Maintaining a United Front

Listen to Randy Burns as he describes the importance of maintaining a united front in a family business. It is important to discuss issues with the family before presenting them to a larger group to ensure that the family is seen as a cohesive unit.

More so, when it came to decisions, from a family standpoint, it was certainly more informal. We’d have those discussions prior to going to even a bigger, as you say, ownership group, or even our management group. So the family, we didn’t want to be in a situation where we would go meet with our executives and show any type of non-cohesion, I guess, from a family standpoint. So we’d have those discussions, then bring it to that bigger group, if you would, in terms of, we just didn’t want to have any surprises, we didn’t want to be in a situation where we’d be looking at each other in a room with 20 other people and get into some of the arguments, disagreements, etc., that we may have had the day before. But those types of meetings, when it came to our family meetings, would be a more informal meeting. Quick Tips: • Ensure the family is seen as a cohesive unit • Discuss issues as a family before bringing them to the larger group