Ep: 156 Lance Woodbury

CULTIVATE POSITIVE CULTURE

Order it here:

CultivatePositiveCulture.com

As an advisor to closely-held agriculture businesses for over 20 years, Lance Woodbury works as a member of the Next Gen team to provide an expert level of guidance surrounding long-term planning discussions and decisions to meet both business and family goals. Lance specializes in coaching family businesses as they work through estate and succession planning issues, tackle difficult discussions, and create plans to protect and pass on legacies.

Lance brings a robust background in agriculture as a founding partner of Ag Progress, a former leader in K·Coe Isom’s agribusiness practice, and experience working on his family’s farm and ranch in Wichita County, Kansas. He has also served on the board of the Kansas Agriculture and Rural Leadership (KARL) program and is a member of the Farm Foundation Round Table. Lance holds Fellow
status with the Family Firm Institute, is a certified Kolbe Consultant and has facilitated family business discussions throughout the rural United States for over 20 years.

He also facilitates several farm and ranch ownership peer groups and writes about family business issues for DTN/The Progressive Farmer. Lance has published two books on family business, The Enduring Legacy: Essential Family Business Values and Family Business: Genesis 37-50 and the Family of Joseph. Lance founded and continues to operate as an affiliate partner of K·Coe Isom, The Progress Coach, a program dedicated to providing ongoing educational sessions for current and future business owners centered on ownership, management and relationship strategies.

Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or listen here:

Show Notes:

• Lance’s number one habit is reading.
  • Reading helps give a reference point to the work he does and helps him understand what happens in the world.
  • It gives him inspiration.
• Lance says there are two types of barriers in a family business:
  • Transitions from one generation to the next.
    • All kinds of personal identities come up.
  • When two siblings work together, it can be hard for them to treat each other as professional business partners.
• It is essential to establish boundaries, especially in family businesses.
• The magic question:
  • What do you need to see or hear from the other party in order to feel good about moving forward?
• Get on the same page.
• Ask open-ended questions to see what a real change would look like.
• As a third party, Lance can ask questions others can’t, and he can mediate.
• If you feel heard, that’s one thing, but feeling felt is a whole new thing.
• Capture the emotion with which people tell you something.
  • “Oh, it sounds like you feel really upset.”
  • This helps to create an electric connection.
• You have to carve out time for communication.
  • It’s hard work.
• Communication is like oil in the engine.
• Find a time and place to get people to pause and communicate.
• Who should be at the table?
  • Include anyone that can throw a wrench in what you’re about to come up against.
    • The ability to create chaos is a form of power.
  • You have to communicate.
• The “black sheep” may not feel seen or heard, so Lance spends time with them to make sure that they feel that their thoughts get in.
• Sometimes the family shouldn’t keep being a business.
  • They could become a better family.
• It’s a mistake to think a business’s legacy is only about finances.
  • You also leave behind wisdom, relationships, and values.