by EmiratesCommunityAdmin | Jul 18, 2019 | HR & Finance
Jason Waldron | Senior Sales Manager, Zurich Middle East
Making your mark, leaving a legacy
Often, in my interactions with owners of
family-run businesses, the word “legacy” plays an essential role in creating a
succession plan. Often what a business owner perceives as a family legacy, is
really just personal legacy so he can be remembered.
As a small business owner, stop for a moment and consider what kind of legacy you want to leave for your dependents and how you want to be remembered.
A life on the high seas is not for everyone
If you aspire to hand the reins for your
business over to the family, consider that some family members will want to contribute
to the growth of the business when you are gone, while other’s will pursue
their own path.
Consider my own example, my father was a
commercial fisherman and owned several boats. He was successful, raised a
family with two children, and ensured that my sister and I were primed to
ascend into the family business.
I went on to take over the business, this made sense to me on a number of
levels. There was enough
profit to attract and retain me and because my father had instilled years of
knowledge into my training and education, I was comfortable
running the business in his absence. I became a successful part of our family legacy,
helping it to reach new heights.
My sister however, wasn’t overly keen on joining the family business and becoming a commercial fisherwoman.
A fair and equitable legacy
Herein lies the problem my father had in
preserving his legacy.
Had something had happened to my father such
as death, illness or incapacity, I would inherit his fishing boats, shares in
the company and his commercial license worth approximately $1m. My sister on
the other hand, would inherit very little in comparison.
After considering the legacy that he wanted to leave behind, my father invested in an insurance policy that would equalize our inheritance in the event of his death. In this scenario, there was no need to divide any shares or assets amongst siblings which could have created conflict and subsequent business failure. Simply put, I would receive the business and assets, while my sister would receive $1m from the proceeds of the life insurance policy.
An important lesson for family businesses in the UAE
As an owner of a family business, are you
sailing the legacy seas of uncertainty or have you put plans in place that
secures the survival of your business and the lives of the ones you love?
With many UAE businesses currently in the
first generation of ownership, a succession plan is imperative for any family
business owner looking to avoid significant conflict between their nearest and
dearest.
I share my father’s vision on leaving a legacy, on making your mark. So, gather together with your family, consider their plans and goals and then celebrate the decisions you made to protect them and support their dreams.
Writers note:
I am very happy to tell you that my father kept himself healthy and well and we ran the business together until his eventual retirement. At this time, we sold the family business and I pursued the bright lights of financial services.
Contact Information & Social Media links:
Email: jason.waldron@zurich.com
Website: www.zurich.ae
Instagram: www.instagram.com/zurichmiddleeast/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ZurichME/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jason-waldron-85663656/ & https://www.linkedin.com/company/zurich-middle-east/
by EmiratesCommunityAdmin | Jul 15, 2019 | HR & Finance
“A company is like a ship … everyone should be prepared to take the helm.”
—Henrik Ibsen
If you like hierarchy, stop reading this article on leadership. Go back to barking orders and keeping people in line. Know, though, that you will never be a victorious leader of a peak-performance team.
Peak-performance teams operate differently than the ones that operate on the top-down leadership style we see in the military. Barking orders works well when you lead soldiers into battle, but it doesn’t help a team adapt to the ever-changing conditions of a business.
In this final article of my series on extreme performance, I’m going to address kinetic leadership. If you want to be able to lead a successful team in your industry, you’ll need to know how to change who leads the team and how leaders should adapt their leadership styles.
Change Leaders
The most consistently high-performing teams are not led by a single leader. Extreme-performance teams are led by multiple people. The leaders change as the conditions and challenges change.
Everyone on the team should be ready to lead—and should be expected to. When I was racing nonstop for six to 10 days, we had a formal team captain for the record book, but the team captain didn’t call all the shots. When we got to paddling sections in the jungle, Ian Adamson took over. If the terrain was difficult, Neil Jones came forward to guide our way. If mountain biking was our mode of transportation for that leg of the race, Ian Edmond set the pace.
