Growth Newsletter

For over 30 years, I’ve observed a lot of behaviours inside of family business. Given the work I do and the length of the relationships I maintain, one of the most interesting observations is around change.

It’s interesting the conversations I have with various family business owners. What’s even more interesting is the trends that tend to weave through those conversations at different times.

“Stay where you are!”

The loudspeaker from the beach echoed through the gum trees and stirred me from my reading.

“Don’t panic. We’re coming to get you.”

Last week, at a big business forum in Canberra, some of the individuals at the upper echelons of corporate Australia discussed, amongst other things, how they all needed to improve their behaviour. This comes off the back of the Royal Commission into the Banking and Financial Sector, when a number of the big 4 banks were targeted for their actions and their ethics.

The world of family business is full of technically brilliant people. Be they tradespeople or professionals, most of them step into the ownership of family business as a result of that technical brilliance.

Remember the cafe I mentioned that undercharged me in Growth Edition 147 (It’s only $1.50)? Well, it seems they’ve got other issues as well.

In edition 135 of Growth (29th August, 2018), I talked about Passive Aggressive personalities and the destructive role they play inside too many family businesses.

In my regular Quarterly Meeting with some fantastic clients recently, we discussed the issue of a staff member who appears to have plateaued in their development.

The problem with financial reports is they always tell the story after the fact – the end of the month, the end of the quarter or the end of the year. The result is reported anywhere from 1 week to 9 months after the period ends.

Against all the odds, Scott Morrison led the Liberal National Coalition to a stunning victory in the 2019 Federal Election last Saturday. For three years, the opinion polls have consistently pointed to the Labor Party in front. The revolving doors of the Prime Ministership have continued throughout the last term of the Parliament. In actual fact, when ScoMo won the job last August, it’s fair to say he was the leader of a smouldering political wreck and a damaged brand. Yet, as he said on Election night, miracles happen.