Women in Family Business -- The Power of Language |  |
Women control the majority of the world's financial assets, and stand to inherit ownership and management of existing family businesses in higher percentages than in the past. The financial services industry has launched a number of programs focused on their female clients while the family business advisory community risks lagging behind. This post focuses on some commonly used terms that, inadvertently, may be putting families, and the potential for the results of work that professionals conduct with them, at a disadvantage. ( Read more from Patricia Angus and add comments.) |
Women and Leadership in the Family Business: A Winning Combination |  |
Women are natural born leaders; they are just as competitive as men, but compete very differently and pay closer attention to the relational dynamics that influence business success. If we define performance or success as achieving consistency and stability over time and attaining both task and social cohesion, then women's leadership skills are well-aligned to meet the demands of managing family businesses. ( Read more from Dune Thorne and Cynthia Adams Harrison and add comments.) |
| The Socialization of Daughters in Family Business |  |
For women to take more management and leadership positions in family businesses, it is fundamental that daughters experience positive socialization which permits them to internalize the business culture and values. The fundamental elements favoring this union with the family firm are as follows: knowing the firm since childhood (spending time in the firm, hearing conversations about the firm at home, etc.); admiring and being proud of their parents and wanting to follow in their footsteps; and the father (or mother) being able to transmit his (her) passion for the family business. ( Read more from Rocio Martinez-Jimenez and add comments.) |
| Emotional Support for the Chief Emotional Officer |  |
Universally, women are faced with the difficulty of balancing work and life responsibilities in a way that is unique from the expectations for men. Socially reinforced beliefs still pervade our culture and inform women of the need to compete equally with men in the work arena, and then report for duty at their "second shift" within the household. Employment within a family business has been found to both support women in this balancing act, as well as complicate it. Women report that working with their families allows for more flexibility, but also no personal life. They are stuck between two competing messages - Take the Lead! and When are we going to have a grandchild? ( Read more from Lesley Huff and add comments.) |
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Greetings!
Why should Family Business Wiki devote a special edition of the newsletter to "women in family business"? Haven't differences in the roles of women and men in family business been disappearing? As the blogs and video interview in this month's newsletter illustrate, the topic of "women in family business" is a rich and compelling one. Whether it is the different pathways followed by women who become leaders, or the different characteristics they bring to the role of leader, or the many ways in which women participate in family enterprises other than business leadership -- understanding "women in family business" is critical for the longterm sustainability of many family enterprises. Free Teleconference on "Women in Family Business"In recognition of the importance of this topic, Family Business Wiki invites you to join a global teleconference on "Women in Family Business" to be conducted on January 18, 2011. The teleconference will include a panel discussion featuring six of the authors from this newsletter. Teleconference attendees will be able to ask questions and join in the discussion. Click here for further details. |
 | FB Wiki TV: Pramodita Sharma | |
Research Trends Regarding Women in Family Business
 Over the past two years there has been a significant increase in the level of research focused on women in family business, and this growth is likely to continue. In this video interview Pramodita Sharma reviews recent research on women in family business. As one example of the evolution in this field, she notes that ten years ago the issue of women's "invisibility" in family business was a central topic. That issue has now evolved into "strategic invisibility" -- women who intentionally select a behind-the-scenes role in the family business. Other areas of research noted in this interview include: various pathways to leadership used by women in family business, and the differing roles of women in family businesses around the world. ( Click here to see the video. Run time 5:51). |
| Patricia Annino | |
The Roles of Wife and Mother in Family-Owned Businesses
 The roles of wife and mother continue to grow in importance in succession and continuity. It is important that you, as wife or mother, understand the importance of your role and act on it.
A wife's role can be an enormous help to the success or failure of the family business -- if the marriage and family business functions as a true partnership. You must stay informed about the inner workings of the business and become a trusted influence in all areas affecting the family business. It's both healthy and reasonable for you to want information about what is going on with the business.
Men's self esteem depends upon their ability to stand apart. They need to appear to the world like they are in control of situations -- even if they aren't. Not wanting to show their confusion or vulnerability, they will distance themselves from others, stand independently and shut down. ( Read more from Patricia Annino and add comments.) |
| Kim Schneider Malek | |
Good Big Sister vs. Good Helper: A Story for Women in Family Enterprise
'Women in family business' is a catchy phrase. Researchers, academicians, the media, families, professional service advisors, affinity groups, and cocktail party conversationalists all use it.
There appears to be an element of exclusion to the phrase. What about women who don't work in their family business but who affect and are affected by it? What about women who choose teaching literacy over holding a trainer's position in the family's manufacturing or wholesale distribution business? What about women who are behind-the-scene 'advisors' critical to the success and survival of the family business but who have no defined role in it? What about women who are future owners but who have no current role in it? What about women who, instead of working in the family business, choose 24/7 parenting of those who will be the future generations of human and intellectual capital for it?
These women often struggle with their role in, and connection to, their family business when they are not active in it. (Read more from Kim Schneider Malek and add comments.)
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| Mary Barrett | |
Women Leading Family Businesses
Women in leadership roles in family businesses are still not regarded as the norm. Media representations of women CEOs of family firms still emphasize the sensational and unique aspects of their presence at the top, especially with stories about the 'little girl' who became a successor in a family business, the devastated widow who took over her late husband's business and led it to great heights, or the sister who outperformed an older brother in a family owned automobile dealership. Yet women should not be seen as oddities in business, including family business, when in most countries they form slightly more than half the population and where the contribution of family firms to Gross National Product is estimated at 50-60 percent, or even more depending on how family firms are defined.
One obvious difficulty with getting more women to the top of family firms is the tradition of primogeniture, which is still strong in most countries, despite efforts to change women's status in society through affirmative action legislation and other means. (Read more from Mary Barrett and add comments.)
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| Sharon Danes | |
Women as Barometers of Change in Family Businesses
 How can women in family businesses be a barometer of change? Gottman, a family scientist who has studied couples for many years, has indicated that women typically raise most issues in marriage (Gottman & Notarius, 2000). Danes and colleagues have discovered the same trend in family businesses (Danes, 2006; Danes & Morgan, 2004). In these studies, men most often reported less tension than women for the five most prevalent family business tension types (work/family, competition for resources between family and business, identity, role confusion, and succession). Furthermore, women had a higher need in these family businesses than men to resolve tension and conflict in order to work effectively together (Stewart & Danes, 2001).
The critical question here is interpretation of these findings. As often has been the case in family business literature, the interpretation usually has been that women are a problem to be managed. An alternative interpretation is that women act as barometers of change in that they are early detectors of tension and conflict and threats to family business resilience capacity. (Read more from Sharon Danes and add comments.)
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