STAFF WRITER
Executive Chairperson of OL Swen Thieme says authenticity, inclusivity for all interested family members as well as skills transfer are key to building an impactful family business.
He said a successful family business must have the ability to accommodate everyone who has passion to contribute.
He was speaking at The Future of Business Conference second edition on Wednesday at a local outlet. The conference is a partnership of Future Media and Nedbank.
“I think you talked about authenticity, and authenticity is a topic. Many people think authenticity is to be honest. People think authenticity is to be yourself, and so on. No, there’s a lot more to it. Authenticity is to know yourself and the impact you have on your environment. How are you going to impact people? How are you going to take people along?,” he told business executives at the gathering.
He said most businesses will experience growth if they allow all its executives and employees to be accountable for their daily routines.
“ I had a funny situation just two days ago, where somebody was not happy with a decision, so I said, what is going on? Why are you not happy? It just doesn’t feel right. We discovered that there was something which didn’t feel right, and it was the wrong decision,” he said.
He said driving a business to the apex of growth takes a leader who allows his team to talk about both the difficult and good situations.
“You actually have to have an environment where you make sure people are open to say and share the gut feel, and not just the fact. The caring part is caring for tomorrow, making sure we’re leaving something for the next generation. Very often I say, if you are part of not performing, if you are part of stealing, you can’t tell me that you love your own children,” he said.
Drawing parallels to his business , Thieme told delegates that passion is key in transitioning family members to be part of a winning business.
“I had a situation where one of my daughters had no interest in the business but one day when everyone was in she felt left out. And I said, prove to me that you love your children, we don’t give you your best. Passion is when life has got about 80 years expectancy, we’ve got about 4,000 weeks that we live. Now if you’re 40, then you have 2,000 behind you,” he said.
Thieme said growth in business takes daily=y commitments and drive.
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