The Family Business Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Summary

Cathy Carroll, author of 'Hug of War', discusses the unique challenges of leading a family business with both love and logic. She explores the concept of polarities in family businesses, where opposing forces such as candor and diplomacy, or reveal and conceal, coexist and create tension.

Cathy emphasizes the importance of adopting a 'both-and' mindset to find innovative solutions that incorporate the benefits of both sides. She also addresses the issues of domain crossover, where power is used in one domain to influence the other, and shadow influence, where individuals without formal roles or ownership wield significant power within the business.

In this conversation, Cathy Carroll discusses the concept of shadow influence and how it can impact leadership in a family business. She shares examples of shadow influence, both positive and negative, and emphasizes the importance of understanding and managing polarities in a family business. Cathy also highlights the challenges and opportunities of the family mindset in succession planning and the value of constructive conflict in navigating family business dynamics.

Takeaways

Family businesses face unique challenges due to the coexistence of opposing forces or polarities.

Adopting a 'both-and' mindset allows for innovative solutions that incorporate the benefits of both sides of a polarity.

Domain crossover occurs when power is used in one domain to influence the other, which can create tension and unfairness.

Shadow influence refers to individuals without formal roles or ownership who wield significant power within the business.

Recognizing and addressing these dynamics is crucial for effective leadership in family businesses. Shadow influence can have a significant impact on leadership in a family business, whether it is hidden or transparent.

Understanding and managing polarities is crucial in a family business, as they can create both challenges and opportunities.

The family mindset plays a role in succession planning, and it is important to navigate the tensions between the leading and rising generations.

Constructive conflict is essential in a family business, as it allows for the exploration of different ideas and perspectives.

Engaging in brave conversations and addressing conflict in a productive way can lead to better outcomes in a family business.

You can buy the book here: https://www.legacyonward.com/hug-of-war

Support the Show

The podcast is entirely self-funded by me. I am not looking for sympathy as it is something that I love to do and I have a passion for providing great content for family businesses across the world. Some listeners have asked for ways in which they can support the show, be that through reviews, sharing with friends or a donation. As such I have set up a page that outlines all the ways that you can support what I am doing.

www.fambizpodcast.com/support

Work With Russ

If what I have spoken about in the show resonates and you want to discuss how I can help you and your family business drop me an email: russ@familybusinesspartnership.com or head over to www.familybusinesspartnership.com

Sign up to the Newsletter

You can get podcasts, videos and blogs delivered directly to your inbox by signing up to the newsletter. Head over to www.fambizpodcast.com and sign up now

Mentioned in this episode:

The...

Summary

Cathy Carroll, author of 'Hug of War', discusses the unique challenges of leading a family business with both love and logic. She explores the concept of polarities in family businesses, where opposing forces such as candor and diplomacy, or reveal and conceal, coexist and create tension.

Cathy emphasizes the importance of adopting a 'both-and' mindset to find innovative solutions that incorporate the benefits of both sides. She also addresses the issues of domain crossover, where power is used in one domain to influence the other, and shadow influence, where individuals without formal roles or ownership wield significant power within the business.

In this conversation, Cathy Carroll discusses the concept of shadow influence and how it can impact leadership in a family business. She shares examples of shadow influence, both positive and negative, and emphasizes the importance of understanding and managing polarities in a family business. Cathy also highlights the challenges and opportunities of the family mindset in succession planning and the value of constructive conflict in navigating family business dynamics.

Takeaways

Family businesses face unique challenges due to the coexistence of opposing forces or polarities.

Adopting a 'both-and' mindset allows for innovative solutions that incorporate the benefits of both sides of a polarity.

Domain crossover occurs when power is used in one domain to influence the other, which can create tension and unfairness.

Shadow influence refers to individuals without formal roles or ownership who wield significant power within the business.

Recognizing and addressing these dynamics is crucial for effective leadership in family businesses. Shadow influence can have a significant impact on leadership in a family business, whether it is hidden or transparent.

Understanding and managing polarities is crucial in a family business, as they can create both challenges and opportunities.

The family mindset plays a role in succession planning, and it is important to navigate the tensions between the leading and rising generations.

Constructive conflict is essential in a family business, as it allows for the exploration of different ideas and perspectives.

Engaging in brave conversations and addressing conflict in a productive way can lead to better outcomes in a family business.

You can buy the book here: https://www.legacyonward.com/hug-of-war

Support the Show

The podcast is entirely self-funded by me. I am not looking for sympathy as it is something that I love to do and I have a passion for providing great content for family businesses across the world. Some listeners have asked for ways in which they can support the show, be that through reviews, sharing with friends or a donation. As such I have set up a page that outlines all the ways that you can support what I am doing.

www.fambizpodcast.com/support

Work With Russ

If what I have spoken about in the show resonates and you want to discuss how I can help you and your family business drop me an email: russ@familybusinesspartnership.com or head over to www.familybusinesspartnership.com

Sign up to the Newsletter

You can get podcasts, videos and blogs delivered directly to your inbox by signing up to the newsletter. Head over to www.fambizpodcast.com and sign up now

Mentioned in this episode:

The...

THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS

The First Noble Truth: be aware that life brings with it many forms of dissatisfaction, frustration, irritation, and many levels of suffering.

The Second Noble Truth: recognise that these different types of suffering are produced by your mind, even if the apparent cause is external. The mind reacts negatively to life experiences that we didn’t want, and does the same when we don’t get things we were hoping for. The Buddha called these wants and dislikes “thirsts”. It is thirsts that cause unhappy states of mind.

The Third Noble Truth: we can learn to cultivate skills that stop our thirsts and thus end our various forms of suffering.

