The Twelve Days Of A Family Business Christmas
From partridges to pipers, the most famous gift list in history turns out to be a surprisingly good guide to running a family firm. Paul Andrews unwraps the lessons.
Every December, somewhere in a family business, a board meeting gives way to mince pies and someone starts humming a carol. Often it is The Twelve Days of Christmas, and by the time they reach the five gold rings the tune has taken hold, reminding many of memories from their childhood.
Listen closely, though, and the old song is really about something every family firm understands. It is about giving generously, building up over time, and somehow keeping track of an ever growing cast of characters, all of whom expect to be looked after. If that does not describe a third generation family business at Christmas, I am not sure what does.
So let us count our way through the twelve days, one gift and one family business lesson at a time.
On The First Day Of Christmas: A Partridge In A Pear Tree
The song starts with one bird and one tree, and so does almost every family business. A founder with an idea, a bit of nerve and very often a kitchen table. The pear tree is the business itself, planted for the long term and expected to bear fruit for people who may not have been born yet.
The partridge is the founder, perched proudly at the top. The trouble is that partridges are ground birds. They are not meant to sit in trees forever, and founders are not meant to stay at the top forever either. Notice too that this is the one gift that comes back every single day.
The founder's influence lingers in the culture long after they have stepped back, which is a blessing if it is managed well and a headache if it is not.
Who is your partridge, and have they found a comfortable branch further down the tree yet?
On The Second Day Of Christmas: Two Turtle Doves
Turtle doves are the age old symbol of devotion, and in family business they stand for the partnerships at the heart of the firm. Husband and wife, brother and sister, parent and child. Two people who love each other and also have to agree on next year's capital expenditure.
Working with family brings remarkable trust, but it needs clear boundaries.
The happiest pairs I meet have worked out where the business ends and the family begins, and they have agreed not to settle a pricing dispute over Sunday lunch.
Do your doves know when to talk shop and when to simply be family?
On The Third Day Of Christmas: Three French hens
Three hens represent the generations. In many firms you will find the founding generation, the current leaders and the next generation all under one roof, each clucking in a slightly different accent.
The first generation values grit, the second values growth and the third often values purpose. None of them is wrong. The magic happens when all three listen to one another rather than talk over each other.
Research consistently shows that only around a third of family businesses make it to the second generation, and far fewer to the third, so a happy coop of three generations is something to celebrate.
When did your three generations last sit down together simply to listen?
On The Fourth Day Of Christmas: Four Calling Birds
The original lyric was in fact "colly birds", meaning blackbirds, but calling birds suit our purpose rather well. Every family business needs communication, and lots of it.
The four calls I would recommend are these: talk to the family, talk to the board, talk to your people and talk to your community.
Silence is where rumours grow, and in a family firm a rumour about succession can spread faster than a Christmas cold.
Regular family meetings, honest updates and a willingness to have the awkward conversations early are worth more than any gift under the tree.
Which of your four calls has gone quiet this year?
On The Fifth Day Of Christmas: Five Gold Rings
This is the moment everyone belts out, and rightly so. Five gold rings are the values that bind a family business together. Rings have no beginning and no end, and the best family values are just the same, passed from one generation to the next without losing their shine.
Gold is also precious, and values are easily tarnished.
A family that says it puts people first and then treats its staff poorly will find its rings turning green very quickly. Write your values down, live them every day and let them guide the hard decisions as well as the easy ones.
If you had to name your family's five gold rings, would everyone round the table choose the same ones?
On The Sixth Day Of Christmas: Six Geese A Laying
Geese laying eggs are all about the future, and for family firms that means the next generation.
You cannot rush an egg, and you cannot force a young person into the business either.
The most successful families create a nest where the next generation can develop at their own pace.
That might mean working elsewhere first, joining a next generation forum, sitting in on board meetings as an observer or taking on a project of their own. The goal is a generation that chooses to join because they want to, not because they feel they have to.
Are you building a nest for the next generation, or a cage?
