Meeting the family members and any other players is not by any means the first step of a new consulting opportunity. Most likely you have spent time researching and there have been phone and email exchanges well before it is time to shake hands and make eye contact. I have had to make some big adjustments in my consulting practice, as I am sure everyone has. I am sure it has been a challenge for both sides.
David Bork is proud to have contributed the forward for the book, MAPS for Men: A Guide for Fathers and Sons and Family Businesses.
New York Times best-selling author and nationally syndicated radio show host Dave Ramsey calls this important book “a must-have resource for any and every family business.”
In his forward for MAPS for Men, David Bork, founder and CEO of Family Business Matters, writes: “These concepts help fathers and sons reframe their relationship into something that is more meaningful and helpful in meeting their goals, rather than repeating generational patterns.“
David recommends this book to fathers and sons seeking to better understand their personal and professional relationship.
In the interest of full disclosure, Edgell Franklin Pyles has been a good friend for more than twenty-five years, and we share a large community of interests. In the early 90s, we explored together the works of Robert Moore, James Millman, Robert Bly, and others. I met both Robert Moore and Robert Bly at a retreat in Aspen, Colorado, organized and sponsored by Edgell.
This was called the men’s movement, and we were excited about it because it sought to further define what it meant to be a man at the end of the twentieth century. It was grounded in Jungian psychology, and while well researched and articulated, it could be theoretical and esoteric. Our explorations of this work produced a practical approach and we have been on parallel, but different, paths.
We were interested in understanding the dynamics that take place between fathers and sons at both the personal and professional level. Our first step was to comprehend and appreciate the relationship we had with our […]
Successful family business relationships are key to holding a family business together. Some of the qualities families in business must have to be successful include: shared values, shared power, traditions, willingness to learn and grow, activities to maintain relationships, genuine caring, mutual respect, ability to support each other, privacy and boundaries.
I was privileged to be a featured speaker at Family Firm Institute’s 26th Annual Conference in Brussels, Belgium this month. This was my twenty-third year presenting at the Global Conferences of the Family Firm Institute (FFI)! Throughout my career, I’ve always enjoyed connecting with audiences through these speaking engagements.
I presented my session with Dennis Passis, owner of Gate Enterprises Inc., a mid-sized family business. Passis and I met at last year’s conference and our conversations about professional orientation led to the joint presentation. Our talk, “What Informs Your Work with Family Business?,” resulted in a lively, 60-minute interactive session with the audience.
Jesus Casado, FFI Board member, said, "This was the best session in the entire conference!"
During our session with the audience, we spoke about how the values and fundamental beliefs of family business counselors provide the foundation for their work with family business clients. We discussed how those beliefs set the quality and tone for client-consultant engagement and become a determining factor in creating successful outcomes for the family business.
Thank you to Family Firm Institute for once again bringing together such an interesting group of experts, as well as owners and members of family businesses from around the world!
Family Business Matters has extensive experience assisting family businesses. With many decades of experience, we understand the wide variety of challenges that families face as they work together to build, grow and sustain a thriving family business generation after generation. Through conferences, continuing education programs, family business retreats, speaking engagements and private family business consulting services, Family Business Matters has assisted more than 450 family-owned businesses around the world chart their way through family business issues of all shapes and sizes.
For more information on how […]
Shared family values are exceedingly important to a successful family business. In order for a family to share a vision for the future of their company, they must have the same views and attitudes about people, work and money. If a family business does not have a shared vision, now is the time to create one.
