Family Business
Retreat Facilitator
finding
a trusted advisor
Call
770-952-4085 to contact
our
family business
professionals
Choosing
the right facilitator for your family business retreat is an important
decision
It's
about experience and understanding
You
should be seeking
a family business retreat facilitator who is highly experienced family
business expert. You want someone who understands family business
dynamics.
Preparing for a family business retreat is in itself an important
process
- one that will determine the how successful the family business
retreat
will be.
"...
I was afraid that some of the family and business issues that cause us
to get upset with each other would rear their ugly heads at the retreat
..."
| "I had heard other family
business owners talk about
how much they had benefited from the family business retreat process.
While
it seemed to be a good idea, I was afraid that some of the family and
business
issues that cause us to get upset with each other would rear their ugly
heads at the retreat and we would end up with worse problems than we
started
with. In doing research about family business retreats I discovered the
Family Business Experts web site. I talked to them about my fears and
they
had good answers to all of my tough questions. One of their key people
scheduled a day with us so he could meet the family members and to
learn
about the business. From that one-time visit, he was able to help us
organize
our family business retreat. We were so impressed with his knowledge
about
family business issues that we asked him to act as our family business
retreat facilitator. The family business retreat exceeded all of my
expectations."
President, steel distribution
business, Cleveland, Ohio
|
Benefits
from using a
family
business retreat
facilitator
The
family business
retreat facilitator will help provide the structure that will encourage
family members to:
- communicate
their
personal
and professional goals and objectives,
- build
trust
with other
members of the family,
- define
the
roles of
family members in the business,
- address
succession
management
issues,
- communicate
the
values
of the family,
- establish
business
plans
and strategies and
- establish
rules
and
policies for the family's business.
"...
a family business retreat can help communicate the family's values and
culture to non-family members of the executive management team."
| "We are a second generation
business in transition.
I started the business 20 years ago and we have been very fortunate in
building our family business. I want to push back from day to day
operations
but my two sons are not ready to take over the reins - they still want
some additional seasoning. So we have several key non-family executives
involved with our business, including the CEO. When we first started
doing
family business retreats we did not think we would need to use a
facilitator
- I think we were more focused on getting away from the business for a
few days of R & R. At a trade association meeting I had a chance to
attend a seminar about family business retreats conducted by Don
Schwerzler.
One of the points he made was about how a family business retreat can
help
communicate the family's values and culture to non-family members of
the
executive management team. That made a lot of sense to me so we asked
Don
to facilitate our next retreat. It really made a difference, not only
to
the family - but we were able to create clarity about the family's
vision
and expectation for the business. Several of the non-family members of
our management team stated that the feed back from the family business
retreat was the best guidance they had received since they started
working
for us. That was the difference made by having a family business expert
as a facilitator for our family business retreat."
Chairman of the Board, metals
fabrication business, Tulsa,
OK
|
The
family business retreat
The
family business
retreat is a time for each of the family members to reflect on their
personal
and professional aspirations, to practice being supportive of other
family
members and to ensure the growth and profitability of the business
while
maintaining healthy family relationships.
"As
we professionalized the management of the business, we knew we also had
to formalize the communication system for the family."
| "We are a third generation
family business. The business
was started by my grandfather and then passed on to his four sons. My
dad
is still active in the business as are his three brothers. So we have
siblings,
cousins, parents, uncles and aunts in the business. Fortunately we all
get along well. As we professionalized the management of the business,
we knew we also had to formalize the communication system for the
family.
We met with Don Schwerzler and found his in-depth experience working
with
hundreds of other family businesses, his informal style and his innate
ability to identify key issues is invaluable to our family business
meetings
and our family business retreats."
CEO, Convenience store chain,
Houston, TX
|
Meet
Don Schwerzler
Internationally
recognized
for
his work as a family business consultant, Don Schwerzler leads our
team of family business retreat facilitators. For nearly 40 years, Don
has been helping business families successfully deal with the unique
and
difficult issues that confront families in business together.
"He
was
more than
a facilitator - he was a mentor and a coach for all of us."
| "Our family business was
founded by my dad and mother.
When my dad died, my mother ran the business - doubling it in size
every
3-4 years. I worked in the business part time and when I finished
business
school I joined the business on a full time basis. My wife was a
successful
marketing executive and she joined the business a few years after me.
After
about 5 years, the relationship between my mother and my wife
deteriorated
very badly - and that put me right in the middle between two angry
women.
We agreed to hire a family business consultant to come in and get us
back
on track - the disputes between my mother and wife were starting to
have
an adverse affect on the business - especially on other members of the
management team who were expected to "take sides" in the disputes. I
contacted
the Family Business Institute in Atlanta and was able to talk with Don
Schwerzler, the founder. Within two days he was on-site and defusing
the
situation. The longer-term fix came about by having Don facilitate our
family business meetings and our family business retreats. He taught us
about not letting inconsequential issues affect things of consequence.
He was more than a facilitator - he was a mentor and a coach for all of
us."
COO, Regional home health care
business, Charlotte,
NC
|
For
most family business
owners, the first step in reaching out for help in establishing family
business retreats is often the most difficult. Finding a trusted
advisor
can truly change the destiny of the family business. It is not easy to
run a family business - even more difficult to create a family business
that can be passed on to future generations of family.
Call
770-952-4085 to contact
our
family business
professionals.
|
