8pC is a business advisory for shareholders who are asking the question - are we; stepping up, stepping back or stepping off
Your business strategy and the strategic intents don’t need to be 100% on day one. Strategy is about the things you do today to create a future vision.
Governance provides a framework to bring family members into the business discussion, letting them engage and participate in the family business and opening the door for succession.
It’s true that we know what we know and we don’t know what we don’t know. As individuals and business owners, we hold knowledge based on our own experiences however, that’s limiting. By far the greater portion of all possible knowledge is that which we don’t know.
For those who identify as single producers shifting mindset may not be easy and take some time. As the saying goes “first change the way you look at things, then the things you look at change”
Skills and experience are reasonably simple to identify, and business owners often fall back on these when they do not see the hidden potential on offer. Once found however, that potential is easy to fill with experience and it’s really satisfying to appoint that “wild card” and for it to prove an insightful appointment.
Why allow selling to be the only perceived option when holding and growing an irreplaceable asset through a number of generations is possible. The passion and efforts of previous generations who strived over a lifetime to own a farm can be held for future generations to come. The next passionate farmer may be your granddaughter.
Redefining mentoring as simply a conversation about something someone has done that you’d like to learn or do will unlock the power of your entire network - there are potential mentors everywhere!
How often in life do we suddenly find ourselves in a situation we have been waiting for, planning for, training for and fail to grab the opportunity and make the most of it?
With the majority of New Zealand businesses family owned, and particularly in the case of farming, operated by multiple family members, it is important that the purpose and time frames around what each individual needs is understood and the business is moving in the right direction.
“Leaders need to listen” is an often-coined phrase. My experience is that it is difficult to listen when people are not speaking, and leadership may be more about creating an environment where individuals have a voice.