If you want your teams to reach extreme performance, you need to change leaders based on expertise. It helped our team become Adventure Racing World Champions.
Change Leadership Styles
Not only does your team need to change leaders, but the leaders must be able to change their style of leadership depending on the situation.
Sometimes a team needs a visionary to show the way, a motivator to inspire, or a friend to give a warm hug. The best leaders know when to change and use their emotional intelligence to determine which style to use.
As I wrote in my Tibet Raid Gauloise racing article, we faced a problem when our team’s mountain bikes were missing from our transition area. It seemed like the race was over until Robert, John, and Keith changed their leadership styles. They formed a vision for how we could go forward by borrowing bikes from the locals.
After we gathered these rusting relics, they changed their leadership style again. They provided inspiration to the team so we believed we could win on borrowed bikes. They knew just what to do to keep us going. We didn’t win the race that time, but we did reach extreme performance, so the next time we raced we were able to handle the challenges and win.
If you want your teams to reach extreme performance, you need to be flexible. Allow different leaders to emerge and to use different leadership styles to give your team what it needs.
Source : https://www.thehrobserver.com/how-to-lead-your-team-to-extreme-performance/
by EmiratesCommunityAdmin | Jul 1, 2019 | Health & Wellness
“Mindfulness is a state of being fully present, aware of oneself and other people, and sensitive to one’s reactions to stressful situations. Leaders who are mindful tend to be more effective in understanding and relating to others and motivating them toward shared goals. Hence, they become more effective in leadership roles.”
(William W. George, Harvard Business School Q&A)
Monica Mathijs | Developing People. Developing organisations
When was the last time you made a rushed decision or reacted without full information? Can you think of a time when you were short with your staff because your mind was not in the right place? Have you dealt with stressful situations in a manner which was not effective nor beneficial to those around you?
For many managers and leaders, these questions can bring
back a memory of a time when they reacted in a way which was not positive and
may have led to a worse situation.
Do you want to be able to change the way you deal with
difficult situations or at least learn to react in a manner which is more
present, thoughtful and focused?
With topics such as mindfulness, self-awareness, empathy and
emotional intelligence gaining much focus and reflect upon their actions and
words.
The prevalence of mindfulness as a topic with all its uses
and benefits, it makes sense that mindfulness programs and techniques are being
adopted in the workplace, education system to the military.
When people practice mindfulness, the experiences and
benefits are unique to them. The benefits include improved sleep, a sense of
calm, a change in their outlook of life, how they deal with situations all the
way to realizing their calling in life.
Over the years, research and science provide the evidence to
support the benefits of mindfulness. Just to name a few of the scientific
findings, the brain can be re-wired, stress hormones reduce, the happy hormones
increase, memory improves and more. A
How to adopt a mindfulness approach to your leadership style:
- Find the time to practice mindfulness –
Robin Sharma talks about rising early and meditating. Morning meditation gives
the mind and body with space and sets us up for the day ahead
- Learn some techniques to help during
stressful situations or just to reconnect – simple techniques such as the
16 second breath or the listening to the sounds around you can help bring you
back to the present moment and stop the over-reacting thought
- Observe and notice – as a leader, how
your people are behaving and acting is an indicator of how they feel, whether
they are too busy, content, underworked or behaving out of character, this
gives you the chance to take action steps and ask how others are doing
- Listen with attention and practice active
listening – next time you are in a meeting, learn to focus on the topic or
person speaking, make eye contact, be active in what you are hearing and put
down that phone. These simple steps show that this is important to you
- Run mindfulness programs for your staff –
raise an awareness of techniques and stress management tools to equip them with
the means to deal with and handle a variety of situations
The next time you are in a situation where you have the
choice to react, practice a mindfulness technique and see how things change.
Monica Mahi Mathijs is the co-founder of Reach Outstanding
offering leadership development programs, executive coaching and assessment
centres – Developing People. Developing Organisations.
