Communication is a requirement for Family Business success. Words when spoken out loud can take on the properties of music. Words when used to share a vision, to communicate with the Team, your Company needs rhythm, pitch, volume and timbre. A few weeks back I had the chance to review a piece by an [Continue Reading]
Closely-Held Family Businesses Rise in Value
The Wall Street Journal reported in June, Some of the world’s richest people derive their wealth from closely-held business. At $3 trillion, private businesses controlled by “ultra high net worth” families are valued at a fraction of the world’s roughly $55 trillion stock market capitalization at the end of 2012, according to data from Wealth-X [Continue Reading]
Are you a Family Business who believes Customer Service requires a lot more than lip service?
Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold Irish poet William Butler Yeats composed and published The Second Coming in 1919. Some think the poem speaks of loose cannons, falcons that don’t listen. Some think the writer was speaking of revolution and the [Continue Reading]
Work-Life Balance; Work, Love, Play
“The richest and fullest lives attempt to achieve an inner balance between three realms: work, love and play.” Work, Love and Play are the three realms of life discussed by Erik Erikson. Erik Homburger Erikson was a German-born American developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst known for his theory on psychosocial development of human beings. He may [Continue Reading]
Lincoln Memorial Vandalized; Lincoln on the Opposition
Last week vandals threw paint inside the Lincoln Memorial. Lincoln freed the slaves and won the Civil War. Lincoln did what he thought was right, even though it meant losing half the country. This week congress went home for summer recess. What did they accomplish during the most recent session? Leaders must make tough choices. [Continue Reading]
Ideas and Originality
Tom Peters is credited with the idea. “Steal shamelessly.” In our world the 24/7 news cycle, 2-3 billion tweets every 48 hours, 50 million blogs with 1.6 million posting everyday; what is an idea? John Locke, in his An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, defines idea as “that term which, I think, serves best to stand [Continue Reading]
Not all Evolution Mandates Revolution in Family Business
Family businesses enjoy a success rate far greater than for other kinds of businesses. In the U.S., family businesses provide 65% of all wages. In Pennsylvania, family businesses form the backbone of most local economies. Family businesses possess ingredients for tremendous success – a common purpose, shared values and a tolerance for risk. There are [Continue Reading]
Founding Fathers – Mentors?
This week we celebrate the 4th of July, The Founding of our nation. I’m embarrassed to share how little I know or the real history. Do you know who was on General Washington’s military staff? Do you know who was in his first cabinet? Was he a Mentor? Consider these facts- Would it surprise you [Continue Reading]
Mentor
Recently Jessica Brondo had a piece in Fortune. Brondo founded the EDGE, just a year after she graduated from the Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, from which she garnered the hallowed Susan M. Huffman Senior Thesis Prize. She was also honored with the Women with Wings Award, bestowed upon [Continue Reading]
Learn, Earn and Return
During a recent roundtable with CEOs from eleven local firms, one of the leaders proposed this evolution, or career phases – “Learn, Earn and Return.” David Dietrich offers these ideas, explanations. “Learning is where it all begins. In order to begin building a successful life, you must have the prerequisite knowledge to start earning, then [Continue Reading]