Back when our daughter was a junior in college, she came home one weekend and announced that she’d missed the deadline for on-campus housing assignments and would have to find an apartment. (Oops. Sorry Mom and Dad.) Her parents (us) had equally strong, but...
“I’ve owned 400 to 500 stocks in my lifetime and made most of my money on 10 of them.” – Warren Buffett It’s a well-known fact in the investing world that the lion’s share of results will come from a small percentage of investments. In statistics,...
Ask most Copreneurs if they have and use written job descriptions and many will say, “Not really. We like to keep things pretty informal around here.” In fact, many founder-entrepreneurs pride themselves on the informality that often goes hand in hand with early stage...
Did you know that nearly a quarter of the U.S. workforce spends part of each day working at home? Commutes are longer, offices are smaller and technology is better – all contributing to the number of people who work from home at least part of the time....
Gates had Buffett, Oprah had Maya, and Dylan had Guthrie. In your world, who do the next generation of leaders look up to? Many family-owned companies say they expect to transfer leadership to the next generation, yet only a small percentage have a plan...
We all remember that foreboding time - back-to-school - the photo on the front steps, shopping for new shoes, backpacks, supplies, and a haircut. This year, over 78 million students returned to the classroom, with a reported 2.5% suffering from Didaskaleinophobia, the fear of...
When you hear the term “leadership development” what comes to mind? Who comes to mind? If you’re like most people, you think of leadership development as about the people coming up behind you. People younger than you, or less experienced. The next generation, you...
“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” - Mark Twain In the world of family business, it seems that some generally accepted axioms are out of date, yet still frequently quoted. Some...
Some songs just say summer, like Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville, recorded almost 40 years ago now. But even if you’re not a fan of the music, it’s hard not to admire Buffett’s entrepreneurial spirit and success. On the lighter side, enjoy these business gems from Ron...
At the end of a trip to Utah last fall, we flew home to Maryland via Las Vegas. While we were in the neighborhood, we thought we’d check out a show. We understand now why Cirque du Soleil is always sold out. It’s because...
In the early years of a committed relationship, all couples have to learn to make adjustments. Reality turns out to be different than our expectations. Quirks we hadn’t noticed in the dreamy days of dating start to drive us nuts. The two of us...
Long before there was Dr. Seuss, there was Tom Brown. In 1680, young Tom Brown was expelled from Oxford University for mischief making, and in response, he wrote this now famous nursery rhyme: I do not like thee, Doctor Fell; The reason why, I cannot...
It has been famously said, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Take a second to think about that. Who you spend time with can lift you up as much as it can bring you down. We...
Early in our careers, there was a time when we both worked in CPA firms – Ron in auditing and Margaret in marketing. Our kids were six and three at the time and the “busy season” between January and April just about crushed our...
If you’re feeling burned out in the family business, you’re not alone. It can happen when you’re feeling overwhelmed by business problems or prolonged tension in a relationship or any number of reasons. Whatever the cause, burnout doesn’t happen overnight, and it’s practically impossible...
“The final test of greatness in a CEO is how well he chooses a successor and whether he can step aside and let his successor run the company.” Those deceptively simple words are from Peter Drucker, the father of modern management, whose ideas continue...
This blog comes from Ron Wilson at our sister company, CopreneurCPR www.copreneurcpr.com. While written for couples in business, the advice is equally relevant for any business leader. Legendary investor Warren Buffett is known for placing pearls of wisdom in his annual letter to shareholders. We’ve...
Years ago when our son was in high school, he spent a large part of every week night working on math problems, which were not exactly his favorite thing to do. One night he came downstairs to the living room where Margaret was reading. “Hey...
Show of hands: Who loves a good TED talk? Or should we ask, who doesn’t love a good TED talk? Over the years, we’ve watched dozens of talks online and even attended a few regional TEDx conferences in person. Whether it’s learning about the...
*Hustle Sold Separately That’s not just a catchy slogan to inspire you to reach for the stars. And this isn’t a speech to remind you it’ll all be worth it when you’re working 16 hours a day. This is a short story about Dreaming and...
Three stories in which something went wrong, but something bigger went right It’s never fun being sick with the flu, but if you’re down for the count anyway, binge-watching episodes of “Mad Men,” isn’t a bad way to pass the time. (Not that we’re, ahem,...
When business couples talk about their “communication problems,” often what they’re really referring to is what happens when they have a disagreement. They haven’t practiced the skills of fighting fair or learned how to “disagree agreeably,” as the saying goes. It’s been a long time...
Every year, millions of tourists visit the legendary corner of Hollywood & Vine. They expect to see a tree-lined street filled with beautiful shops and movie stars. They are almost always disappointed. The Hollywood Walk of Fame is still in the intersection, but not...