On The Seventh Day Of Christmas: Seven Swans A Swimming
Swans glide serenely across the water while paddling furiously beneath the surface. Anyone who has run a family business will recognise the feeling. Calm at the Christmas party, frantic over the cash flow forecast. The seven swans remind us that good governance is what keeps the paddling organised.
A family charter, a properly functioning board, perhaps an independent non
executive director or two, and clear rules for how family members join, are paid and leave.
Governance is not about bureaucracy. It is about making sure the swans all swim in the same direction.
What is happening beneath the surface of your business that the family cannot see?
On The Eighth Day Of Christmas: Eight Maids A Milking
The eight maids are the hardworking team who keep everything going, and in family firms they are often treated like family too. Many of the businesses I meet have employees whose parents and grandparents worked there before them.
That loyalty is one of the great competitive advantages of family ownership.
It also comes with a responsibility. Non family employees need to see a fair path to progression, and they need to know that the best person for the job will get it, surname or not. Look after your team and they will look after the business for generations.
Would your longest serving employee say they feel part of the family, or simply employed by it?
On The Ninth Day Of Christmas: Nine Ladies Dancing
Dancing takes rhythm, practice and a willingness to occasionally tread on someone's toes.
The nine ladies remind us of the extraordinary contribution women make to family business, often for years without the recognition they deserve.
The matriarch who kept the books for forty years, the daughter who took over
and doubled the turnover, the daughter in law who quietly became the glue holding the family together.
Their steps deserve to be seen, celebrated and given centre stage on the dance floor rather than left at the edge of the room.
Who in your family business has been dancing beautifully without anyone noticing?
On The Tenth Day Of Christmas: Ten Lords A Leaping
Lords leaping are full of ambition and, it must be said, a certain amount of ego. Every family has a lord or two. Bold, energetic and very keen to leap into the next big idea, whether that is a new market, an acquisition or a shiny piece of technology.
That energy is vital, because family businesses that stand still eventually stop altogether.
The secret is to balance the leaping with a little looking first. Entrepreneurial spirit works best when it is matched with patient capital and sound judgement, which is exactly what long term family ownership can offer.
Is your family encouraging its lords to leap, and is anyone checking where they will land?
On The Eleventh Day Of Christmas: Eleven Pipers Piping
A band of pipers can make a wonderful sound or a terrible din, and the difference is whether they are playing from the same sheet.
In family business the pipers are all the voices that want to be heard: shareholders, directors, in laws, cousins and the occasional uncle who has opinions about everything.
Not every piper needs to play every tune, but every piper deserves to know what the tune is. A family assembly or annual family gathering can help, giving everyone a chance to understand the strategy even if they are not involved day to day.
Are your pipers playing in harmony, or is everyone piping their own tune?
On The Twelfth Day Of Christmas: Twelve Drummers Drumming
We end with the drummers, keeping the beat that holds the whole song together. For family firms that steady rhythm is succession, the drumbeat that carries the business from one generation to the next.
The best drummers practise long before the performance. Succession planning should start years ahead, not when the founder announces their retirement over the Christmas pudding.
It means preparing leaders, sorting out ownership, getting the right advice on tax and reliefs, and making sure the family understands the plan. Get the rhythm right and the music carries on long after the current band has left the stage.
If your drummer stopped tomorrow, would the music carry on?
A Gift For Every Day Of The Year
Here is a little festive trivia to finish. If you add up every gift given across all twelve verses, the true love hands over 364 presents. That is one for almost every day of the year, which feels like a fitting thought for family business. The real gifts are not the grand gestures at Christmas. They are the small, steady acts of care, communication and commitment that happen every single day.
Family businesses have been giving in this way for generations, to their families, their people and their communities. They take the long view, they plant pear trees they may never sit beneath, and they keep the music playing from one generation to the next.
So as the festive season approaches, perhaps take a moment to count your own gifts. Which of the twelve does your business have in abundance, and which might be worth adding to the list for next year?
From all of us at Family Business United, a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year to every family business and the people associated with them all round the world.
