Succession Planning – Building Value   

The American fascination with “teams” and “teambuilding” probably causes as much conflict and confusion as does consensus and convergence. Much of what passes for learned thought in contemporary management literature espouses the need for “team” players who are willing to “take a bullet for the team.” We want people to collaborate and play for the “win-win” scenario. 

The truth is we do not really want them to collaborate; most of us want them to accommodate (subordinate) their interests in favor of ours. The differences between accommodation and collaborati...Read More

Conveying the seemingly intuitive business sense that comes from years of experience is a leadership trait that cannot be had by any other method than experience. Closely related to the gaining of experience is that business leaders have learned to take initiative. Without initiative they would not have learned some tough lessons along the way that, in essence, is what experience is all about.

They do not simply wait for things to happen to them. They live at cause rather than at effect. They make things happen. They are not afraid of making mistakes and therefore make the necessary decisions to get things done. I’ve been working with a widow of a man who started and grew a large distribution company. While he was a true leader and built a substantial b...Read More

The challenges and opportunities of careers have moved many of us away from home. Many of us continue to enjoy going back for a dose of that unconditional parental love and to hang with old friends. However over time, we become aliens in our home towns unable to relate to an environment that does not seem to keep up with time. Furthermore, as many of us have learned, there are challenges associated with attending to ageing parents from a distance.

Let’s now reflect upon probate. With my Mom’s death a few years back I also received my Probate Purple Heart. Yes, I was wounded in the line of duty before I even identified the enemy. Just in, do everything possible to also avoid probate! If y...Read More

Thirteen years ago, a new client who lost his wife prematurely came to me with a large box full of papers that included several pieces of financial information including a dozen or so old life insurance policies. He had no idea if the life insurance policies were in force or not. Needless to say, investigating the content in this large box was quite time consuming. During one of the lowest points in his life, losing his wife of thirty years, this gentleman and his children were tasked with pulling the pieces of their financial puzzle together.

Fortunately, situations like this can be avoided. Take the time to organize your financial affairs and ensure a close family member or friend knows where to locate...Read More

Thirteen years ago, a new client who lost his wife prematurely came to me with a large box full of papers that included several pieces of financial information including a dozen or so old life insurance policies. He had no idea if the life insurance policies were in force or not. Needless to say, investigating the content in this large box was quite time consuming. During one of the lowest points in his life, losing his wife of thirty years, this gentleman and his children were tasked with pulling the pieces of their financial puzzle together.

Fortunately, situations like this can be avoided. Take the time to organize your financial affairs and ensure a close family member or friend knows where to locate...Read More

Businesses have three primary resources or forms of Capital:   Human Capital (people relationships); Temporal Capital (time management); and Financial Capital (liquid/illiquid assets). Each of these is interconnected adds or detracts from the value of a business. 

People (Human Capital) sell their time (Temporal Capital) for money (Financial Capital) to business owners (Human capital) for 8 +/- hours a day (Temporal Capital) to build/deliver products and services which can be converted to cash (Financial Capital) through a marketplace (Human Capital) transaction occurring over...Read More

My managers just don’t agree with what I say.” Such was the frustrated, emotional exclamation of a 50 year old successor trying to assume leadership of the business his father had transferred to him through a ten year succession process. “I just struggle to get them to agree with me.”

“Are you struggling to get your managers to agree with you? What’s wrong with this picture”, I responded in dismay.

Unfortunately this scenario is not all that uncommon. In fact I find myself offering this retort so often to inexperienced or ineffective leaders that I believe it is time to a...Read More

Remember, your goals are not a to-do list. You don’t need a long list – one or two at the most in each section will be more than enough. You do not need to know how you are going to accomplish the goal just that it is something that will make you feel happy/good/self-fulfilled once it is accomplished. Play with the list for a while to see how you feel about these items as they start making their way onto the page. If you start to feel worried or burdened, “How will I ever do this,” reconsider whether it belongs on your list at all.

Choose a variety of goals – some fun and easy to knock out within 1 week, 1 month, then start stretching yourself so that you have at least one goal that will take all year to accomplish. As you confirm each goal, then take some time to map out an action plan for accomplishing ea...Read More

The reason for exploring family dynamics is precisely because family issues compel business decisions and sometimes these family dynamics include significant mental health issues as noted in my last two posts. I have recently been working with a family in which a history of depression has been a significant part of their personal struggles. 

The entrepreneur father and his two sons, who are both involved in the business all have periodic bouts with depression. It is described by them as a “funk” or a period of days in which they feel like they are under a cloud, they see the glass as half empty, they are irritable, emotionally sensitive with one another, and end up withdrawing relationally. And of course, it happen...Read More

In 1970, Alvin Toffler introduced the term “information overload” in a book called Future Shock. Forty years ago, Toffler wrote about the impact of the accelerating rate of technological and societal change. In a nutshell, he predicted that we humans would be left disconnected and suffering from “shattering stress and disorientation”.  

This led to something called the “Law of Disruption”. There is a technical application for this term, but it also has some applications that surface when the social framework of a family and/or a business is, in Toffler’s terms, “sh...Read More

The ultimate success of both large and small companies is determined by how well they recruit and develop managers to train, guide, motivate and hold accountable the employees who are on the front lines with customers. I would not deny that some stellar employees just naturally evolve into good managers. However the vast majority of highly effective managers learned the core competencies of management in the school-of-hard-knocks. Taking two steps forward and one step backwards they became testimonies to my philosophy that “success is based upon the failures we learn from”. But my point is that although these over-comers are proud of their achievement, they readily admit that their failures were very expensive for all concerned. So consider these fundamentals that any company, large or...Read More

Organizational Core values define the enduring character or ideology of an organization. These values are so primary, so fundamental to us that throughout the changes in society, government, politics, and technology they are STILL the core values we will abide by. In an ever-changing world, core values are constant. Core values are not descriptions of the work we do or the strategies we employ to accomplish our mission. The organization may develop new purposes, employ new strategies, processes and significantly restructure; however, the identity and ideology remains intact. In Jim Collins’ words, “…core ideology provides the glue that holds an organization together through time.” (Good to Great, Harper Collins Publishers, 2001)

Core Values Are:

- Govern personal relationships...Read More