Execute Classic - Build an Efficient Chain of Rights - Family Business

Author: Barbara Specter (USA) / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: Facing the emotional choices in family businesses, delve deeper to find the true answers. Sometimes, clients will seek our opinions on employment in family businesses. They often hesitate: Should I join the family business? Should I stay? If I stay, should I continue in the current position or find a new role? Should I leave? Should I retire? We always patiently offer advice, but we believe a wiser approach is to identify the underlying real issues. In career planning, it is crucial to identify fundamental problems. However, when faced with emotional choices about their future in their family business, people often fail to dig deeper to find the root causes. The real issue lies in emotions and lifelong choices—even without coercion—often confuse personal career decisions. Based on our experience, clients often struggle with major personal decisions, unable to articulate what they truly want in life or what matters most to them. For example: Who am I? From a career planner's perspective, everyone has unique talents, aptitudes, and skills, just like fingerprints, making each person distinct. Only by accurately understanding your abilities and skills (using tools from career planning books or seeking help from career planners and consultants) can you take on positions suitable for the family business and roles that fit you personally. What do I want? What is the real value of my work? Many people's answers simply list so-called markers of success—salary, titles, bonuses, office size, invitations to join the board, etc. In reality, you should focus more on the essence of your work and consider the level of satisfaction you can achieve. For instance, do you want more freedom? More support and recognition from others? Team recognition of yourself? A sense of pride and prosperity derived from the company's success? We find that clients often confuse markers of success with inner feelings. Thus, unhappiness without a raise may actually stem from a long time without recognition. Struggling for better titles and positions might only be because it's the only way to gain more personal freedom. Where do I feel more at ease? This question involves where you plan to live, but it may also relate to your desired work environment (indoor or outdoor; office-based or remote; high-pressure or low-pressure; traveling or not traveling). Through your preferences and dislikes in previous positions, you can understand what kind of work environment you prefer. What are my life goals? Perhaps your family business has a clear mission statement, but most do not. Regardless, you should think about your personal mission and whether it aligns with the family business's. What do you hope to achieve in your career? Who do you want to serve, and how? What kind of career evaluation do you hope to hear when you retire? What can ignite your passion for work? The key lies in personal potential
We recommend job seekers, especially those with family business backgrounds, to write a brief personal career mission statement. One of our clients wrote: "Integrity, responsiveness; proposing new ideas; creating joy." The mission statement helps you clarify whether you can achieve your goals within the family business or outside of it. We once conducted an informal survey to see if satisfied workers shared certain common traits. We gathered about 100 participants, some of whom were our clients, others attendees at our seminars. Some worked in family businesses, others did not. Some were full of entrepreneurial enthusiasm; others were great team players; and some were simply misfits. Some frequently changed jobs, while others had never moved. All of them possessed what we call personal potential. Don't just take the literal meaning—personal potential is not the force that drives others. In fact, it reflects a feeling that all these participants experienced: the ability to achieve what they wanted. If you have personal potential, your first step is to understand exactly what you want. As the great baseball player and captain of the Yankees, Yogi Berra said, "If you don't know where you're going, you'll never get there." Second, before unleashing your personal potential, you must have the freedom to choose. This is why we strongly urge the younger generation and the older generation—as well as companies—to abandon the idea that family members must serve the family business for life from the moment they graduate from university until retirement.