David Bentall - The challenge of working in a family business

Family businesses are the backbone of the global economy but one of the biggest challenges they face is the relationship between different aspects of the business, the corporate role/personal relationship or the owner/employee. Although their share in the company may be small, people may want to to put their ownership hat on when really they need to be wearing their employee hat. There is also the relationship between the founders of the business, the 2nd generation who drive things forward and then the 3rd generation where things sometimes start to go wrong. There is a lot of background evidence around the ideas of succession and moving the business forward. Bringing new ideas on board can be difficult because of the power dynamics in a family business.

In this podcast:

Why it’s important to spend some time working in an outside organisation

Nine character traits important for business execs

The dynamics of managing family business relationships.