Organization Development Consulting Firm

The founder of several successful retail businesses, the mother of two sons, was expanding her business. One of her two sons worked in the business and had been doing so for more than 10 years; most of which were in direct customer interaction. The other son had other interests where he was experiencing his own success. Her successful expansion was dependent upon her son becoming her business partner in the process.

Discoveries

• The founder was treating her son in the business as she has treated him at home.
• Though the son had worked in the business for several years those experiences were the same one year repeated several times sequentially.
• The founder and her son had never sat down to talk about the future of the business as an enterprise and his role in that enterprise.
• The son’s independent accomplishments as an adult were few.
• The founder was not being as forthcoming with her son about her frustrations as she knew needed to be.

Strategy

In this situation it was critical to address the emotional first and then focus on the rational. 

• Communication
• Alignment
• Development

Communication: The discussion focused on the content and quality of the communication between the founder and her son. After having very frank exchanges about some good and not so good events in their past we explored assumptions, wishes, hopes and dreams that were the shared interests of the owner and her son. The agreement established included separate planned meetings; one focusing on the progress toward targeted business goals and the other on their relationship. Our intent was to integrate the two over time.

Alignment: After three focused meetings the founder and her son agreed on the growth strategy that made sense for their business, his role in that business and the factors that were critical to their success.

Development: The son and I spent several hours on the issue of his development. First was an assessment of his capabilities and interests; this assessment was completed by both the founder and the son. Those results were held up against the perception of the founder and the needs of the business to successfully execute the strategy on which they had already agreed. The son agreed to:

• Complete his academic preparation
• Spend structured time outside of the business with a partner in the industry
• Come back into the business in a people and process management role   

Results

• The targeted expansion, four retail locations versus one, is on schedule.
• The son has been promoted and acquired additional responsibilities in the business.
• The tension that remains between founder and son is now expressed more directly and productively.