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Finding a good counselor has never been an easy task. But finding one who is willing to tell you exactly what you need to listen, every time you need it, it’s a hard job. Solving this challenge is what these resources are about. Because we are not only talking about a single book. Dave and Taneil have given us a compendium of successful thoughts that come to us in two ways: the traditional pocket edition printed book, The Family Business Whisperer, and a mobile app, Inspired Questions-For Family Business, going with us everywhere, every single time we ask for them. Just like a whisper in your ear when you must need it.
We understand that there is a “family business” when members of a family manage, control and own a company that focuses most decisions of your life, and the intention of the family is to transfer the ownership of this company to the next generation. Achieving this ultimate goal (the transfer of ownership), in a successful manner, represents not few challenges for the family. The authors of this book present an important group of articles and stories with which families can face the process of professionalizing the management of their companies and find the best way for a succession of the business to the next generation. And in the mobile app format (which content is closely related to the book), we can find the questions and comments that help us to reflect on our thoughts and concerns about our family business. Both, book and app, are organized in a way that either encourages us to think about our own answer in a proper way or help us to pursue the right conversation among the members of our families, driving us to find a proper solution for every case. And yes, we don’t need the app to enjoy the book or vise-versa, but I recommend to use both tools together, as an inspirational and portable fountain of wisdom.
Family businesses generate more jobs, more contribution to GDP and more innovation than any other type of organization. We have every reason to argue that these companies are a social asset to be preserved. The family business represents the present and the future of national welfare and economic support of society. They become intermediaries between the past and the future, saving the best of tradition, while focusing its performance on the adaptation needed that lead to the future. This gives them an added value to the current economic scenario, fulfilled by large and complex transformations. Having a counselor (in any format), is a significant contribution for every member of a family business, but also for those who devote our efforts in helping and accompanying family businesses seeking favorable outputs to their current situation.
It is not usual to find a tool like this: a book and a mobile app addressed to family businesses that synthesizes in few pages all of the experience, knowledge and solutions to every-day situations the way that a Dave and Taneil do. The Family Business Whisperer and Inspired Questions-For Family Business are original portable sources of wisdom that helps to think introspectively about improving our family relationships and preserving the business legacy.
Review by: Guillermo Salazar,
Exaudi Family Business Consulting,
Houston, Texas, September 2016