During the mid-1930s, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello introduced their famous vaudeville comedy sketch “Who’s on First?” about a fictitious baseball team. As they try to communicate with each other about the various players, the conversation becomes more and more confusing. Toward the end...
Legendary investor Warren Buffett is known for placing pearls of wisdom in his annual letter to shareholders. These often reflect his practical, down-to-earth attitude. We’ve adapted some of his advice for Copreneurs. Keep calm in the face of volatility – Big rewards are often...
Adding another dish to our buffet of Buffetts, we’re sharing some pearls of wisdom for Copreneurs from singer-songwriter/philosopher-entrepreneur Jimmy Buffett – aka Mr. Margaritaville. Just do it – as Jimmy said: “Indecision may or may not be my problem.” It’s tempting to mull over...
When it comes to business couples and communication, a little structure goes a long way. Running a business can be stressful and if you’re going to make it a success, you’ve got to stay in sync. But with everything you’ve got going on, it...
When our kids were young, they loved to read all kinds of books. In one phase, they just couldn’t get enough of the Berenstain Bears, a series (written by Copreneurs Stan and Jan Berenstain) featuring a grizzly bear family learning life lessons in everyday...
If you’ve spent any time around the family business arena, you’ve come across the number: 70% of family companies don’t make it to a second generation, either because the business fails or for other reasons a decision is made to sell to a third...
Stories differ on whether it was Mark Twain or Andrew Carnegie who said: “Put all your eggs in one basket – and then watch that basket!” That was a tongue-in-cheek twist on the old saying about not putting all your eggs in one basket...
Many leaders, when they think about succession, have a narrow definition in mind. For example, one owner might be lasered in on who will own shares in the future and whether to sell or transfer them. Another may be preoccupied with who will be...
Early in our business lives, we adopted the mantra “Think – Plan – Do.” It has long been a reminder to us to dream big, plan ahead and execute well. In that order. But sometimes, we find ourselves thinking up good ideas, and then...
At the end of every year, we take some time to work on our long-range plans. We get away from the office to review the year, including our successes and disappointments. We share goals for ourselves, our family, our business and as a couple....
We’ve just taken down the Holiday decorations and packed them safely away for another year. The last to be wrapped in tissue is always our Golden Retriever-slash-Angel tree topper in memory of Max, a sweet girl who was part of our family for almost...
Here’s a question to ask the managers in your family business: “What kind of employees do we want to have in our workforce? Employees who think for themselves? Or workers who mechanically do only what we tell them to do, exactly when and how...
At a recent meeting, a business family I’ve been working with expressed how frustrated they were with the lack of apparent progress toward their succession goals. As the conversation began, the group appeared to be divided, with half insisting, “it’s not all that bad,”...
If your family business has communication problems, you're not alone. There are an estimated 24 million family businesses in America, ranging from your corner gas station to corporate giants like Walmart and Hallmark. Regardless of size, however, many family businesses rank communication among the...
It has been suggested that many family business problems stem from the inherent conflict between the distinct, yet overlapping parts of the family business system. Each part of the family business system – business, family and ownership – has a distinct set of needs,...
When You Come to a Fork in the Road… Take It – Yogi Berra Each of us makes hundreds of decisions every day – from what to wear to when to eat to whether to drive to work or take the train. Many of...
Running a successful family business requires broad experience and a diversity of talents – talents that not even the most capable families can guarantee generation after generation. In addition, qualified on family executives can help a family business grow by contributing fresh ideas and...
In Greek mythology, there’s only one figure whose character matures over time: Telemachus, son of Odysseus and Penelope, immortalized in Homer’s epic poem the Odyssey. The poem mainly centers on Odysseus and his long journey home after the fall of Troy. During his absence,...
Most leaders accept that at some time in the future, their time at the helm will end and the business will be given into the care of the next leader. However, just thinking about the transition can be daunting and overwhelming for the senior leader. If that weren’t enough, most owners experience their own succession just once. Tandem Partners provides the experience and professional guidance needed to move through the strategic, operational and interpersonal issues that are all a part of transition.
When it comes to developing leaders and teams, one size does not fit all. Your business is unique, and has specific strategies and capabilities that drive it forward. We help you identify and develop the specific leadership competencies that make you who you are as an organization and who you’d like to be. We work with leadership teams on the real issues they’re facing now, helping them to see more, be more, do more and lead more effectively, together.
For families in business, success is not just measured in fiscal years, but over generations. Yet often, leaders are so focused on the day-to-day that they aren’t able to step back and focus on the issues that impact long-term sustainability. We help leadership teams assess where they are now, where they’re trying to go and how they’re going to get there. Our expertise in the areas of organizational strategy, structure, process and performance is a unique feature of our work, and integral to our transition management approach.
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