“Given the complexity and paradox of family business environment, how is that some firms manage to survive beyond centuries? Family businesses are under threat from both sides, family as well as business.”

~ Rajesh Jain ~

Jennifer Asks:  I’ve always thought of executive coaching as something that’s just for executives at big companies. Can executive coaching help me run my family business?

Joel Answers:  Executive coaching is not just for big businesses. A good coach can help you move ahead in your career regardless of your current level, whether you are a high-level executive, a manager, someone who wants to become a manager, or the owner of a family business.

Here are three ways family businesses can benefit from executive coaching:

1. Create work-life balance. Self-employed people, more so than other workers, tend to blur the lines between work time and family time. This is especially true if you are working from home or if your children are working with you in your business. An executive coach can help you balance your work and home lives more effectively so you can enjoy both more.
2. Prepare for a transition. At some point, your children may want to become more involved in the business. An executive coach can help you make this transition more smoothly, encouraging the pursuit of new ideas and fresh perspectives brought in by the second generation without discarding the hard-learned lessons of the first.
3. Learn from the coach’s experience. An experienced executive coach who has worked with dozens or even hundreds of different companies and seen what works—and what doesn’t—in a variety of industries can save you an unbelievable amount of time and energy by pointing out bad habits and flawed processes that you may not ever notice on your own.

For more information on this topic, you might want to read the related article on my Garfinkle Executive Coaching website titled “How Executive Coaching Can Help Your Family Business.”

Talkback: Are you a business owner who has hired an executive coach in the past? Tell us about your experience. Or ask whatever else is on your mind—maybe we’ll use your question in a future Q&A.

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