New online course now available
In early 2018, in the deep winter of the Rocky Mountains, I sat down to write about what I’ve done for a living for the last 50 years. Yes, 50 years. For the last 5 decades I have worked to help families in business grow, prosper, stay together, keep the love, and pass the torch when the time comes. When I started, there were not many people who could be called in to help a family that was both in business together and in crisis. Now there are college courses in family business management being taught in major universities and there are family business consulting firms all over the world.
I have traveled extensively in this profession, and I treasure the friends I have made and the colleagues I continue to work with in all the various countries. Over the last few years, I observed how the world has changed and how people can now learn about whatever topics they find interesting and/or necessary by just booting up their computers. I acknowledged it was time for me to take what I have learned over my years in family business consulting and make it available in an online course.
On Thursday, September 13, I made a presentation to the Tulane University Family Business Center, and I announced that my new online course is now available. Re-Imagining Relationships For Families In Business takes the learner through what I know to be the Concepts, Methods, and Techniques That Can Work Miracles.
Successful families make a commitment to build and maintain healthy and functional family relationships that further the goals of the family business. Such a platform for success is anchored on these 4 Pillars: Alignment, Boundaries, Communications, and Competency. Re-Imagining Relationships For Families In Business addresses each Pillar and sets up the substructure that will sustain a family business from generation to generation.
It Is Your Family, And It Is Your Business—You Can Have Both
My online course includes not only what I have learned first-hand from all my years of work, but it also includes supporting research to help understand why things may happen the way they do, and how to make lasting changes to prevent future obstacles. I am fascinated by what Neuroscience has been able to teach us, and I share those relevant nuggets as they pertain to understanding family members working in business together. There are charts, graphs, and exercises to help work through family conflicts and challenges. What I know for sure is that because it is family, it can be harder. Certainly it is always more emotional than the usual ups and downs of another kind of enterprise.
I’m going to enjoy posting about what’s in this online course and relating the feedback as people who take it offer their observations. I hope you will enjoy this journey with me. I appreciate all your contributions to my own education over the years.
David Bork is the owner and founder of Family Business Matters, a family business consulting firm that has provided guidance to over 500 families for five decades. He brings a wealth of knowledge and insight into the many challenges of running a successful family business and has assisted families in charting their way through every imaginable family business issue. David is the author of five books, including The Little Red Book of Family Business. See more about the definitive new online course in family business at https://4pillars.familybusinessmatters.consulting/
