Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Quote of the week

“Done well, however, managing the boss becomes an essential platform for then leading the boss. Once the chief knows that a manager brings judgment and gets results, the way is clear for the manager to help lead the chief. But what that requires is a boss who wants it and a manager who can deliver it. Leading up requires an ability to work in two directions at once, of both stepping into the breach and listening to those below you before you step off a cliff yourself."

--Michael Useem, “Leading Your Boss,” The Economic Times, India, November 13, 2003

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Leading Up--The Relationship of Managing Your Boss

by Mary Beth Matteo, Founding Director of the S. Dale High Center

No matter what our position in the hierarchy, we all have the capacity and the responsibility to lead.


When it comes to the family business—especially when Dad might be the boss—this sometimes looks more difficult than it is.
One of the best books around on "Leading Up," is Michael Useem’s Leading Up: How To Lead Your Boss So You Both Win, published by Random House in 2001. Useem, who is a faculty member at The Wharton School, draws examples from major corporations such as CBS, British Airways and Charles Schwabb & Company, as well as case studies from the Marine Corps, political figures and even a chapter “Persuading the Ultimate Authority”—Abraham and Moses intercede with God himself!

A few topics from Useem: “Informing Your Commander”, “Designing a Future Your Boss Can’t Quite Envision,” “Keeping Your head When You Have Several Superiors,” and “Guiding Your Guide.”
For more information and more resources on Leading Up, check out Useem’s website. For sample chapters from Leading Up, click here.


Sum & Substance: If you aren't helping your leaders lead, many good ideas with potential benefit to your family business can die on the vine. It's not always easy to lead up, but the results can be worth the effort.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Keeping Your Customers Close: Relationship Mining as Marketing

by Mary Beth Matteo, Founding Director, S. Dale High Center for Family Business

We all know that during tough economic times we’re advised to stay close to our customers but what does that mean, exactly? What’s the difference between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty?

Sam Geist, business expert, cites ten facts of life to improve customer loyalty:

Mass marketing is OUT
Marketing to a Customer of One is IN

Price, Quality and Service are OUT
Value-Added is IN

Monologuing is OUT
Dialoguing is IN

“If it doesn’t seem broke-leave it alone,” is OUT
“If it doesn’t seem broke-check it out anyway”, is IN

Knowing all the answers is OUT
Asking the right questions is IN

Sum & Substance: Business relationships depend on many of the same success factors as personal relationships. In this business climate, it makes sense to invest in your business relationships.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Quote of the week


“Unhappy customers don’t always complain-to you. Complaining customers are a godsend; they offer the opportunity to rectify the situation. Customer feedback-complaints and compliments are invaluable."

--Sam Geist, "What is your best item? Is it your 'best selling item' or your 'best-return-on-investment' item."

Friday, December 11, 2009

The Enneagram: An Excellent Tool for Examining Relationships

by Gale Martin, Director of Marketing and Membership, S. Dale High Center for Family Business

Do you continue to be challenged by people do inexplicable things and act in ways you find inherently uncomfortable?

Besides, the DiSC, the Myers Briggs, and the Kiersey Temperament Sorter, another tool to help you address your inexplicable discomfort with those who don't behave like you is the Enneagram.

The Enneagram is a study of nine basic people types that helps explain why human beings react and behave in certain ways. Besides pointing to specific directions for personal growth, the Enneagram can also improve relationships with family, friends, and coworkers, and can have double the impact when your family members are your co-workers.

The roots of the enneagram hearken back to many centuries earler. Though its exact origin isn't known, it is thought to have been taught orally in secret brotherhoods in the Middle East.

Dale High, Executive in Residence at the S. Dale High Center and Chairman of the High Companies, has studied the Enneagram in depth and had this to say about it:
“I have found the Enneagram to be another of those tools that is helpful for self knowledge and personal growth. One is able to not only discern one’s own strengths and weakness through the applicable number but also to use it as a means of personal transformation. It is useful also in understanding the personality profile of others and improving our interactions with them as a result.”

Though the Enneagram can merit intense study, for those who want to tap into a little of its wisdom without devoting months of study, it has been made accessible in a book by Renee Baron and Elizabeth Wagele called, The Enneagram Made Easy.

According to Baron and Wagele, the nine types are as follows:

#1 The Reformer-- motivated by the need to live their lives the right way, which feeds their intrinsic need to improve themselves and the world around them.

#2 The Giver--motivated by the need to be loved and valued and to express their positive feelings toward others.

#3 The Achiever--motivated by the need to be productive and achieve success while avoiding failure.

#4 The Artist--motivated by the need to experience their feelings and to be understood, to search for the meaning of life and to avoid being ordinary.

#5 The Observer--motivated by the need to know and understand everything, to be self-sufficient, and to avoid looking foolish.

#6 The Questioner--motivated by the need for security which can manifest as a phobic questioning and counterphobic questioning.

#7 The Adventure--motivated by the need to be happy and plan enjoyable actitivities, contribute to the world, and avoid suffering and pain.

#8 The Leader--motivated by the need to be self-reliant and strong and to avoid feeling weak or dependent.

#9 The Peacemaker--motivated by the need to keep the peace and avoid conflict.

In any typical working environment and in any family environment, you're likely to see encounter an array of types. Helping understand what makes people tick can help you understand and respond to their behavior more constructively and to be more accepting of who they are and how they differ from you.

Though I can lapse into other modes depending on the circumstances, predominantly, I'm a #4--The Artist. And how about you? Which types do you clash with the most? Get along with the most?

Monday, December 7, 2009

In-laws as Outlaws?

by Mary Beth Matteo, Founding Director of the S. Dale High Center

Many in-laws feel so separated from the family business family, they become “outlaws,” people who feel outside the law. Handling in-laws is fraught with difficulties but here are a few tips about how to keep a spouse’s relationship with the family from becoming volcanic:
• Learn to articulate unwritten family laws, so your spouse doesn’t inadvertently violate them (an example might be, “we don’t criticize Dad in public.”)

• Discuss traditions of both families so that both can be accommodated (How do we spend Christmas, Easter, birthdays? How do we divide the time?)

• Educate your spouse and in-laws about the family business, through family meetings and other vehicles; the more transparent you can be about the status of the business and how it runs, the better for everyone.
• If you don’t have one, think about developing a family charter; in the case of in-laws, two areas are key: stock ownership policies and pre-nuptial agreements.
• Don’t complain about a family member to your spouse or in-laws! It only causes problems later.


Sum & Substance: Inlaws may not be part of the family business, but it's in the business's best interest to remember they are part of the family.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Dream Teams

by Mary Beth Matteo, Founding Director of the S. Dale High Center for Family Business

Sibling teams have been much studied but little understood. Unfortunately, as ownership and management structures, sibling teams fail as often as they succeed. An article by researchers Farrington and Venter suggests that certain conditions increase the likelihood of success. Some of these are obvious, others not so much.

• Complimentary skills among siblings and a clear division of labor

• Existing financial success of the business

• Compensation issues resolved

• Common vision for the company

• Support of non-family managers

• Existence of an agreed-upon method for managing conflict

• Mutual respect

• Personal satisfaction with work and family relationships

• Voluntary participation in the sibling team

• Minimal involvement of other family members, including parents

Sum & Substance: Siblings can make dream teams, but they can't trust that a family bond alone will automatically yield a productive working relationship. Better to treat the partnership with as much care and attention as you would any professional team outside of the family unit.

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