Something great: Save the date!
As a young girl, I loved the Laura Ingalls Wilder book, “The Long Winter.”
It’s a story of of almost incomprehensible hardship for a family during the record breaking 1880 winter in the Dakota territories. Based on the real experiences of the Ingalls family, it captures their hope and desperation as they and their community work to survive and take calculated risks to see them through to Spring.
We are all facing a long winter with COVID-19 restrictions impacting families and businesses. When faced with disruption, pandemics, or personal crisis it takes courage, energy, and fresh eyes to revisit unassailable policies and operations that have always worked but are not working now.
Please join us on November 12 for our virtual Fall program featuring Global Futurist, Anders Sörman-Nilsson who will talk about his energizing view of business adaptation, innovation, and transformation. Swiss born, Sorman-Nilsson grew up in a family business and works with businesses around the world, connecting their pasts to a predictive future. Our virtual program is open only to family businesses and will expand your mind and lift you heart. After Anders' keynote we’ll match guests in breakout rooms facilitated by members of our coaching team, then finish the morning with a Q&A featuring Anders live and online from his home in Australia.
Mark your calendars for November 12! Registration will open the week of October 19.
I Quit! That’s it! I’m done! I can’t do this anymore!
And how was your week? :)
The Wall Street Journal featured a great story this week titled, The Art of the Pandemic Meltdown. Also known as the COVID crash, pandemic meltdown is a common experience for all of us and a manifestation of the frustration, fear, and uncertainty we are living with. It’s important to allow your frustrations to surface and be expressed in ways that are healthy. Don’t kick the dog. Do take some time to punch a punching bag. Don’t isolate. Do find people you can trust to talk to. Don’t quit.
Families in business together are also familiar with periods of prolonged frustration and uncertainty. For every great experience there are often difficult and sometimes devastating crises. Family businesses who join our Center benefit from resetting and normalizing their experiences against those of other family businesses, usually by engaging in family business education. Time and time again we see families take comfort and hope in realizing they're not alone. They learn that the pain and struggle they have experienced happens within other family businesses, too—and that many of those family business have overcome these challenges through education, adaptation, and growth.
Don’t isolate. Do find people you can trust to talk to. Don’t quit.
Let’s check-in with the experts
I’m re-reading Isabelle Breton-Miller and Danny Miller’s “Managing for the Long Run: Lessons in Competitive Advantage from Great Family Businesses.” If you’re looking for an easy prompt to assess how you and your family members are doing in managing your family and the business, take a look at the book's priority grid, which talks about the importance of finding balance between the 4 C's (Continuity, Connection, Community and Command). Chapter 8: When Family Controlled Businesses Stumble, is especially illuminating right now.
Member Stories: Adapting our programs
We’ll be back in two weeks with our next board member bio. This week, let’s go to the video and see how some members are helping their families by learning more about becoming responsible shareholders.
We are adapting our program delivery for hybrid learning. We are also listening to your feedback about what works and doesn’t work for online content delivery. Watch this newsletter and future emails from me about new structure, dates, and programs that will serve you and your family now and throughout COVID.
Please reach out if you have questions, want to catch up, or problem solve with us. Andrew and I would love to hear from you. We and Loyola are here to help.
