Preview Mode Links will not work in preview mode

The Family Business Leader Podcast


Apr 4, 2018

In this episode, Greg McCann of McCann & Associates and I dive into the family enterprise model, vertical leadership development, and leadership agility. Greg worked in his family’s business for a number of years before teaching at Stetson University and starting their Family Enterprise Center. In addition to teaching, Greg has worked as a family enterprise consultant for nearly two decades.

In this podcast, Greg gives us a mini-course on the four leadership agilities, which include self-awareness, empathy, framing, and innovation. We discuss the six stages that leaders go through, which run along a continuum from efficient to effective. Greg also shared with us that leaders at the top of the scale (the most effective) tend to do three things daily:

  1. They have a reflective or meditative practice
  2. They exercise
  3. They have a creative practice outside of work. (Cool thing about Greg: His creative practice outside of work is gift giving!)

Topics discussed in this episode:

  • Meet Greg (1:14)
  • Today’s global pressure on family businesses (5:45)
  • Turning challenges to opportunities (10:14)
  • Family enterprise mindset model (13:03)
  • The who (18:05)
  • 4 agilities and leadership stages (20:04)
  • How to move through the leadership stages (27:35)
  • Why this model for a family? (31:18)
  • Two types of innovation (35:38)
  • Resources and how to find Greg (39:19)
  • Bonus questions (40:35)

Guest Bio:

Greg McCann is the founder, principal and leader of an international family enterprise consulting firm that create workshops, consults, publishes, and innovates on issues of importance to family enterprises.

As a thought leader, author, coach, consultant and speaker, he works with family enterprises in the areas of leadership development, transitions, communication & conflict resolution, and with a special emphasis on helping the next generation succeed in their careers and lives.

Greg has coached leaders for nearly 20 years and is not only a graduate of Coach U, but also certified in Leadership Agility and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

Notable & Quotable:

Intimacy is being lost. In response, I ask how do people become available to themselves and the other people in their lives? —Greg McCann #successfulgenerations


If you are not developing the leadership capacity of your family, you are putting them in unnecessary risk. —Greg McCann #successfulgenerations


We’re really good at running our businesses, but not so good at anticipating change. How do we pivot and see the next thing coming? —Greg McCann #successfulgenerations


Imagine saying, ‘I want to get in shape, so once a year I go away with my family and hear a fitness expert speak.’  That doesn’t work. —Greg McCann #successfulgenerations


In a family business you’re putting your main relationships and the majority of your wealth at risk. Doing that casually is too much of a risk. —Greg McCann #successfulgenerations


Resources mentioned in this episode:

McCann and Associates

Family Enterprise Center at Stetson University

When Your Parents Sign the Paychecks: Finding Success Inside or Outside the Family Enterprise by Greg McCann

Who Do You Think You Are? By Greg McCann

Family Firm Institute Goodman Study

John Ward

Bill Joiner’s Leadership Agility

Vertical Leadership Development from Nick Petrie Center for Creative Leadership

Jay Hughes

Myths and Mortals:Family Business Leadership and Succession Planning by Andrew Keyt

Joe Astrachan of Kennesaw State University

Jill Shipley of Abbot Downing