Categories: Managing Family Business

Values-Based Leadership — The Next Big Thing for Family Business

The current issue of Family Business magazine includes an article about Luck Companies — a family business I’ve advised — and the company’s Values-Based Leadership program.

After working as a consultant to family businesses for 43 years, I believe values-based leadership is the next window of development in the whole family business arena. The values orientation ups the ante on the quality of behavior inside a family enterprise. When a company takes the time to define its core values, and the leadership and employees respect and hold those values, a positive shift in the company culture occurs.

Values can then affect financial performance. Says Luck Companies CEO Charlie Luck, “A lot of companies for years started out with this notion that shareholder return was the first place to start.“ Luck Companies, by contrast, focus first on making sure everyone understands its mission and values. “When you get people that share this same point of view, you begin to ignite the potential in those people,“ Luck says. “Then their creativity, their customer service, their excellence begin to grow.“ That in turn increases customer and shareholder loyalty, which leads to increasing revenue, he says.

Today, the Values-Based Leadership program is an integral part of Luck Companies’ training. It begins with an introduction to Luck values—integrity, commitment, leadership and creativity—for all new employees. Another company value is “doing whatever it takes.“

To read the full article and learn more about Luck Companies’ success with values-based leadership, click here.

Does Your Family Business Need Help?

Family Business Matters has extensive experience assisting family businesses. With many decades of experience, we understand the wide variety of challenges that families face as they work together to build, grow and sustain a thriving family business generation after generation. Through conferences, continuing education programs, family business retreats, speaking engagements and private family business consulting services, Family Business Matters has assisted more than 450 family-owned businesses around the world chart their way through family business issues of all shapes and sizes.