Lovelynn Ivey 2/1/22 Lovelynn Ivey 2/1/22

Managing Conflict in your family is hard, it is exponentially hard in the family business.

Families can learn to celebrate each other’s strengths and admire one another for their individual creativity and resourcefulness. When families choose to work at this intentionally, they can cultivate a culture of fondness and admiration that helps everyone feel valued. If you listen deeply and clearly convey to the person that you understand what they are saying conflict can be avoided

Focus on how you want to react to situations regardless of what others do. This in itself, will make a huge impact.

Lovelynn Ivey 1/18/22 Lovelynn Ivey 1/18/22

Family Business Topics for your next family governance meeting.

Each business family has its own culture, strengths, idiosyncrasies, and shared history. That’s why each family must do its own work to develop specific policies and processes that stem from the foundation of their own family values. These are a few of the topics to address at your next family meeting.

Lovelynn Ivey 12/28/21 Lovelynn Ivey 12/28/21

Do you really need to start the succession process now?

In one word: YES! The earlier you start the discussions, the sooner you get on the same page and the easier the process will be.

Running a family business is complicated on many levels. This is especially true when it comes to preparing for a smooth transition of ownership, leadership, and governance to the next generation.

Lovelynn Ivey 12/14/21 Lovelynn Ivey 12/14/21

Being pulled in too many directions?

Being pulled in too many directions? Start by managing yourself.

You are a business owner, a parent, a sister, niece, child, grandchild, and more. Balancing all those roles can be challenging. Don’t let these challenges overwhelm you. Here are a few tips to consider when balancing work and family feels like too much.

Lovelynn Ivey 12/6/21 Lovelynn Ivey 12/6/21

Navigating the emotional side of succession

Have you had discussions about succession with your family and ended up in a tsunami of emotion? Succession is inevitable, but the success of the plan and ultimately the business, hinders on the transparent conversations and honesty of all members of the family organization. By creating a safe environment for both open discussions, conflict deliberation, and active listening, you can navigate to a sustainable plan for the success of the business and the family.

Lovelynn Ivey 11/30/21 Lovelynn Ivey 11/30/21

Wisdom from a Mentor

Few things in life are more gratifying than knowing you have helped another person become a better version of themself. There are perks of both mentoring and being mentored. It’s a teacher-learner relationship, however in truth, we should all be learning all the time. As the saying goes, “learn from my mistakes”

Lovelynn Ivey 11/16/21 Lovelynn Ivey 11/16/21

A Compass to Guide the Family

Defining your core family values and designing your family mission statement creates higher levels of cohesion, unity and communication within the family as a whole.

Lovelynn Ivey 11/10/21 Lovelynn Ivey 11/10/21

“Married-In”

It’s not easy marrying into a family business. Even the term “married-in” sounds like a term for outsiders and interlopers. How can you be a part of a family and maintain your independence? Here are some thoughts on developing your own narrative.

Lovelynn Ivey 11/3/21 Lovelynn Ivey 11/3/21

Family Businesses in Transition

When families are feuding, fairness is always an issue—and usually, it’s about more than just money, it’s often about feelings.

Lovelynn Ivey 10/26/21 Lovelynn Ivey 10/26/21

Announcement: We have a New Employee!

Having a new employee announcement process is very important. Especially when a non-family member is joining the family business.

Lovelynn Ivey 10/19/21 Lovelynn Ivey 10/19/21

Feedback is an Art

Prioritize your ideas. Limit your feedback to the most important issues. Consider the feedback’s potential value to the receiver and how you would respond – could you act on the feedback? As well, too much feedback provided at a single time can be overwhelming to the recipient.

Lovelynn Ivey 10/12/21 Lovelynn Ivey 10/12/21

Feedback is an Art

Feedback can reinforce existing strengths, keep goal-directed behavior on course, clarify the effects of behavior, and increase recipients’ abilities to detect and remedy errors on their own.

Lovelynn Ivey 10/5/21 Lovelynn Ivey 10/5/21

Are Your Employees Fulfilled?

One of the most important things to focus on for Employee Satisfaction is good training and development.

Lovelynn Ivey 9/28/21 Lovelynn Ivey 9/28/21

Is Succession a Birthright?

Succession should never be a birthright, even in a family business.

Lovelynn Ivey 9/21/21 Lovelynn Ivey 9/21/21

Toot Your Horn

It is time to toot your Family-Owned Business horn!

Lovelynn Ivey 9/14/21 Lovelynn Ivey 9/14/21

Serving the Family Board

Serving on any board of directors is hard, but in a family-owned business, it’s even harder

Lovelynn Ivey 9/7/21 Lovelynn Ivey 9/7/21

Family business love letters

Family business love letters by J. Kevin Heaton

Lovelynn Ivey 8/31/21 Lovelynn Ivey 8/31/21

Family-Owned Business Advantages

Families are more likely to stick together and do what is necessary to keep the business going during hard times. Having that bond is just one of the advantages of being a family-owned business.

Lovelynn Ivey 8/24/21 Lovelynn Ivey 8/24/21

Best Policy Practices

Here are some suggestions to help identify and embrace your company’s best practices policies which will ensure you are heading in the right direction.

Lovelynn Ivey 8/17/21 Lovelynn Ivey 8/17/21

Making Decisions Based on Facts.

While family members may not always have the same opinions, they often have similar upbringing and life experiences which may lead to a uniform view of the business. Businesses need to have external views of their company and their competition in order to thrive.

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