Yesterday was the second session of our 8th year of the UNI Family Business Center’s Breakfast Series. We had two amazing Iowa companies (Weiler Manufacturing and Fareway Meat and Grocery) on to share their experiences of Next Generation development in their family businesses.

On to my top three: 

1. Find a mentor
   Our guests all shared stories of mentors – be it formal executive coaches or informal employee mentors. What I enjoyed hearing about was the multiple ways this concept can be executed. For one next gen it was pairing them up with a non-family company executive while for another it was hiring a formal leadership coach. I’ve also worked with families that will pair their next gens with family leadership at other companies.
2. There’s no one way to do family employment 
   While everyone loves to hear about best practices and “what most family businesses are doing” to develop the Next Gen – the reality is that there is no one best path. There are too many factors at play and I think that is what makes our program so great. We had 3 different points of view – our membership is given perspective and ideas on which may be best for their situation. Its also important to remember that what might work for developing the 2nd Gen of the family may need some tweaks for the 3rd or 4th Gen.
3. Employees are treating you and what you say differently 
   One of our panelists mentioned a conversation they had with an employee. It was meant as a harmless inquiry into a project but because it came from family member, the employee read into things. They completely switched the direction of their work to align with what the next gen had said, even though no direction had really been given. As a Next Gen or any family member in the business, your words are magnified and analyzed much deeper than others in the business. Keep that in mind during your conversations. 
   
   One of our panelists shared a technique they use that I really liked. After having a conversation and giving direction, they always ask the employee to repeat back what they are taking away and direction they are going to head in their work.

We are extremely grateful to Megan, Joel and Reynolds for their time and insights, and we look forward to seeing you throughout the rest of this year!