Family businesses are complex. Communication, relationships, and organizational hierarchies can be especially difficult to manage within the framework of a family. Relationships are all filtered through the current realities of the company and the conversations at family gatherings always seem to be about work. Business stress turns into family strife and navigating it is daunting.
Business Leadership Coach Don Scott works with the unique challenges of family-owned businesses. He coaches individual members of the family so each member is able to manage the daily challenges with more ease and confidence. When each individual experiences balance and clarity, the family dynamic is transformed and the entire team is empowered to more success.

The Results

After working with Don Scott, family members say that the group communications are on a whole different level. They are able to have conversations they never thought they could have.
Family members feel more empowered, focused, and better able to bring value to the company.
Family businesses are known for maintaining a strong commitment to quality, generational succession, elevated concern for employees, and for making sacrifices to protect the brand when needed. But when things go wrong, and dysfunction enters, every aspect of a family-owned company is at risk. As a business leadership coach, Don Scott works with family business leaders to analyze, isolate and address their specific pain points. He can heal the fractured dynamics and provide the strategies to restore family businesses to their original potential and beyond.

The strengths and weaknesses of family relationships play a factor in organizational hierarchies. And inter-family communication is at the heart of it all. When it breaks down, it hinders the working environment and the business’s success. As a business leadership coach for families in business, Don gets into what is deep inside of you that is affecting your family business dynamics. Don Scott’s business leadership coaching is a means to see yourself, your situation, and your family much clearer than you ever have before.
If your family-owned business is experiencing a breakdown in communication, it’s time to address your contribution to it and learn how to shift your thoughts and behaviors to turn the tide of the overall dynamics.

A legacy business passed down from one generation to the next is a sacred duty of a successful family-owned operation. Getting it right ensures that the next generation will have the opportunity to add their contribution. Unfortunately, not all transitions go smoothly. And when they don’t, the family business risks a lifetime of regrets. As a business leadership coach, Don Scott has the training and sensitivity to address family business owners on the delicate issue of succession planning.

When Succession Plans Run Amok

A good succession plan identifies key positions within your organization and names a proper successor, outlines what’s expected of each job, creates core competencies for achievement and addresses ongoing progress. Sounds logical, doesn’t it? Except that in practice, logic won’t achieve these objectives.
Too often, succession planning fails because there is a gap between the logistical steps and the inner perspective needed by participating individuals to achieve them. Senior team members are being asked to make shifts they understand intellectually. But it’s near impossible to change decades of internal programming that made the company a success that is now getting in the way of the succession planning.
Don Scott works with each individual affected by the succession plan and focuses on the conversations each member is having with themselves. Don does the deep work with the individuals that enables the plan to succeed. The client gets clarity around what they want so that the logistics can flow more smoothly.

Customers may not see it directly, but the culture of your family business has everything to do with your success. And when a company’s culture isn’t well-defined—or has deviated from its original path--it can infect your business from the inside out. A clearly defined corporate culture is what makes a family- owned cafe feel like family to its customers.
It’s the way you do business.Family business culture is established by leadership, values and decision-making specifics. But over time, these can morph into something altogether—putting the brand itself at risk for breaking down.
Protect the brand.
As a business leadership coach, Don Scott can help you define, assess, analyze, and revitalize the corporate culture of your family business. Don’t wait until the customers begin to notice.
A meeting with Don Scott can help you identify what you have, what you want to keep, and how to protect your family business’ legacy.

The deeply embedded dynamics of family are complex, and prone to create situations that can misalign the operation as a whole. As the leader of a family run company, you bear a great responsibility to ensure your organization has the tools it needs to not only survive, but thrive.
Your family has sacrificed a lot for the organization, but you get so caught up in the day-to-day running of the business, you can’t see what your family members want for the business, their careers, and their lives. When Don Scott engages with individual members of the family, each person gains clarity into their purpose, desires, and stumbling blocks. Collectively, the business is strengthened and propelled to another level of productivity and success.

“Living up to the family name,” can put undue pressure on family business leaders. The unique stresses, challenges, and obstacles you face behind the scenes make up the burdens that can put legacy operations at risk. Whether your burden is emotional, financial, or even of a personal nature, getting an experienced coach is the right decision.
Employees Tip-Toe Around the Family
If everyone working with you is tip-toeing around, it’s time to confront the family fractures. Other team members can’t address those deep-seated matters, but they have to be solved or your family business can’t move forward. Don Scott has the right touch and approach for family businesses. He’s helped the members of other highly successful family-owned businesses discover a shared vision, new ways of communicating, and deep satisfaction in working together.
Protect Your Family’s Good Name
If you have a family business with a name worth protecting, it may be time for a meeting with Don Scott. His unique one-on-one sessions can be invaluable for restoring the magic of a family business operation.

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