The Academy for Chief Executives, a leading provider of experiential business learning facilitates groups of CEOs and Managing Directors who meet together every month to network and take full advantage of experiential learning. Part of membership is ‘The Board You Could Never Afford‘ where members take their issues to the table and discuss with their peers.
An issue discussed recently was:
“My Business Partner and I cannot agree on how to take the company forward – how do we resolve this conflict?”
The advice from members of The Academy for Chief Executives was:
- The first thing to do to resolve conflict with your business partner is to sit down together – possibly outside of the business, so you can discuss your issues in a neutral environment. Take the time to understand their position.
- Resolving conflict will only happen if you ensure that you put your points across calmly and logically, and try not to lose your temper!
- Take some time out to reflect on what each other have said and then agree to meet again to discuss how this conflict can be resolved
- If you still cannot come to an agreement, you need to consider the long term health of the business. An inability to resolve conflict with your partner could seriously damage the business. You may have to recognise it will never work and part company.
- If you are the majority shareholder, consider making an offer to buy out the remainder of the other person’s shares.
The question of whether resolving conflict with a business partner is an example of the type of issue discussed at an Academy meeting – and this is just a snippet of the advice given by our members. For confidentiality reasons we cannot divulge all of the advice provided – however, we do hold open meetings where guests are able to attend and experience for themselves the real power of ‘The Board You Could Never Afford’.
To find out how you can take advantage of advice like this every month, visit www.chiefexecutive.com