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Family Business Matters 03/26 04:57
The Different and Difficult Sides of Dedication
Dedication is often expected, and prized, on farms and ranches. But
overdedication can have mental and physical consequences and cause one to keep
pursuing a business in decline.
Lance Woodbury
DTN Farm Business Adviser
"Dedication" is a word with positive connotations in society. Quotes from
coaches, business leaders, performance artists or almost anyone who has
overcome obstacles or worked hard to achieve success mention the concept of
dedication. People are dedicated to their work, their faith, their
organizations, their craft, suggesting commitment and focus by people who are
undeterred in their efforts.
Dedication is often expected, and prized, on farms and ranches. Dedication
takes the shape of long days working in the field or shop, of spending several
hours in the evening on financial and management records in the office.
Dedication means driving hundreds of miles to pick up parts or cooking for
hours to prepare harvest meals. Dedication is receiving, shipping or caring for
livestock in the middle of the night while everyone else sleeps. Dedication is
apparent in the family member working long after all the non-family team
members have gone home.
Dedication is also evidenced in the financial sacrifice made to keep the
business going during lean times or major setbacks. That means cutting back on
business expenses, not purchasing new equipment or postponing important capital
improvements. It can also mean spending less as a family, selling some personal
assets or taking an off-farm job to help with income or obtain benefits like
health insurance.
Dedication can also mean sacrificing part of the business to save the whole
company, such as selling some land or equipment, or nonessential assets to
shore up the balance sheet or improve working capital. That is a difficult move
often accompanied by a sense of failure, for who doesn't feel bad about selling
a piece of land that took years to acquire? But it comes down to a relatively
simple question: Am I willing to downsize now to have the opportunity to keep
farming another day?
Can a person be too committed to the family business? Can dedication to a
business come at the expense of other important parts of one's life?
Let's also look at the dark side of dedication. There are many people who,
as kids, experienced one or both parents focusing almost exclusively on the
business to the detriment of the family. The parents missed important events or
spent little time with them. Everything revolved around the business. While
they may not have experienced a terrible childhood by most standards, they feel
something was missing in the early years of the family relationship.
There are also physical or mental consequences. A person who is overly
dedicated to the business can suffer from exhaustion or injuries, from a poor
diet or a lack of physical activity. Battling for business survival or being
trapped in a constant cycle of family drama can harm one's mental health.
Overdedication can cause one to keep pursuing a business in decline because
of economic conditions, industry consolidation or geographic location. It's
difficult to know when to leave a business behind, to turn one's dedication to
new frontiers for the family business.
Two ideas pair well with the concept of dedication. One is the notion of
balance, of appropriately dividing your time and energy between the important
areas of your life: work, health, family, friends and faith. Are you able to
"spread" your dedication across these categories?
The second idea is accountability. Is there someone in the family or a close
mentor, someone you trust and listen to, who will call you out if you are "out
of balance" or in denial of obvious business or family problems?
Dedication is a strength in the family business. But a strength taken to
extremes can also be a weakness. Consider your level of dedication to the
family and business, and determine where you need more, or perhaps less, to
achieve your goals.
Lance Woodbury can be reached at lance.woodbury@pinionglobal.com
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