There are over three million small, privately-held companies that have been around for three generations. The vast majority are controlled by people who are nearing retirement age, and the next generation will soon be stepping up. Knowing how to balance these disparate perceptions of ‘work’ and ‘career’ is exactly the kind of value coaching can bring into the equation.
But that’s a very tricky proposition according to an interview that I had with Family Business Strategies. Here is one part of that interview:
“It’s hard for people to let go of their dream, of their ‘baby’ which they gave birth to and grew, and they want to maintain some kind of control over that. It would be ideal for the older generation to bring in a coach to work with the next generation, but the son or daughter may be very apprehensive of bringing in someone of dad’s choosing to help them with their life.
“I’ve had so many parents come to me and say ‘Can you come and coach my son or daughter,’ and most of the time, I never even talked with the person who was supposed to be coached. Although the parent recognized that they needed coaching, the son or daughter didn’t.”
For these reasons, it is important to emphasize that the role of the coach is not to coach “Junior,” but rather to coach or mentor the organization with the objective that the business and the individuals both end up where they want to go.
Alternately, the senior generation might not see the value of coaching, or may think that it is too “touchy-feely” or too vague for comfort. Helping this generation understand both the methods and goals of coaching will be imperative if the industry hopes to make any inroads.
For the complete story, go to: http://www.familybusinessstrategies.com/profiles/agno.html