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I write this a few days after the Jubilee celebrations.
Whether you are a royalist or not, you can’t help but have noticed the Jubilee and the general outpouring of emotion across the country with a long-awaited knees up after being cooped up for the last couple of years.
What interested me most was the history of the Queen’s reign, the special programmes showing unseen footage of her family growing up and the many poignant comments from the Queen herself – many of which stuck home.
For instance:
About CHANGE:
“It’s worth remembering that it is often the small steps, not the giant leaps, that bring about the most lasting change.”
About CHALLENGE:
“When life seems hard, the courageous do not lie down and accept defeat; instead, they are all the more determined to struggle for a better future.”
About LEADERSHIP:
“I know of no single formula for success, but over the years I have observed that some attributes of leadership are universal and are often about finding ways of encouraging people to combine their efforts, their talents, their insights, their enthusiasm and their inspiration, to work together.”
For me what these quotes demonstrate is a leader with years of wisdom working both in and on the family business (the Royal family to me is the ultimate family business!).
What’s the point, Peter?
All these comments have one thing in common.
They are I believe, REFLECTIVE.
They come from an individual that has taken time to think through these very real areas of life, their experiences and history and distilled their thoughts into just a few but very powerful words.
The Queen knows that her family and the business of being a royal are intrinsically linked, just as our family businesses are. Ok their circumstances are different but the reasoning for each is the same.
We are all leaders of our family businesses whether we are at the head of it or a vital cog and collectively responsible for our actions and our results.
It is therefore vital that we take time out periodically to REFLECT on our experiences to find what really matters to both ourselves as individuals and as a family team to work together for a better result. REFLECTION means looking back at history and hopefully learning from both mistakes and success. It is wise to do so otherwise the lessons will not have been learned; why go through the pain again simply because we didn’t learn from our experiences?
I will leave the final quote to Her Majesty…
“Whatever life throws at us; our individual responses will be all the stronger for working together and sharing the load.”
To me, that’s what a family business is all about.
The Family Business Practice is a vibrant learning and development community full of great people and businesses who in many cases give of their time and expertise to help others, PLUS do business together where appropriate!
CLICK HERE to see the latest events and book on soon – you will be glad you did.
Go on you know you want to!
Until the next time…
Peter
Peter Roper The Family Business Man
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