Patrick Lencioni’s latest title Three Big Questions for a Frantic Family is winning accolades for its simple model of applying key business leadership principals to running your family. But what can business leaders learn from family life? Following is a Q&A with Lencioni that ran in Investor’s Business Daily (10/23/08)
Lessons From The Family
by Adelia Cellini Linecker
Managing a business is kind of like running a family. Planning is key to avoiding chaos. "Without clarity among the leaders of an organization, there's going to be no courage to make good decisions," said Patrick Lencioni, author of "The 3 Big Questions for a Frantic Family."
How to learn from families and set your firm on the right path?
Take charge. Leadership must be cohesive, Lencioni told IBD. Children are experts at divide and conquer. If dad says no, ask mom. If both parents are on the same page, kids quickly figure out there's order in the house. Same goes for the workplace. If employees know managers agree, goals are clear and everyone works to the same end.
Build trust. Keep your word. Like families, employees thrive when they know what to expect. They crave stability. "Trust is at the heart of a family; if the parents do not have trust, they cannot possibly run a family to maximize its potential," said Lencioni, a business consultant. " It's the same for a business. If leaders don't trust each other, they're not going to support each other."
Handle conflict. Don't be afraid to make waves, so long as everyone has a life jacket. At the same time, play by the rules. "We can have a spirited debate, and five minutes later it's done," Lencioni said of discussions in his family. "If that makes your marriage stronger, then why don't you think it will make your business stronger?" If you avoid debates, you might see problems bubble up later in more destructive ways, Lencioni says.
Inspire. Want to motivate your kids to love reading as much as you do? Make regular trips to the bookstore for fun. "What better way to inspire your kids than to give them the gift of your own passions?" Shmuley Boteach wrote in "Parenting With Fire: Lighting Up the Family With Passion and Inspiration." Inspiring workers to commit to a common goal requires similar legwork."Even if not everyone is in agreement on the details, you can agree to commit," Lencioni said.
Hold accountable. As with parents, leaders have a duty to set your charges on the right path. "Discipline isn't something you enforce because you hate your kids -- it's something you do because you love them," Boteach wrote.
Find uniqueness. Figure out what makes you different from others. Clarify core values, Lencioni says. When you know exactly what your niche is, you make plans easier to follow.
Prioritize. Frantic families sign up their kids for every sport and activity possible, and often the children fail to excel. Ditto for businesses that shoot at scattered targets. Choose activities that align clearly with your main goal. Rather than buy ads in every paper, select publications that best meet your target customers.
Build routine. Lencioni says all it takes in his family is a five-minute meeting once a week to see if it's on track to achieve goals. "We use green, yellow or red (markings) for each category," he said. "This is what should go on in Fortune 500 companies."
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