Family Business Management

Love may not keep us together: Working collaboratively to advise family firms.

Posted on January 15, 2013 by ffipractitionerLeave a comment

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Reaching for Greater Heights: Collaborations between a family business advisor and a family therapist

David Bentall and Peter Vaughan

Article also available as PDF download

In my work as a family business advisor, I have had numerous opportunities to collaborate with a registered clinical counsellor who specializes in family therapy. Working together, we have enjoyed a powerful synergy of combined experience. More importantly, our clients have benefited from our different perspectives and complementary skills.

We recently explored a simple, but important question: “When should a family seek the input of a family therapist?” Upon consideration, two related questions emerged: “What is the true value of doing so?” and “How can a combination of skills assist families to achieve a breakthrough?”

Virtually every opportunity comes “wrapped in a problem,” as all entrepreneurs will recognize. A family business is no different. The six problems below give us a glimpse into family business dynamics and some of the opportunities they afford. In addition, we have noted the creative solutions we have discovered by working collaboratively. Sometimes the rewards were easily obtained, like low hanging fruit. However, even when the fruit was high up and out on a limb, it was always worth reaching for.

1) WHEN SIMPLE CHALLENGES SEEM INORDINATELY DIFFICULT TO RESOLVE:

Problem: One client family we worked with could not agree on whether to have their family meetings on weekends, or during the week.

Opportunity: Most of us become frustrated when simple problems are hard to solve. We have learned that curiosity, rather than frustration, is the most effective response. As an added bonus, it tends to bring forth honesty.

One Solution: We slowed things down with our client family and asked the question: “What is really...