The Fourth Noble Truth: to cultivate these skills we have to follow a path that contains eight components, as follows.

Right Mindfulness: mindfulness is a three-pronged skill with regards to our state or frame of mind. Notice. Pause. Change. Although taught around the world today mindfulness is often misunderstood by its teachers and therefore also by its students, so it is important to learn mindfulness the way it was originally taught, that is, within the wider context we are summarising here. One could say that Right Mindfulness is the development of the ability to notice unhealthy thoughts and feelings, then shift the mind away from these to much wiser ones.

Right Concentration or Focus: if mindfulness is taking the mind away from unhelpful states, then Right Concentration or Focus is its partner. We try to develop the ability to keep our mind on positive or useful states of mind or where we want our mind to be, rather than constantly being distracted, say by emails, passing moods, daydreams, etc. 

To find out more about our unique programme and how it can help you and your family business, please follow this link and download our brochure.

Alternatively, you can email us Russ@familybusinesspartnership.com

Copyright 2025 Russ Haworth and Martin Stepek

With Corona Virus impacting more and more businesses and people around World, I follow up our last episode with an interview with Martin Stepek.

Martin is a mindfulness coach and also a family business expert and so can offer unique insights into how to use mindfulness at times of extreme stress.

Martin's own family business went into administration in the early 2000's and he found that during that extremely difficult time he was able to use his mindfulness practice to help him through.

You can find out more about Martin at the following sites:

www.martinstepek.com

www.tenforzen.co.uk

Corona Virus is having a huge impact on the lives of us all. It is a scary time when we are fearful for our families health and well-being and our businesses.

Family businesses across the world will be trying to balance all of the conflicting priorities that exist and will need support to do so.

In this episode I offer guidance as to where to get advice, where to get support and some tips on remote working and remaining positive during this exceptionally difficult time.

The resources we mentioned in the episode are as follows:

https://www.ifb.org.uk/advice/for-owners/covid-19-guidance-for-businesses/

https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-government-response

https://www.familybizunited.com/coronavirus

You can email Fiona: Fiona.Graham@ifb.org.uk

As always you can contact me at russ@tfamilybusinesspartnership.com

Should You Hire A Website Designer or Design Your Website Yourself? 

In this podcast episode, we’re talking about family business websites. I’m chatting to Martin and Lyndsay, a husband and wife team, who run Jammy Digital - a WordPress Web Design Agency. 

A website isn’t just a ‘shop window’, it is a tool that can generate leads and sales 24/7. Unfortunately, a lot of family businesses don’t realise the potential of their websites, and they’re often left abandoned or under-utilised. 

In this episode, we tell you how you can use your website to its maximum potential. We discuss...

• When to spend money on a web designer 

Spending thousands on a website isn’t always the best option. In fact, Martin and Lyndsay recommend that you only invest in a website designer when you’re most likely to see a return on investment. In this episode, we discuss when to invest and when to build your own website. And the discussion may surprise you! 

• Mistakes that family businesses make with their websites 

There are some common mistakes family businesses make with their websites, which could have an impact on sales. Family business owners have a tendency to make their websites about them and their family, which is of course, important, however, this does mean that there’s a lack of focus on the potential customer. In this episode, we discuss the common mistakes family businesses make with their websites and how to fix them. 

• What to do if you’re on a budget with your website 

People often think they must spend thousands on a website in order to get good results, but often this is not the case. Actually, it’s the work you put into the website once it’s live that makes all the difference. So we also discuss what to do if you’re on a budget with your website and how you can still get the most out of it. 

• When to redesign your website 

A website redesign is time-consuming and costly, so you need to be careful about how often you do it. We also discuss how often you should redesign your website, or what you can do instead to see if you can increase leads and sales through your site. 

Resources

Kenda and Mike Macdonald own and run Automation Ninjas, a marketing automation business.

Their journey into ownership wasn't a straight forward one but they have created an award winning business that creates amazing customer journeys using buyer psychology and marketing automation.

In this showcase episode we discuss why your business may also benefit from understanding more about how your customers think.

You can connect with Kenda here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-marketing-automation-expert/

You can find their website here: https://www.automationninjas.com/

Over the course of this series on Governance we have covered a lot of different topics and so this episode brings the series to an end with a summary of all the different governance topics and how they all knit together.

Making the decision to implement any of these governance forums takes time and care and perseverance and so I discuss how to approach the discussions with your family.

As ever, please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of any assistance russ@familybusinesspartnership.com

In this episode we look at Corporate Governance and in particular the Wates Principles.

The Wates Principles are a set of Corporate Governance principles that some large businesses need to report against. In this episode I discuss these principles and how they can be adapted and adopted by your Family Business.

I also look at some of the legal structures that can be put in place to protect the shareholders in the business should disputes arise or deadlocks appear in your voting.

You can find the Wates Principles here:

https://www.frc.org.uk/getattachment/31dfb844-6d4b-4093-9bfe-19cee2c29cda/Wates-Corporate-Governance-Principles-for-LPC-Dec-2018.pdf

As ever if you need any help with implementing these into your own business, I am here to help.

Email me Russ@familybusinesspartnership.com or find me on Linked In 'Russell Haworth' or @RussHaworth on Twitter.

The appointment of a Non-Executive Director is a key milestone in the evolution and professionalisation of a family business. They bring experience, expertise and an independent voice to your board meetings and they are there to challenge the executive directors, in a constructive way to help you push the business towards its strategic goals.

In this episode I cover who would be a good fit and who you should perhaps avoid and which characteristics and skills you would want them to bring to the party.

As with any of the topics covered on the show I am here to help. Email me at russ@familybusinesspartnership.com or head over to www.familybusinesspartnership.com to find out more.