As I began to write this article I was trying to think of a clever or “cute” way to refer to the tension and conflict within a family business or partnership.
As you can tell, I wasn’t very successful so I decided to call it what it is. This tension and conflict is the stuff that keeps family members awake at night, creates tremendous strain within immediate family members as well as with the in-laws.
My research has often shown that most families (in business) choose to ignore these issues hoping they will be forgotten or self resolve or just plain GO AWAY!! They might go away today but will most likely resurface with greater intensity and usually with more severe impact resulting in a deeper fracture in the family relations.
How do we avoid future implosion? Let me help you flush out the issues, confront the concerns and facilitate quality dialogue so that everyone involved can learn, understand and prepare for future conflict. If it sounds too easy to be possible, then you are correct. It is challenging on all fronts. It is challenging to have in-depth highly trusted conversations with each other.
As a Mediator and a Family Enterprise Advisor (FEA) I fully understand the family business dynamics necessary to have a happy and harmonious relationship. As a Mediator, I bring the techniques and empathy to manage and prevent the conflict that is keeping the family awake at night.
Conflict stinks and it consumes way too much energy. It rarely gets resolved without some external assistance.
Reach out and let’s talk about what’s keeping you up a night. Your family is too important to hope their issues go away. It rarely works!
My techniques do! Let’s have a conversation!
