Coaching Strategies in a Family Business

To start off my post this month, I want to set the stage by sharing a few famous quotes about families: “A happy family is but an earlier heaven” and  “The other night I ate at a real nice family restaurant. Every table had an argument going.” No matter which quote lands closer to home for you, if you’ve done work with family businesses you know there are additional layers of complexity and challenges that cannot be ignored (at least not for long). All family bussinesses come with their own special set of unique difficulties and possibilities and all require a very deliberate, planned approach.

Strategies to Develop Internal Talent Pool

Performance reviews every 6 months can be very time consuming. I found doing them demonstrated my commitment to the people on my team, and my commitment to continuous learning and improvement. I think it is one of the most important ways to invest in people. Making a routine of really listening to employee’s ideas and getting their feedback helped me identify the leaders on the team. Getting to know and understand them better helped give me ideas for development opportunities that were customized for the person.

It’s Not About You

Mentor is a word that gets thrown around a lot. People talk about their mentors, or about people their mentoring. At some point in their careers, most leaders will end up mentoring somebody. It may be formal or informal, but either way the image of a wise older person sharing all their wisdom with a younger student isn’t necessarily accurate. More than talking, mentoring is about listening.