Keep the Family Baggage Out of the Family Business: Avoiding the Seven Deadly Sins That Destroy Family Businesses [Paperback]

Quentin J Fleming (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 29, 2000

Family businesses epitomize the best of the American Dream: you work hard, you're your own boss, you leave a lasting legacy to your children -- or do you? Statistics show that only 30% of family businesses survive to the second generation, and a paltry 10% survive to the third generation. Family businesses are in trouble, and their survival is crucial to us all. Their success ensures our country's success -- and their failure can drastically affect our economic health.

In Keep the Family Baggage Out of the Family Business, family business expert Quentin Fleming has identified the Seven Deadly Sins that are invariably responsible for a family business's demise. Keep the Family Baggage Out of the Family Business presents practical and accessible advice geared toward the average family business owner or employee and is an invaluable tool for helping family businesses not only survive but thrive.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Warren Bennis author of Organizing Genius Will soon become the bible of family businesses.

Dr. Stephen R. Covey author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Speaking from personal experience, such practical, humorous and insightful wisdom should be required reading for ambitious family businesses.

Curt W. Coffman coauthor of First, Break All the Rules Insightful, must reading for anyone actively involved in a family business.

Ken Lloyd, Ph.D. author of Jerks at Work What do you do when the problem person at work is also your family member? This book provides the answers to that and many other questions, and should be required reading for anyone involved in a family business.

About the Author

Quentin J. Fleming is a management consultant with more than a decade of consulting experience. He has worked with a wide variety of clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to small entrepreneurial firms. He lives in Los Angeles, California, and can be contacted at www.familybaggage.com.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; Original edition (February 29, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684856042
• ISBN-13: 978-0684856049
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #315,168 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy it as a gift for all family members., February 16, 2000

By 

Patricia A. Frishkoff "electric lady" (Oregon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Keep the Family Baggage Out of the Family Business: Avoiding the Seven Deadly Sins That Destroy Family Businesses (Paperback)

This is the book that I wish I had written! It covers the REAL relationship issues of family business in the easiest-to-read style of any family business book I've seen (and I've read lots). Be warned. This author has the audacity to call it like it is -- about owners, family, and even about lawyers and other consultants. A lot of the book has a more negative focus, looking at the problems caused by family baggage. Use this part to open serious discussions. But, be sure to stick with it until Part V. Pages 41-43 are a must. In paperback, this is bargain priced. We're using it as prizes for our Family Business 2000 Conference in May.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Family Baggage/Deadly Business Sins, July 4, 2000

By 

Mark Morris (L.A, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Keep the Family Baggage Out of the Family Business: Avoiding the Seven Deadly Sins That Destroy Family Businesses (Paperback)

I have been the owner of a family business for over twenty five years and found Mr. Flemings book to be very accurate and insightful. My wife and I both read his book and agreed that we had committed all of the "deadly sins" to some degree over the years. The book was enjoyable to read, humorously presented and it generated a great deal of discussion among our family and friends. Highly recommended!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More Truth Than Many of Us Want to Admit, May 15, 2004

By 

Rudy Neufeld (Fresno, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Keep the Family Baggage Out of the Family Business: Avoiding the Seven Deadly Sins That Destroy Family Businesses (Paperback)

As a family business counselor and consumate reader, I continually look for new materials that can help clients--family members and non-family managers--better understand the family business enterprises in which they are employed...or enmeshed.

The title of this book turned me off. I know of no family business that can avoid the "socalled 7 deadly sins." Family baggage is part of family business.

Nonetheless, I recommend the book. My usual use of the book is education of non-family managers who work for family business. My favorite reading references for professional managers are by John L. Ward: Keeping the Family Business Healthy, and his revised, expanded update, Strategic Planning for the Family Business.

Family members may be willing to read the book, although I have limited experience with that. I would refer them to books like Working With The Ones You Love by Dennis Jaffe.