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  • Bringing Clarity To Your Exit Plan Bringing Clarity To Your Exit Plan

    Bringing Clarity To Your Exit Plan

Bringing Clarity To Your Exit Plan

The sale of the New York Mets was recently scrubbed because of one owner’s compulsion to retain operational control.  This is a cautionary Business Lesson Found for owners of both family and non-family businesses.

Hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen offered $2.6 billion to purchase an 80% stake in the struggling Mets.  This was welcome news to some in the Wilpon family who have shares in the team but have grown increasingly frustrated with the meager results under the eccentric management style of Mets’ COO Jeff Wilpon. (more…)

  • How Kaleidoscopes Can Make Better Leaders How Kaleidoscopes Can Make Better Leaders

    How Kaleidoscopes Can Make Better Leaders

How Kaleidoscopes Can Make Better Leaders

These Lessons Found truly are inspired from expected and unexpected sources.  For example, my favorite kaleidoscope inspired this Lesson Found.

I love kaleidoscopes.  I even have one in my computer-bag and regularly take “kaleidoscope-breaks”.  While this may sound silly, my kaleidoscope-breaks benefit my productivity and results in three key ways: (more…)

  • Family Business Case Study: Contrasting Management Styles Family Business Case Study: Contrasting Management Styles

    Family Business Case Study: Contrasting Management Styles

Family Business Case Study: Contrasting Management Styles

Family businesses Forever 21 & Nordstrom offer a contrast in management styles.  Within this contrast is a Lesson Found for other family businesses.

Founded in 1984 by the Chang family, the fast-fashion innovator Forever 21 expanded rapidly in the early 2000s only to file for bankruptcy last month.  The cause of this change in fortunes can be traced to the Chang family’s management style. (more…)

  • Are your goals keeping you on target? Are your goals keeping you on target?

    Are your goals keeping you on target?

Are your goals keeping you on target?

Lessons Found for businesses can truly materialize from unexpected sources.  For instance, a valuable Lesson Found on business goals can be gleaned from a podcast contrasting two approaches to teaching (more…)

  • Enhancing Conversations in the Board Room & Family Business Enhancing Conversations in the Board Room & Family Business

    Enhancing Conversations in the Board Room & Family Business

Enhancing Conversations in the Board Room & Family Business

I recently was privileged to sit in on a board meeting for a family business.  How the board came to a decision on a contentious issue is a Lesson Found for all of us.

The business’s only remaining founding member* started the debate with an impassioned plea (more…)

  • Will your plans protect your company from Petering-out? Will your plans protect your company from Petering-out?

    Will your plans protect your company from Petering-out?

Will your plans protect your company from Petering-out?

My son and I started watching Game of Thrones; him for the second time and this is my initiation.  After GOT’s disastrous season 8, my son asked if I wanted to watch that final season.  That is where this Lesson Found begins. (more…)

  • Is your successor ready for leadership? Is your successor ready for leadership?

    Is your successor ready for leadership?

Is your successor ready for leadership?

Greeks elected a new prime minister last week, Kyriakos Mitsotaki, who is also the son of a former prime minister.  His ascent as leader of Greece offers a valuable Lesson Found for family businesses.

Mr. Mitsotaki’s election is the culmination of his path into the “family business”.  (more…)

  • How to Survive Summer in Your Home Office How to Survive Summer in Your Home Office

    How to Survive Summer in Your Home Office

How to Survive Summer in Your Home Office

When I began my consulting practice, a major reason for choosing to work from home was being able to spend more time with my son who was 11 at the time.  Then the school year ended and summer started.  That experience is the source for this week’s Lesson Found.

Anticipating that summer, I thought my son would entertain himself while I worked.   This “logical thought” was quickly challenged by reality the first week of summer vacation.  (more…)

  • Is the investment of time sinking your decision making? Is the investment of time sinking your decision making?

    Is the investment of time sinking your decision making?

Is the investment of time sinking your decision making?

My 20-year old son, Jeremy, and I often discuss various business-related topics.  Recently that topic was the “sunk cost fallacy”* which I explained is the mistake of using money and time already sunk into a project as the deciding factor to continue the project.  A junior studying computer science, Jeremy immediately compared this to “coding” (aka writing computer code).  This relationship between sunk costs and coding is this week’s Lesson Found. (more…)

  • Addressing Sibling Conflict in the Business Addressing Sibling Conflict in the Business

    Addressing Sibling Conflict in the Business

Addressing Sibling Conflict in the Business

My mother and I recently traveled to visit my sister and her family.  Except for the occasional meal out, we stayed in the house, simply being together as family.  And we had a wonderful time! On the trip home, I considered the contrast and how stereotypical sibling conflicts burden some family businesses.  The source of and ways to mitigate these conflicts are this week’s Lesson Found. (more…)