CHAPTER 
Resilience Rx: A Family Business and Board Dysfunction
In Chapter 9, we shared the Energetic Weight tool. You’ll recall that Energetic Weight is like the foundation of a building. If one pillar is out of place, the entire structure is unstable.
The main challenges we see with family businesses all stem from people being out of their proper Energetic Weight. They include the following:
• Nepotism, when family members hold key roles for which they aren’t qualified
• Lack of diversity, when only family members have key roles, and so no outside perspectives are brought in
• Tunnel vision, when key roles are held by people who have little or no experience in the business world overall outside the family’s business
These challenges lead to significant biases, which can all be overcome to help the company thrive.
One client called us after the leaders had attended a day-long training we held with the Young Presidents’ Organization. A transfer of power had occurred, and the new CEO wanted some new strategies to influence, enroll, and engage her board of family members.
She had compelling plans to lead the organization to the next level, yet the board wanted “business as usual.” That might’ve been OK, except “usual” no longer was on the menu. The world, marketplace, and workforce had changed too much in the last 40 years to continue with “business as usual.”
ASSESS: WHAT WE FOUND
The board was composed solely of family members, with nine board seats. Five board members had zero business experience. They had been enjoying six-digit dividends annually for over 25 years. We had to help them feel safe that their dividends would continue as we moved the company forward.
The next challenge? The “kids” were now in charge, yet the dad continued to meddle, micromanage, and even discuss confidential company business at his golf club. Dad wanted to matter still—yet he also wanted to be retired and free of the day-to-day responsibilities. We had to figure out a way for him to have both.
The CEO had been pressured to offer roles to some family members who were not truly qualified. Her cousin’s 26-year-old son was pressed by the board into a position of power that he didn’t know how to handle successfully.
The result? Smart people were making bad decisions, and the people who should have had power due to significant experience were shut out or their impact was minimized. It was time to turn this around.
ACT: WHAT WE DID
We started coaching the CEO immediately. Then, together with the CEO and the executive team, we forged a plan.
First, we held our Neuroscience of Influence training so that all the key players could navigate the family dynamics more powerfully. Then we held our Neuroscience of Leadership training, as many of the leaders had never learned about the key brain-based leadership tools. Next, during a two-day retreat together, we mapped out the next three years of the company’s growth and infrastructure. We drafted the organizational chart that would get us what we needed—and we identified many skill gaps. We made impact descriptions for who we’d need to hire and when.
Resistance needed to be released and new meaning made (Chapters 3 and 5). The “kids” needed to increase their Organismic Rights (Chapter 4) to have needs and exist in front of their larger-than-life charismatic dad. To do this, they had to increase rapport with themselves via the Parts Process, stand in their Energetic Weight (Chapter 9), and set healthy boundaries. We handled this via coaching.
Now we were ready for the board! We created a message to increase safety, belonging, and mattering—to enroll the board in attending a retreat. All agreed. Then we sent a high-level information package to the board outlining what would happen at the upcoming board retreat and how they could contribute. The CEO kicked off the event with a board dinner to celebrate the legacy the board and prior company leaders had created, stressing how their impactful work had laid the foundation for the growth to come. Everyone ended the evening feeling good with the new meaning that had been made.
In the morning, the CEO and the executive team took turns covering the components of the three-year plan and what this plan would mean to the organization overall, noting that the dividends would be steady-state or slightly reduced for a time. Investments needed to be made in the business that would over time increase the dividends.
All executives were trained to speak in the Meta Programs (Chapter 7) of the board members, which was a blend of Away, Procedures, General-Specific, Reflective, Sameness, and Sameness with Exception.
Over the course of the day, the board members became more and more comfortable so that by the afternoon they were downright excited. Now it was time to talk about how they wanted to operate as a board going forward. The CEO showed sample board codes of conduct and led the board in forging their own.
In the past, decisions had often been based on past personal grievances and historical alliances—instead of being ROI based—because the organization was not accountable to any outsiders. Part of the preparation work for the board included background reading on cognitive bias1 and a copy of SmartTribes.
Once the board was on track with the three-year plan, we launched the recruiting effort. And once we had the new sales lead on board, we held a Sales and Marketing Intensive.
ROI: HOW THE ORGANIZATION BENEFITED
The CEO and the executive team did such a great job with the board retreat that we could move forward swiftly. Outside talent was brought in for diversity and more seasoned management (to reduce nepotism). The SBM Index and Meta Programs reduced turbulence during this transition within family messaging, and the clear path, plan, and budget helped the board and family buy in.
The board received monthly updates for the first year, and then quarterly for the second year onward. Dad was given the title “chairman emeritus” so he could continue to bask in the success that the “kids” were creating.
The company enjoyed the greatest growth to date—20 percent compounded annual growth rate (CAGR)—after our first year working together. They promoted several “old timers” into mentoring roles so the “young bucks” could bring the wisdom of the past forward into the present.
We developed the first-ever structure for the sales force, so new salespeople could sell (in addition to family members’ sales efforts), and we entered two new geographic markets in our second year with them. Sales are now on a continuous CAGR of over 25 percent, the family is aligned, the board is functional, and the executive team is diverse.
The e-mails the “kids” receive from Dad and the board celebrate the company’s wins, and the kids even receive verbal praise now and then at board meetings. The board is smiling instead of scowling, and they are supporting the company’s leadership efforts instead of micromanaging.
1. A lot of family business dysfunction is due to people being out of their proper Energetic Weight.
2. Key to getting everybody back into their Energetic Weight is assigning the right roles to the right people with the right capabilities and experience.
3. In a family business, senior family members hold essential wisdom that can be passed on to the younger ones. Their contributions must be recognized with respect. Doing this also helps release resistance to required change.
4. Increasing Organismic Rights enables younger family members to grow effectively into the roles they want to be in and the roles where they will perform best.
• The main challenges we see with family businesses all stem from people being out of their proper Energetic Weight.
• Energetic Weight is like the foundation of a building. If one pillar is out of place, the entire structure is unstable.
• Nepotism, lack of diversity, and tunnel vision all lead to significant biases that can be overcome to help the company thrive.
• When turning business challenges around, resistance needs to be released and new meaning made.
• Leaders must increase rapport with themselves, stand in their Energetic Weight, and set healthy boundaries.
See this chapter’s section on www.PowerYourTribe.com for the following:
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Optimization
• Assessing Your Team’s Performance kit
• Increasing Accountability and Ensuring Goals Are Met kit