Jeff FaulknerAll Articles
Tips for In-Laws in the Family Business
There are many potential landmines for in-laws in a family business environment. To navigate them successfully, keep the following simple steps in mind: Acknowledge your role as an in-law. You are “family” with a caveat. Tread carefully and treat everyone with respect. Understand the family’s unwritten laws. Observe and strive to uphold those laws. Maintain pure motives regarding your involvement in your spouse’s family business. The third step can be tricky as it requires being honest about your true motivations and potentially saying “no” to an opportunity if you identify your heart is not in the right place. If [...]
The Importance of Conveying Your Message to the Successor
The immigration debate rages on, as today a federal judge put Arizona’s immigration law on hold, therefore upholding the idea that illegal immigrants, or undocumented workers, depending on your leaning, have rights in the U.S, namely the right to enter our country on their own terms. Again, I see this dynamic play out daily in the family business arena. The solution to these problems is not demanding our rights, but understanding and living up to our responsibilities. A business owner has a responsibility to a lot of people – their family, managers, employees, employees’ families, customers, vendors, and the community. [...]
The Value of Pre-Marital Agreements
Building a healthy, strong, and long-lasting marriage requires a lot of hard work. Good marriages don’t happen by default, they require intentionality and equality of contribution and effort by both spouses. Unfortunately, even the best of relationships endure many significant challenges. As one marriage psychologist said, “Marriage is really, really, really, really, really hard work for about the first 20 to 25 years…and then, it starts to get kind of good.” This may be an overly negative statement, but it reflects the reality that establishing the foundation of a long-lasting, healthy, and fulfilling marriage is not easy. There are a [...]
Dealing with In-laws in a sibling partnership
I recently facilitated a reconciliation meeting between a brother and sister-in-law. Since the relationship between the brothers was good, I wondered how did the relationship between the brother and sister-in-law go sour? The sister-in-law was admittedly harboring bitterness toward her husband’s older brother because of her perception of how her husband was being treated in the family’s business. Typically, siblings in business go home from work and talk about the day’s events, which may often include struggles between the siblings. Then, the sibling goes back to work the next day and resolves the issue, but doesn’t bother to tell their [...]
3 Tips for In-Laws in the Family Business
The third step to navigating in-law in the family business is to avoid giving off the appearance that you are motivated by the opportunity to live on “easy street.” If you see an opportunity to work in your spouse’s family business as just one of many options, and that the job in the family’s business is the best opportunity to fulfill the expression of your talents, strengths, capabilities, and training, then you may achieve success. If it doesn’t work out, that’s okay with you, as you will just move on to the next best option. This will position you to [...]
In-laws – How to Avoid Becoming an Outlaw in the Family Business
Family dynamics are usually fairly intense among immediate family members. Throw in-laws into the equation and you can have potential build up of underground pressure leading to explosions of volcanic proportions. Put this pressure in the context of a family business and the lava and ash flows can suffocate the life out of the family and business. If you’re an in-law connected to a family business, beware, lest you become an outlaw. An outlaw as a noun is someone who has done something illegal and usually remains at large. As a verb, to outlaw something is to ban it. In [...]
