Craig E. Aronoff's Blog, page 3

Lessons from Loss

My father, Harry Louis Schuman, passed away earlier this month. He was over 90 years old and in decent but declining health. Even at the end of his life as his circumstances became quite limited – no more driving, diminished mobility, many medical challenges – whenever asked how he was doing, his answer was always … Continue reading Lessons from Loss →

Intentional Communication

Too often we fail in our desired communication.  We often believe this is due to failure on the part of the recipient to accept our message.  And, sometimes, we may see failure on our part to deliver the message. The more intentional we can be about substantial conversations, the more likely we are to achieve … Continue reading Intentional Communication →

Joshua Nacht Joins The Family Business Consulting Group

FBCG is pleased to welcome Joshua Nacht, Ph.D. as the newest consultant to our 25-member team. He brings a complimentary mix of skills, attributes and experience to his new role. “I was inspired to become a family-business consultant after working with John Ward as both a client and student,” says Joshua. “I have a diverse set of … Continue reading Joshua Nacht Joins The Family Business Consulting Group →

Joshua Nacht Joins The Family Business Consulting Group

FBCG is pleased to welcome Joshua Nacht, Ph.D. as the newest consultant to our 25-member team. He brings a complimentary mix of skills, attributes and experience to his new role. “I was inspired to become a family-business consultant after working with John Ward as both a client and student,” says Joshua. “I have a diverse … Continue reading Joshua Nacht Joins The Family Business Consulting Group →

Renewal Energizes Multi-generational Continuity

The new year is upon us! This is a great time to consider the power of renewal and its impact on multi-generational continuity of your family enterprise. Multi-generational continuity requires commitment to the future for the family enterprise to sustain itself and renewal results in commitments. Consider engagement in renewal on three fronts: family relationship, … Continue reading Renewal Energizes Multi-generational Continuity →

Does Distance Makes the Heart Grow Differently?

While some of my clients have their extended family all in one community, that is more the exception than the rule.  Our North American culture is very mobile and it is common that young adults find professional or other opportunities that will take them away from “home” and may lead them to put down roots … Continue reading Does Distance Makes the Heart Grow Differently? →

Employee Appreciation

I grew up in a family business, a sprinkler manufacturing company in Peoria, Illinois. My father ran this business for nearly 40 years, and I had the privilege of working in this business myself. While not every decision my father made turned out to be right, he made many excellent decisions. One of the very … Continue reading Employee Appreciation →

Time to Get Away?

Years ago, I had the pleasure of visiting with a wise family business owner/operator named Tom Gulliford. He shared with me his unusual philosophy about vacation time: all employees must take a minimum of two weeks’ vacation whenever they take time off. His reasoning was that anything less than two weeks did not allow the … Continue reading Time to Get Away? →

The Confused Cheerleader: A Lesson for Sibling Partnerships

At my son’s middle school basketball game this week, I overhead a young cheerleader say (to her coach!), “No offense to our guys, but I want the other team to win.” The coach is a friend of mine, so I caught her eye and we shared a good laugh. She certainly has her coaching work … Continue reading The Confused Cheerleader: A Lesson for Sibling Partnerships →

Finding Balance and Joy in the “Busy” that is Life

Busy seems to be the stock response to “How are you?” these days. We all struggle at times to balance competing demands for our attention from family, work, community,and other commitments. Sometimes we can feel overwhelmed by the frantic pace and lose sight of how fortunate we are to actually have so much going on … Continue reading Finding Balance and Joy in the “Busy” that is Life →