I had the joyful privilege of having lunch in the cafeteria with my son today. In case you were wondering, it was chicken & noodles, mashed potatoes, carrots, banana and roll (unfortunately not the flat, square pizza this time). Not only does it warm my heart that he wants me to eat with him as […]

I have written previously about my experiences as a leader of a family business. As further discussion of this topic, I wanted to share a quick review of a resource that I have come to find very valuable: Leaving a Legacy, Navigating Family Business Succession by David C Bentall. I was first introduced to David […]

The time for our semi-annual performance evaluations is upon us. As I have completed many performance reviews over the last several years, I have discovered that you really only need 3 goals to become a better employee and a better person. 1. A Metric – Applying a metric to my job is a great way […]

I recently read an article about 3 things the top leader should never delegate. One of those items was culture. This aligns exactly with wise advice I have been given recently that of all the things I am expected to do as the top leader, establishing the culture inside the organization is paramount. This culture […]

I had the distinct privilege of sharing my experiences as part of a panel discussion of family business owners recently. One question posed to the panel was how do you balance the role of being a parent with simultaneously being the employer of the younger generation? The following is a summation of my answer: I […]

I had the privilege of participating in a panel discussion recently on the topic of family business ownership. One of the questions posed was: What do my peer family business owners need to know or what concerns do I hear from them? Here is a summary of the answer I provided: I commonly hear two […]

I had the pleasure recently to participate in a panel discussion of owners of family businesses. The family business conference was attended by roughly 150 interested individuals. Based on that level of interest, thought I would share my answers to some of the questions the panel addressed. One such question was: What motivated my family […]

Chances are really good that you are planning a New Year’s resolution and are either testing it out by getting a jump start on your life change, or glorying in the waning moments of putting it off until the very last minute. This year I want to think of something big! Oftentimes we choose small, […]