At BFF we asked Brandt Channing Louie, a prominent business leader in Canada, about overlaps between the generations in his family. Here’s a summary of the video:
What’s the overlap between generations of owners?
I think the common vision between generations is the same but how we get there might be completely different. You know, there are many ways to get to the goal. There are occasions when I look at my own children and I listen to what they want to accomplish and what they want to do. I may not always agree with what they want to do and how they go about proposing it but I have to recognize that maybe my generation has seen its time and we have to be willing to try different things and let them try.
Is there encouragement for the Next Generation to experiment?
We have believed in our company that the Next Generation should be given the opportunity to experiment. Lessons are learned where they have made the decisions and they may be successful but they may not be successful and they may fail. I think those are valuable lessons that every generation should learn.
So what’s the best lesson for the Next Generation?
I remember my father often said the best lesson to be taught is a decision that has been a wrong decision. If you’ve made your decision and it doesn’t work, you should recognize it early on so you can change your decision. But make sure the decision is not so massive that it bankrupts the company!
To see the full video with Brandt Channing Louie, BFF subscribers can log in and watch ‘Giving the Next Generation an Opportunity to Experiment’.
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