Implementing real change in any business with employees is challenging. The obvious fact, however, is that every company in the world must improve daily to fend off lurking competitors.
One of the huge factors that stops improvement and change is what I call employee sabotage. Even worse, is family member employee sabotage.
Nearly always, that type of undercutting or sabotaging happens quietly almost underground. It comes in the form of negative comments when leadership or change agents in the company are not around. It comes when every new suggestion is quietly ignored. It comes when working family members quietly choose to push back if only to wait and see what the other family member/s will do?
This is very tricky for family businesses—it may even come, surprisingly, from leadership (or parents) when the younger generation is pushing for change.
It is almost a game of chicken—who can last the longest? Who has the most energy? Who has the most power?
This type of back door, almost passive aggressive behavior, is like the black plaque for any small family business.
It sucks out energy, momentum, wins, comradery and positive momentum—even worse, it sucks out love.
Sadly, it often comes from family members that have great skills—many of whom have been with your business for a long time. These types realize that they have skill and that their contribution is hard to replicate, meaning you can’t just go out and hire someone to replace them anytime soon.
With that leverage, they push back and almost gloat that because of their family ties, no one has the power to stop them. They become quiet power agents and, essentially, a wrecking ball for the rest of the company pushing forward for change and improvement.
This conundrum is very difficult to overcome—whether from the top down or the bottom up.
There are things that can be done. Even more significant, there are things that must be done. This cannot be allowed to fester or linger. It has to be faced directly and quickly.
One of the key tools that could, and even should, be used is the establishment of what we call a real Board of Directors, which means a group of advisors and business leadership that includes respected people who are NOT part of the family.
How can a real Board of Directors help? There are dozens of ways but one, specifically, for this issue is that they can listen to issues about company conflicts, and act as an unbiased jury.
We will discuss this in much more detail. What is a Board of Directors for a small family business? How is a Board effectively created? How is a Board effectively used?
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