you’re probably comfortable where you are. You might have the outlook of, “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.” You like the way things are, and you don’t want it to change. With change comes the possibility of failure and navigating through the unknown. You hear about a change, and a red flag goes up in your brain and says, “STOP!” So that’s what you do.
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Today more than ever, employers want employees to own what they expect of them. That means acknowledging responsibility for their outcomes. And in return, employees expect their employers to demonstrate ethics and integrity in their actions. When both parties agree to accept these goals, the result becomes a culture of Personal Accountability.
The core of personal accountability is based on a person accepting responsibility for his own behavior and actions. A person may become accountable in business based on a certain position held or accepting a task delegated by a supervisor. But the real accountability happens when the person who is accountable also accepts the consequence—either positive or negative—for the outcome.
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We’ve all felt it. The stress. The burnout. The feeling of being overworked. Sometimes in your job, you get to that point where you are exhausted and ready to pull your hair out. It’s almost absolute that we aren’t the only organization who is feeling the burnout. Maybe this isn’t your busy time, but you probably still know the feeling of being stressed, spread too thin, and being focused on too many projects. Yes, of course, we are happy to be busy, because that means business is good…but it can still take a toll on you.
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Family business owners often contemplate who will take over the business when they retire. Revela is now owned by Wayne’s daughter, Andrea Fredrickson. Actually, many owners consider their family members as first options. Leadership teams may consist of spouses, siblings, children, cousins, etc. All the same people that sit around the table at Thanksgiving dinner. But as a non-family member in a family business, sometimes you have to wonder… Where do I fit in?
Sometimes in family businesses, there are non-family employees who feel family members are entitled. They believe that no matter their skill set, those family members will always trump other employees. They watch as family members get promotion after promotion; and all the while, they’re sitting and stewing about it. They’re telling their peers. And then they begin keeping score.
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