Family Business General Interest Articles Archives

Why Business Families, and Family Businesses, need Boards

Background Family Businesses are the engine room of the Australian economy. They employ over 50% of the Australian workforce and generate over 50% of GDP. Family Business is not small business, although many Family Businesses are small. They also comprise approximately 100 of the 500 largest companies in Australia. Many are large corporations. However, and […]

“More, or “Meaningful”?

by Jon Kenfield MBO (Note: this is my personal, unauthorised take on what somebody else said). James E Hughes Jr. is a US attorney and the author of several highly influential books about preserving and enhancing family wealth. Hughes postulates that while financial capital provides practical support for multi-generational families, their true wealth lies in […]

Cause #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 […]

Cause #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 […]

Cause #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 […]

Cause #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 […]

Cause #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 […]

Meeting Facilitation – An Expert Skill to make Meetings More Productive

A Facilitator is a person who makes something easier for others to understand or do. Facilitators also help to make things happen on behalf of others, in circumstances where they have no interest in the outcome. Facilitators should therefore be apolitical, with no personal interest in the outcomes of the meeting. Meeting facilitation requires the […]

Arbitration Services – Businesslike Efficiency and Effectiveness

Arbitration: Parties to a dispute agree to appoint an independent person (ideally an expert in the subject matter of the dispute) to gather information (using documents and/or in person), to make legally binding decisions about any issues in dispute. Ideally, Arbitration Services are specified in a contract, as part of an agreed dispute resolution process. […]

Arbitration – Great Process … but use only as intended

The arbitration process has been in use around the world for hundreds of years. In essence, parties to a dispute agree to appoint an independent person (ideally an expert in the subject matter of the dispute) to gather information from all relevant sources in order to make a legally binding decision on the referred issues, […]