All in the Family
Stanley S. hubbard shares some secrets for family business success.
//In TERvIEWED By ELIzABETH MILLARD
Hubbard Broadcasting Corporation, based in St. Paul, boasts KSTP as its flagship property, and
a strong family work ethic behind the scenes. Stanley E. Hubbard founded the business, which
Stanley S. joined in 1951. Stanley S. Hubbard shares a few recipes for building a robust family firm:
Set realistic expectations: The first advice
I’d give to anyone wanting a successful
family business is not to force someone
into a business they don’t want to be in.
That’s a mistake. Number two is if they
can’t live up to the challenge, then don’t
let them take over the business. In other
words, you have to know your family just
as well as you know your other employees.
I’ve seen it happen far too often where
people have a son or daughter come in
and they’re not capable or don’t care,
and what you need to run a business is
ability and desire. It never works when
you encourage someone to do something
they don’t want to do. They have to follow
their heart.
it’s just the truth. I know of one company
where the son was brilliant in business
school, but kind of an egghead who could
never understand human relations, he
didn’t understand people. They forced
this young man into a chief executive
role, and it was completely the wrong
place for him, and so that plan failed. So,
I say, recognize the abilities of your family
members, or what they’re capable of, and
what they’re good at.
be working here because she wants to stay
home and raise her child, and that’s great,
that’s a wonderful decision for her. But
she’s still involved in the business, she’s still
totally supportive of the decisions made by
her siblings.
Understand true ability: What I’m talking
about with ability is a willingness to work,
a willingness to learn and a basic business
intelligence. There are different kinds
of intelligence, so for example, you may
have a son or daughter who’d be a great
teacher but not a great executive. That’s
OK. Not everyone will be a CEO or a VP,
not everyone is cut out for the same kind
of calling, and that’s not a negative thing,
Present a united front: Another important
aspect of family business is the understanding
that you all make it together or you all go
down together. If you can’t be supportive of
each other, or if there’s any in-fighting, then
forget it, it’s just not going to work. That
also applies to situations where people
have different goals. For example, if one
person want to build the company whereas
other family members just want to milk it
for profits, you’re not going to have a good
situation. Support is so crucial, and the type
of unity I’m talking about can extend just
beyond the people working at the company
and to other family members. For example,
we have one daughter that doesn’t care to
Plan for succession: We have five children
and they own the biggest share of the
business, and when the time comes for me
to leave, they’ll figure out who does what. I
don’t think it’s smart to try and run a business
from the grave--worrying about what’s going
to happen when you’re gone isn’t a very
productive use of your time. I have absolute
confidence that our children will do what’s
best for the business and what’s best for
the family without regard to ego, because
they’re a team. They’re supportive of each
other, they understand each other, and they
all bring high levels of ability to their work.
They’re smart and honest, and I’d have to
say that if there’s one thing that’s perhaps
most important of all in a family business,
it’s honesty. You have to be willing to be
honest with yourself about what your family
members can do, and honest with others
when any tension or problems arise.
