My Own Succession Footprint

Since my last post I have had some fabulous family business conversations with a few blog browsers, and recently updated my speaking engagements and book list. As I write tonight, I am full of extra excitement because my very own succession planning has already begun, and is about to get serious.

How serious?

Well...in just a few short weeks I will welcome a mini-me to the world! This means that a new little potential successor is already on the radar ~ it also means that I will have a completely different focus occupying my world (and brain space) for the next few months.

Extra exciting is that at only a few months old, the little one will attend his/her first family business conference on May 21-23 in Vancouver, BC where I will be speaking about 'Thriving in the Age of Awesome: The Coach-Approach to Opportunity Hunting". Just click on the link to your right under NIKI SPEAKS for the session overview.

This is a DO-NOT-MISS event: The ONLY family business conference in Canada, with a special line-up of fantastic key notes and practical workshops to help your family and business succeed. Nobody does it better than CAFE (Canadian Association of Family Enterprise) and as a West Coaster myself I am a little biased when I say that Vancouver is definitely the best location!

Check out the 2014 CAFE Symposium here

Tune in to the local CAFE Vancouver Island Facebook page for great events and happenings

Hope to see you @ Symposium...in the meantime send me a note or give me a call to talk fambiz anytime.

Cheers,
Niki

Few and Far Between

Thank you for visiting Late Nite Notes!

I must admit, my favorite parts to update are my speaking engagements and favorite books. The trouble is, I find sooooo many fascinating and fabulous nuggets about families in business that I simply cannot narrow it down to a single blog-post without fire-hosing you with too much information.

Well where does that leave you then, the reader?

Instead, if you have landed here I encourage you to pick up the phone and give me a call to talk about what's on your mind...the truth is that I love talking family business far more than I do blogging about it.

Not quite ready to have a conversation?

Send me an email instead ~ I sincerely would love to hear from you and I am more than happy to share my family business knowledge in a way that is personal and valuable to you.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon,

Niki

Niki Kux-Kardos, CEC
1-250-891-4330
niki@nexusfacilitation.com
www.nexusfacilitation.com

The Emotions of Succession

Good to know we are talking about the human 'being' side of succession...and not just the human 'doing'.

Check out this recent article in The Vancouver Sun on the emotional aspects of selling your business.

UPDATE: Sadly their link no longer works and I cannot find the article anymore. I encourage you to browse The Vancouver Sun anyway for succession and family business related topics.

Nexus & The Next Generation

Although just shy of September, I am calling this my Ode to Autumn blog post.

Why Ode?

Well, there is some serious appreciation and recognition needing to go out to some seriously superb next generation superstars.

Recently I came across two fabulous blogs from colleagues of mine:

Christin Cardone McClave, aka FamilyBizChick, has an excellent and intimate blog about her own family business experience and the lessons she's learned.

Carmen Lence Ferreiro, from NextGen Consulting & Coaching, also has a rockin' blog about empowering the next generation of leaders.

These ladies are furthering the family business field and empowering next generation leaders around the world by stepping up to the plate themselves and sharing their stories. Kudos to you!

In addition to the great work these ladies are doing, I need to send a heartfelt thank you to the cohort of learners (you know who you are) at the Bachelor of Arts in Human Development program. We spent a week together in the Bavarian Alps and they did a simply amazing job of coaching me on social media ideas to take my business to the next level. In fact, this blog posting is mostly inspired by YOU!

Why Autumn? 

Well, even though it doesn't feel like summer is over yet, the leaves are falling and nature is preparing itself for a new season...a good reminder that sometimes it's best to shed what we no longer need and gear up for what's coming. 

Christin and Carmen have inspiring words to help us along our way, and if you need some coaching, I can gladly hook you up!

So ask yourself:

"What is it really time to let go of, so I can make room for something new?"

"What would I gain if I could embrace the unknown that is waiting for me around the corner?"

Cheers, 

Niki

ChristinCardoneM

The Authentic Leader in YOU

Back from a blog hiatus, I now have so many ideas and thoughts to share with you.  A common theme for my clients at the moment is around authentic leadership - discovering who you are, what you stand for, and how that plays into your own authentic leadership style.

Here's a great little article from the Harvard Business Review:

Discovering Your Authentic Leadership

What I take away most from the article is this:

"Authentic leaders demonstrate a passion for their purpose, practice their values consistently, and lead with their hearts as well as their heads. They establish long-term, meaningful relationships and have the self-disclipline to get results. They know who they are." Bill George

Especially when working in your family business, it's crucial to be true to who you are and be honest about how that aligns with the family business. Who cares? Check out this Globe & Mail article about having the wrong fit with a family member:

Hiring Unqualified Family Members can Spoil the Well

I'm not sure if it's so much about not being qualified as it is about not be an authentic match.

So what is unique to YOU as a leader?

How are you cultivating your core values into how you show up as a person and as a leader?

How aligned are you with your family's business?

Call me at 250.891.4330 or email me at niki@nexusfacilitation.com to share your thoughts.

I also have a great little exercise on discovering your core values - as soon as I figure out how to post PDFs I'll include it - in the meantime, just ask me!

Thanks Sector!

Very cool that Sector Learning Solutions recognizes and blogs about this kind of stuff...

Stay tuned for my course on "The Power of PowerPoint: Designing Presentations to Engage your Audience".

Join me on May 17 and June 27. More info coming soon!

Cheers to CAFE's Next Gen!

Here's to our Next Gen crew at last month's social at the Irish Times. Come on out and join us on March 30th for the next social...Canoe Club @ 8pm - LIVE MUSIC!

More pics @ SNAP Victoria: http://snapd.at/eecvwj

CAFE's Next Gen Committee: Travis Butler, Mike Hipwell, Adam Wilson, Trevor McCall, Niki Kux-Kardos