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For SME’s including family businesses, the most powerful and groundbreaking work to generate business success often requires not just the MD, but his or her partner as well.

In one third generation business recently it was clear from the outset that the female MD was very wary of involving her husband. Yet it is at the very first meeting, when you use someone from outside, it is at the very first meeting that the ground rules for openness, honesty and transparency are discussed. After all, her partner was, and is a key player in the management team.

When you clarify the direction of any organisation, the starting point, it is always necessary to involve all the senior players. These are the people that have any form of executive responsibility, whatever label you choose to give them.

If clarity of direction is the place to start, the next stepping stone is to develop trust between colleagues. And yes, those colleagues may well be husband and wife. Indeed a key part of developing high levels of trust between colleagues is the externally facilitated 360 degree appraisal of each member of the senior team, starting with the MD.

In this business that would have meant husband being part of the group that appraised his wife.

This was a very short consultancy assignment. In fact I haven’t seen or heard from anyone in the company since that first exploratory meeting.