Latest / The Family Teams Podcast / Ep. 229 | When Does Your Family Business Become Your First Priority?

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Ep. 229 | When Does Your Family Business Become Your First Priority? · The Family Teams Podcast

• 0:00
  in the course of like the year is that clear that that won right what's up guys welcome to the five minute fatherhood so have you thought about when do you actually take a step back and make sure all the family stuff that oftentimes during the week can really uh go down your priority list when does it become the first priority uh
• 0:24
  one of the things that we've been leaning into as a family is to sort of really think about one day a week as more of our family business day. And so we've been leaning into Sunday as that day for our family. We do worship on Sunday evening, and so really Sunday morning, Sunday afternoon. That's the time when we do our family meeting, and it's also a time when if there's anything we need to catch up on,
• 0:46
  particularly relationally. So if there's a hard conversation we need to have or a one-on-one because there's some disconnected kind of nests going on in the family, if we need to work on a project, then this is the day where we just say family wins on this day. Family projects are what matters because oftentimes other days of the week,
• 1:06
  People are, you know, we got a lot of stuff going on at work. There's maybe ministry projects or things that take. And so if once a week you know that, hey, whatever is on the top of the priority list for the family, whatever we need to work through, we've got the time, we've got the space, that's been really, really...
• 1:24
  healthy and helpful for our family to kind of have that day of the week where this is the day family and what matters to the family always wins. It doesn't mean that we shouldn't be doing that throughout the rest of the week, but oftentimes there are projects that are just longer. They may take an hour, two hours, and so it's not practical to think that you can just maybe shove that into your typical weekday, and those can accumulate over time and really wear out your family or create a lot of disconnection. So,
• 1:51
  That's one of the things that we've been really working on. But yeah, Jeff, what are your thoughts on how to do that? Yeah, I agree. We do like a Sunday night thing that definitely is kind of... And when you say where the family wins too, the way we look at that is that kind of nothing else can impede on it from externalities, right? That they're not being able to schedule. We're not being able to schedule over that or a lot of things impede that. And of course, there's always exceptions. But in the course of like the year, is that clear that that won, right?
• 2:16
  And then also one thing I would say too, is we don't just see it as a day, but we also see it as a moment every day. So like I would say probably our mornings, we're also hyper protective of, in regards to making sure that we connect, go over the things that are needed, et cetera. We do this thing called like morning time. That is a pretty specific ritual with like reading and praying and singing and stuff like that. And protecting those because it's very easy for the morning to get ran into for me with conference calls and stuff. And it's not, I mean, that's like a 30 minute window, by the way. So stuff like that, we both, you know, protect it.
• 2:43
  in that way every day. But I think, yeah, setting something... I think we go one way or the other, right? I think a lot of families kind of either go like, oh, my family always wins for everything. And so then there's no time for anyone or anything or any vocation or any work. Or it's like, you know, I never can make a hard choice about winning for my family, right? It's like that everyone else wins all their...
• 3:01
  pressures all their dog. It's like, no, no, it's a little bit of both with like some things where it's clearly that the family's, uh, that first bullseye circle of the concentric circles. Um, but let it, so let it win on certain things that set the tone, right. That kind of show in the week. And so, yeah, that's what I would say. But is that, is that kind of what you would say or how you guys mean by that?
• 3:18
  Yeah, totally. I think it's important to make sure that there's that space. And you'll know if you're struggling with this because those projects just week after week after week, they're just neglected. Or those conversations, they get neglected. So this is something I encourage you guys to do if you sense that's starting to happen. It seems like a whole week, maybe multiple weeks can go by without...
• 3:42
  addressing this issue without dealing with that frustrating thing. And that's when family can start to really become a drag. And so I think to put this in your rhythm is a really healthy practice.
• 3:53
  And all right, guys, you know, we like to give a big shout out to any of the resources and all the resources that we like to create for you guys. And one we want to talk about today is Family Teams Weekend. If you're listening to this and you've come, thank you so much for coming. But 2020, you guys, we got a Family Teams Weekend coming to Waco in May, coming to Kirkland, Washington, which is near Seattle in May, and then coming back to Cincinnati in October. So we'd love to have you guys there. What it is, it literally is this two-day workshop. We roll your sleeves up. It's not a conference. You don't just get inspired.
• 4:20
  but you actually dig in with a journal, with your spouse, lean into what it means to be a multi-generational family team on mission. You deconstruct the bad stuff. You construct the good stuff. It's a blast, man. And I know for me, it feels like a big family meeting of this tribe. So we'd love to have you there. FamilyTeams.com slash weekend. Again, that's FamilyTeams.com slash weekend. You can check out the locations, more about it and see some kind of clips from last year.