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Cause #9 Relationship Interplays
Family Business can have a “force multiplier” effect on family relationships, especially when interpersonal relationship issues present in the family, often built over many years of family interactions, are projected or absorbed into the business. Commercial environments provide all the nutrients required to turn historical/personal/domestic niggles into full-blown, competitive, adult conflicts. Weak, strong and/or distorted […]
Read MoreCause #8 Divorce & Separation
Australia 2019: 113,815 marriages registered; 49,116 divorces granted. We’re marrying later (32 for males, 30 for females), and more couples are living together for several years before marrying. Consequently, marriages are generally lasting longer, and divorce rates are trending downwards from their peak in the 1970s and 1980s (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2019). The bottom line […]
Read MoreCause #7 For want of a Family Plan …
“For want of a nail the shoe was lost, For want of a shoe the horse was lost, For want of a horse the rider was lost, For want of a rider the message was lost, For want of a message the battle was lost, For defeat in battle the kingdom was lost, And all […]
Read MoreCause #7 Equal ain’t Equitable
One of the most common causes of family business conflict arises from (innocently) confusing equality (providing equal benefits), with equity (providing fair treatment). On careful analysis, this almost always indicates avoidance of responsibility to exercise discretion towards family members in widely different circumstances, even where most outsiders, and most family members, would think it perfectly […]
Read MoreCause #6 In-Laws, Outlaws & Blended Families
All forms of matrimonial relationship can create conflicts for business families – with increasingly complicated family structures resulting in a bewildering variety of happy, working, blended, extended, dysfunctional and broken family units forming parts of larger family groups. Higher general and business education levels; social pressures demanding greater equality, inclusiveness, and communication transparency; broadening perceptions […]
Read MoreCause #5 Fossilised Leaders
“Fossilisation” is the process of rusting in place in a business leadership role, by becoming more averse to change and innovation. It’s usually caused by age. We are living longer, working longer and, despite having to deal with a global pandemic, we expect to do far more in our lives than ever before. This encourages […]
Read MoreCause #4 Managing Unmet Expectations and Broken Promises in Family Businesses
When people feel betrayed, or unfairly treated, by people they believed they could trust – frustration, resentment, anger, and a strong desire for revenge, are common consequences. Conflicts brew, and eventually spill over. Despite the fond wish to believe that every family business is a haven of peace, integrity and high trust, the reality is […]
Read MoreCause #3 Human Diversity – Ages & Stages
We don’t pay enough attention to the effect of different ages and stages on people’s thinking and behaviours. This raises real issues when family members working together in a family business are at different ages and stages in their respective lives. We see this most powerfully when two or more generations of a family are […]
Read MoreCause #2 Managing Personality Differences in Family Business Conflicts
Personality differences have huge impacts on the nature and quality of interactions between family members – in and out of a family business – and between family members and family business employees. “Character” is how the world sees you, and how you see yourself – as a stable, accumulated collection of traits and qualities that […]
Read MoreCause #1 Family Business – Blessing, or Curse?
Oh, the drama! The very word “Family” engages us all, at a visceral level. Whether it’s a light, dark, hot, cold, happy, sad, loved or lonely response, “family” always stirs some sort of emotional response. The words “Family Business” engage us in several additional dimensions: emotional, intellectual, professional and financial. And from the outside they […]
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