How is your family structure?

Family businesses provide a feeling of togetherness; however, differences in opinion can wreak havoc on relationships. Is there a possibility for structures that can help prevent a breakdown in family relationships? We have been discussing strategies for separating the company from the family. Treat the company as a company & the family as a family. […]

I can help you resolve family business conflicts

I have been sharing posts on various social media on the tragic outcomes resulting from conflict in some of the world’s most famous family businesses. What about the flip side? What do successful families do to minimize conflicts? While those stories are nowhere near as entertaining to read, we can learn from some of their strategies.  […]

Merry Christmas to all!

In today’s world where we are surrounded by ugly news, I thought it was time to share a little humour. I hope you enjoy and thank you for reading my email. Mr. Smith loved his daughter very much, so when she got married he gave his son-in-law Isaac a 50% interest in the family business. “Isaac, what […]

Working on Ourselves in a Family Business

The ideas of how we will take a little bit of time during this pandemic (to stay healthy first) to work on ourselves has taken so many unexpected twists and turns over the last 7 months.  Some of us have chosen to read more books, start to exercise a bit, eat healthier or on the […]

COVID Conflict

The title says it all.  I often find myself in conversations regarding the pandemic and how it is affecting each person so differently.  First and most importantly, it is about staying safe and healthy with your loved ones.  We tend to first talk about the impact on mental health for kids out of school and […]

The Summer of 2020

I have been getting a lot of emails from many of my contacts that touch upon “returning to work” or “emerging from a pandemic” with all kinds of buzz words like, “corporate recovery”, “pandemic growth”, etc. I will admit, I took off that first couple of weeks in March to see “what this thing” is […]

How to come out of this on TOP

Hi friends, We definitely didn’t see this coming, yet here we are.  It seems like the right time to write some kind of uplifting article about, “It’s going be okay,” or, “we are almost through this unprecedented time,” or, “hang in there”.  Sorry folks this article will not be an iteration of the same. I wanted […]

Merry Christmas!

What a great year 2019 has been!  Working with families in business has always been satisfying but no more so than this year!  I am so lucky in that I get to work with a spectrum of families that work well together, but need a bit of help in their communication, all the way along to families […]

The Partnership No One Knew They Were In

As a Mediator and a Family Business Expert, it is always fascinating to explain to people why there is such an overlap in these two fields.  Let’s think about it, Conflict and Family Business…there may be some who will instantly see how these two areas mesh together.  For others, you have to believe me when I […]

The End of Conflict in the Family Business

This title will always grab your attention. If you are in or near Family Business conflict, you suddenly have hope!! Or do you?  There is the magical ending to conflict, where everyone is heard, issues get resolved, and the business starts running better with fantastic communication.  Wouldn’t that be great if that was the resolution […]