Family businesses: The challenge of delegating and professionalizing generational change
León , Guanajuato.- Generational change in a company can take five years for the founder to learn to delegate to the new generations.
Delegating is very difficult for them, because delegating means letting go of what they love so much, which is their own company, which is almost like a child.”
Martín Quirós , a specialist in family and medium-sized business issues, noted that being part of the family is not enough to lead a company.
He warned that if there isn't someone among the members who possesses the necessary skills, they will have to look outside the family environment, but the family must be part of it.
The specialist explained that one of the main challenges for any business—whether family-owned or not—to survive over time is to have a good business and leadership skills, but family businesses face two additional complexities: they must be able to manage family harmony and corporate harmony.
If there is no corporate harmony, there is no way for the company to continue over time.”
The company may end up being sold poorly, as new roles and leadership must be generated.
He clarified that this doesn't mean the new generation has to take over general management. Perhaps it can be professionalized and have an external general manager, but they will have to learn to be directors, to set the direction for that general manager.
In family businesses, children later believe that simply because they inherit the company, they don't need to receive training beyond perhaps what they study in general, and I don't know if this is also a double-edged sword."
The specialist focuses on improving profitability to ensure companies are sustainable over time. He also focuses on professionalizing family businesses and enabling owners to delegate with ease.
Originally from Argentina, he works in the north of the country, in Monterrey and Saltillo, one week a month, so he knows the Mexican market well.
He noted that Mexico is one of the countries with the greatest awareness of the need for family businesses to become institutionalized. You find children of entrepreneurs who are well-prepared, not only with degrees but also with master's degrees.
Just because they're well-prepared academically doesn't mean they'll know how to run a business. Their interests must be taken into account.
We have to ask ourselves: How well are we getting along as a family, and how prepared are we to be partners?
Another question is whether the new generations are truly taking center stage or just doing what mom and dad tell them. The companies that make money and endure aren't the ones that do everything right; they're the ones that find their value.
He recommended that when you see a family member interested in preserving the legacy, don't make them pay the price of starting from scratch; you have to determine what their interests are.
"We shouldn't make him pay this obsession with paying his dues; he should start from the bottom."
We need to visualize what the business's future requirements will be, whether any of the new generation members will be able to meet them, or whether other people need to be trained.
They change the batonThe specialist himself experienced this transition: His father founded a practice more than 40 years ago, and he took over the generational leadership.
From this experience, Martín Quirós wrote a book with his father called "Passing the Post ." " In this book, we describe what the generational transfer is like when there are children who are interested ."
He noted that children in the family business have to ask themselves: Am I here because I want to be? If the answer is no, you have to leave .
AAK
A journalist at AM Newspaper for ten years. During her training, she began as an investigative reporter on Raúl Olmos's team, working on special investigations. For the past eight years, she has specialized in business and corporate reporting. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Journalism from the Latin American Institute of Sciences and Humanities. She holds a Diploma in Digital Journalism, including a Diploma in Digital Economic Journalism from the UDG Virtual University.
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