In many ways, joining a family-run company is no different than joining any other organization. The seven risks of onboarding still apply (organization, role, personal, learning, relationships, delivery, adjustment). The three key ideas of getting a head start before the start, managing the messages, and inspiring and enabling others to deliver results still apply (more in The New Leader’s 100-Day Action Plan and Onboarding). Yet, by definition, some of the relationships are different.
Do not underestimate the influence of the family.
The issue is not so much the family members running the company. The issue is the family members lurking in the shadows.
Every organization has a shadow organization. In many of them the informal networks are more important than the formal org chart. It’s always a good idea to map the corridors of power and information flows. In a family-run company, it’s essential.
Find them.
Find the family members. Find the ones with the same last name as the ones running the company. Find the ones with different last names because they are descended from different branches. Find the ones that aren’t really blood relatives, but are accorded family status.
Treat them with the appropriate respect.
I’m not suggesting that you treat each of them like they are the boss. But I am suggesting that you treat each of them like they have a special pipeline into the boss – because they do.
Maybe I’ve got this backwards.
Maybe it’s not so much that you should treat joining a family-run company differently than joining any other organization. Maybe it’s that you should treat joining any organization the way you would treat joining a family-run company, carefully mapping out the shadow networks, corridors of power and information flows, and treating everyone like they have a special pipeline into the boss or resources you need.
