Your Family, Inc.: Practical Tips for Building a Healthy Family Business

by Trepper; Terry S

• ISBN13: 9780789006332
• ISBN10: 0789006332
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-09-10
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Did you know eighty-five percent of family firms do not survive the third generation? Your Family, Inc.: Practical Tips for Building a Healthy Family Business will help the busy entrepreneur lower this drastic failure rate by providing you with great tips and practical advice for creating a successful and pleasant environment when working in the family business.

Author Biography

Ellen Frankenberg, Ph.D. is a family psychologist now specializing in consulting to families in business, and is a columnist for Family Business magazine.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(4)
The Geometry of a Healthy Family	5	(12)
Recognize When You're Caught in a Family Triangle	6	(1)
Name Your Family's Norms	7	(2)
You May Be a ``Here-and-Now'' Kind of Guy, but Your Emotions May Be Caught in the Past	9	(1)
Sometimes Everyday Relationships Become Familiar	10	(1)
In a Family Firm, Your Father's Voice May Really Be the CEO's Voice	11	(1)
Qualify Yourself, so You Stand on Your Own Credentials	12	(1)
If You Plan to Work in the Family Firm, Get Out of Town	12	(1)
When You're in the Family Circle, Respect Its Boundaries	13	(1)
Keep Your Business Out of the Family Party	14	(1)
Consensus, Consensus, Consensus	15	(1)
Your Company Will Turn Out to Be a Triangle	16	(1)
Know Which Hat You Are Wearing: The Business Hat or the Family Hat	17	(12)
Recognize When You're Being Asked to Respond As a Family Member and When You're Not	17	(3)
Know What's Inside Your Family Circle	20	(2)
Know What's Inside Your Business Circle	22	(2)
Develop Strategies to Keep the Family Firm Accountable	24	(1)
Business Decisions Need to Be Made for Business Reasons	25	(2)
The Priorities of the Family and the Priorities of the Business Are Opposites	27	(2)
Ownership Has Its Privileges, and Its Hazards	29	(16)
Ownership in a Family Firm Is a Job Too; Doing It Right Can Mean the Difference Between Disaster and Success	32	(3)
Before Transmitting Stock, Think It Over Twice: Would I Want This Relative Making Decisions About My Future Livelihood?	35	(1)
Ownership in a Family Firm Means Learning How to Build Consensus, Consensus, Consensus	36	(1)
As an Owner, Take the Long View	37	(1)
The Key to Healthy Ownership of the Family Firm Is the Same As the Key to Any Significant Investment: Information, Information, Information	38	(1)
If You Build a Family Forum, They Will Come	39	(2)
Develop Criteria for Future Leadership in Advance	41	(2)
Each Generation Must Reinvent the Company Through Innovation, Innovation, Innovation	43	(2)
Competition in the Family Firm: Sibling Rivalry	45	(12)
Sibling Relationships Are the Longest in Our Lives and Have Great Power Within the Family Firm	47	(1)
More Than 85 Percent of Family Firms Do Not Survive the Third Generation	48	(1)
Birth Order Often Defines Sibling Relationships	49	(2)
Monarchy Was Rejected by the United States, but Not by All Family Firms	51	(1)
Birth Order Outweighs Gender As a Differentiating Factor in Defining Leadership Styles	52	(1)
Develop Practical Strategies for Managing Rivalry in the Family Firm	53	(4)
Preparing Your Daughter to Become CEO	57	(10)
Messages from You Will Shape Your Daughter's Dreams	58	(2)
Support the Development of All Her Talents	60	(1)
Offer Specific Compliments to Reinforce Real Accomplishments	60	(1)
Encourage Her to Take Risks, According to Her Age and Skills	61	(1)
Help Her Define Realistic Goals	61	(1)
Give Your Daughter Equal Air Time	62	(1)
Ask Her About Her Dreams of Greatness	62	(1)
Let Her Know That Her Capacity for Empathy and Consensus Building Are Valued Assets	63	(2)
During the Twentieth Century, Women Have Become a New Species	65	(1)
The Family Firm Can Become a Lab for ``Family-Friendly'' Practices	66	(1)
Partners in Business, Partners in Marriage	67	(14)
Happily Married Couples Have Separated from Their Families of Origin	68	(1)
Happily Married Couples Build Both Togetherness and Autonomy	69	(1)
Happily Married Couples Become Parents	70	(2)
Happily Married Couples Cope with Crises Together	72	(1)
Happily Married Couples Make a Safe Place for Resolving Conflict	72	(2)
Create Time and Space for Sex and Romance	74	(1)
Happily Married Couples Share Laughter and Common Interests	75	(2)
Happily Married Couples Create and Re-Create a Positive Emotional Bond	77	(2)
Preserve a Shared Vision	79	(2)
Not to Decide Is to Decide: Decision Making in the Family Firm	81	(16)
Focus on the Not Urgent, but Important	82	(1)
Develop a Family Forum	83	(3)
Develop a Family Strategic Plan to Complement the Business Strategic Plan	86	(2)
Easy Gifts and Easy Hires Can Lead to Hard Times for the Family Firm	88	(2)
Develop a Family Mission Statement	90	(1)
Recognize the Power of Your Family's Sayings	91	(1)
Each Generation Has to Redefine the Family Mission	92	(1)
Continue to Define Core Values for Children with Great Wealth	93	(1)
Discuss Together the Possible Elements of a Strategic Family Plan	94	(3)
Standards of Success in Family Firms	97	(14)
Write Down a List of Standards Against Which You Evaluate Your Firm	98	(1)
Develop a Board of Advisors Tailored to Your Family Firm	98	(2)
The Best Strategy Is to Develop Your Own Strategic Plan	100	(1)
Family Assets Remain Part of the Balance Sheet in Any Major Decision	101	(1)
Develop a Method to Measure Family Member Assets	102	(4)
Build Consensus Together, Based on Your Family Members' Values	106	(1)
The Process of Building Consensus Can Bring the Family Together	107	(2)
Sometimes, All the King's Horses and All the King's Men Can't Put the Family Company Together Again	109	(1)
At the End of Life, Recognize Your Own Capacity for Love and Work, and the Ways Your Family and Your Business Have Enriched Each Other	110	(1)
References	111	(1)
Resources for Further Reading	112