FAQs | Victorio Consulting

Compassion | Creativity | Wisdom

FAQs

Professional Dynametric Programs

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What are “Back-Up Behaviors”?
Back-up behaviors represent reactions to circumstances outside of an individual’s comfort zone. These reactions can be controlled and are subject to both awareness of reactive action patterns and personal conviction to avoid reactive behavior that can be perceived to be undesirable, unproductive or destructive. Through learning, experience and coaching people apply learned behaviors in order to reduce the negative effect of their back-up styles.

How many personality traits can a person have?
Everyone has every characteristic, just in different amounts as everyone applies every characteristic differently.
People can learn to adapt and manage their behavior to fit the circumstances at hand. These adaptations, measured in the Priority Environment, always induce greater or lesser amounts of stress, thus requiring more or less discipline to manage and control.


A common definition of leadership is some variation in the use of control and influence to produce results.
Highly successful leaders can be found in each of the four natural behavior styles. Each of the four behavioral styles has a natural and distinct leadership style. These styles are either effective or ineffective; and on any given day with any given person, the natural style may or may not work.

Building Great Teams

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We’re at work - why can’t we just get along?
Building a successful team can be much like casting a film. You can have all kinds of talent on the set, but if they don’t connect with each other, or if there isn’t chemistry igniting a creative spark between your players, your production will most likely fall flat of expectations. When you have individuals competing for control, to be the star player, or simply not interested in collaborating, you will be setting yourself for potential disaster. In Hollywood, this is commonly referred to as, “A Flop.”

How can we tell who will be a good fit for us?
Improve the selection of new hires (that are an 80%+ match to your JobModel) to fit with your existing team by using the PDP ProScan and TeamScan tools. These tools will enhance your team’s understanding of each other, how to work with different leadership, communication and work styles and identify where predictable areas of conflict may be. You will promote better working relationships, improve morale and reduce drama.

What are the signs that our team is not gelling?
Every personality is valuable and dynamic, and self-awareness is the first step in self-management. For example, if you hire a control-oriented, reserved communicator to lead a collaborative team that is accustomed to brain-storming, the indirect “teller” style of the new manager will most likely be perceived as unfriendly and bossy. Team members will feel less valued, become disenfranchised and frustrated, leading to increased tension, absences or resignations.

How can PDP training help our team?
With proper feedback and coaching, the manager referenced above can become more aware of how he/she is communicating to her team, being conscious of soliciting feedback and discussion before making decisions, and remembering to let others take responsibility when appropriate. Conversely, the team can be made aware of their manager’s natural styles, which will help them to be more understanding and not interpret her reserved demeanor to be anything more than what it is.

Business Succession

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What are the red flags that tell you a transition is going badly or not as planned?
Confusion or dysfunction within the management team is one of a few signs of difficulty that typically arise during a transition. Often it is revealed that management is unsure where the company is going or what the plan is. If management is not confident that the transition will include them, their productivity will slow and they’ll likely start looking around for something more stable and secure as a backup plan. A high level of turnover in management might prompt others to start abandoning ship.

What are the most common stumbling blocks?
The most common stumbling blocks typically center on communication. The Boomer Generation grew up learning to keep financial affairs close to the vest. So sometimes even a spouse will not be involved in the planning until asked to sign papers. Other times, people will not feel comfortable sharing their ideas and concerns during shareholder meetings because they are afraid of disrupting the artificial harmony that has been established. They may have private conversations outside of the boardroom, but during meetings there is often a fear of disrupting the delicate balance. Further, business owners involved in a transition can be so overwhelmed by either the fear of confrontation or the lack of planning, the project begins to loom large and they’ become stopped in their tracks. It feels as if there is no way to get through it. Succession can become so daunting business owners often just hope they never have to deal with it.

How can they be avoided?
Instead of keeping all conversations behind closed doors, when appropriate include key players such as family members, managers and those who will be most involved in the strategic design of the transition plan before you start actually planning. In these conversations, ask the group, If we could do anything without fear of failure, what would be best for our family and company? At this stage, there should be no pressure of commitment; it is just brainstorming and idea building.

What are the benefits of utilizing a Succession Coach?
Engaging a succession coach can help facilitate dialogues that are creative, innovative and energizing, and potentially serve as the foundation of solutions to what might seem like an impossible endeavor. Once you have a vision, you can develop an implementation plan. Break it down into a timetable and get key players involved to determine who spearheads specific initiatives and what the outcomes should be. Document the vision and itemize each step to be executed on a schedule for all involved.

Why is this so difficult?
Owners and other decision makers in a business likely will not find it easy to facilitate these discussions, so consider using an experienced adviser to guide and focus the conversations and break the task into manageable segments. It can difficult and even intimidating for groups to internally identify and discuss their own problems, but it can be helpful to have someone from the outside keep discussions open, comfortable and inclusive.

Who else needs to know about our plan?
It is important to reach out to the overall organization, including employees, clients, customers, franchisers and vendors to communicate the vision of the plan. Not the details, but the expectation of the fulfillment of the plan and how it affects each party. This will help clarify what each can expect and what their roles will be.

Family Governance

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How can you gauge a family member’s work performance objectively?
Develop an additional policy called a performance expectations agreement. It outlines, with the help of managers, a successor development program, which is important especially if you have a vision for the next generation of ownership. Through the development program, managers are assigned to mentor the family member and help prepare them to be the next generation manager. It also identifies behaviors that, if unchecked, could lead to significant problems, such as tardiness, a bad attitude or producing sloppy work. The agreement of behavioral and performance expectations should include regular reviews that allows a manager the opportunity to offer ongoing feedback in an organized way.

How should stock ownership be handled in a family business?
Stock ownership qualifications can be built into a stock ownership policy — just because you’re a family member and in the business doesn’t mean you’re qualified to own stock. Those in the business should have controlling or voting stock, while those not in the business can own non-voting or restricted stock because they likely won’t understand the decisions that need to be made. Having a stock ownership qualification policy can include provisions to prevent unnecessary battles between active and non-active shareholders.

How do we create family governance policies?
Your attorney will draft the legal language of these policies, but the family, owners and your succession adviser determine the intentions or principals of the policy. You’ll determine the intention, how it will work in certain scenarios and talk through topics in an open way to get an outline. Your attorney will confirm the principals, point out the ramifications of certain provisions and formalize the language. The outline typically becomes an addendum in the shareholders agreement and presented to the next generation family member, along with the family employment policy and expectation agreement.

How are personal and professional relationships best maintained?
As in any partnership, clarifying your vision, objectives, expectations and measurable outcomes is fundamentally important with any family member coming into the business. As you’re determining an equitable workload, the functions can be so different that one can feel as if one is getting the mine and the other is getting the shaft. Determine the best way to work together, how often you’ll meet to talk about the business, how you’ll support your personal relationship and handle differences of opinion. Talk about both business and life objectives so you can support each other in life and work.

It’s important to establish boundaries. One couple working together determined that at the end of the day they would meet, review the day and set up for next, then stop talking about business. It changed their relationship. Family business coaching can help establish these boundaries.

707.673.4381
San Francisco Bay Area
info@victorioconsulting.com