Tom Hubler has been a family business advisor for over 35 years. He is the President of Hubler for Business Families. When he began working with family-owned business in 1980, there were very few in the field and he has therefore played a major role in this area, from helping colleges and universities establish family business institutes to his work with countless families and their business enterprises. He is the author of the new book: The Soul of Family Business: A Practical Guide to Family Business Success and a Loving Family.
Top Takeaways: The Soul of Family Business with Tom Hubler
- Family business requires an emotional bottom line as well as regular business bottom lines
- Emotions create an additional complexity that can make or break a family business
- Challenges typical in business often erode relationships in a family-owned business
- Emotional Issues drive what goes on in many of these family businesses rather than good business practices
- Do you play the “game of family business” without a game plan?
- Family participation plans are a set of ground rules agreed upon by all parties on how to run the business
- Structure and formality create balance and are critical to establish prior to issues or problems arising
- Regular meetings ensure consistency and transparency and prevent negativity both in the business and in the family
- Shareholder and Board Meetings
- Employee Meetings
- Family Meetings – deal with the overlap of family/business
5 Secrets for Successful Family-owned businesses
- First – Honor the BOSS
- B = Business – how do we take care of the business?
- O = Others – How can we help “others in the family achieve success? Reciprocal commitment to each other’s success
- S = Self – What do you want for yourself?
- S = Stakeholders – What do you provide for stakeholders?
- Second – Common Vision – establish and articulate a clear plan/vision for the business
- Business needs to be vision driven vs problem focused
- Third – Family Unity – everyone makes a contribution to furthering the common good
- Don’t compromise or give something up rather further the collective mission – everyone is called to make a contribution out of love, generosity
- Fourth – Build Emotional Equity in the Family
- Good system of communication and ability to resolve differences
- Appreciate everyone’s commitment to the success of the business – acknowledge this frequently
- Make explicit assumptions and expectations
- Fifth – Forgiveness
- Integral part of any successful business
- Don’t let small issues go – emotional avoidance is easier but detrimental to a successful business
- When the family is in harmony it goes straight to the bottom line
- If you want to understand the world you need to understand vibration, frequency and energy
The Soul of Family Business
- Case studies to illustrate the concepts of successful business
- Family Vision
- Family Prayer
- Success Plan
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Learning From Leaders:
Current Book: Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger by Rebecca Traister
Leadership Superpower: Inspirational Leader
Motivational Mantra:
[shareable cite=”Dinah Maria Mulock Craik”]Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person; having neither to weight thoughts nor measure words but to pour them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then, with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away[/shareable]
Book Most Often Gifted: Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation by Parker J. Palmer
Additional Items Mentioned
Tom’s website: hublerfamilybusiness.com
The Soul of Family Business: A practical guide to family business success and a loving family by Tom Hubler