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November Leadership Training/Mentoring Situation
THE LEADERSHIP TRAINING/MENTORING CORNER
In August of this year the Silver Fox Advisors introduced a new offering in its monthly newsletter which is called the Leadership Training/Mentoring Section.
In this section a thought-provoking situation will be presented. In most cases these situations will be real life circumstances. Our readers will think about them and play them out in their minds or on paper, as they consider what they would do or should have done if these incidents actually happened to them in their businesses.
Being a good leader requires you to be able to react to unexpected happenings or developments. Our Silver Fox Advisors have experiences they want to share with you that they have managed through, with the hope of providing you with some touch points so you can become more than a good leader but a GREAT LEADER.
There is an added benefit: if you respond to us and provide a reply to this situation, and your response is selected as the best, you will be awarded a seat at one of our Lunch & Learn events.
NOVEMBER LEADERSHIP SITUATION
You have the opportunity to expand your business to a new market about 200 miles away completed a business plan and loan request package, which you presented to several banks, all of them have declined your request.
Your brother-in-law has offered to provide you the money needed to expand your business, but he wants to take a security interest in your company’s fixed assets (land and building) and obtain a minority interest in your company, which converts to a controlling interest if you can’t pay the loan back.
WHAT SHOULD YOUR NEXT STEPS BE?
Please provide us a brief write-up of What are your next steps? Send your write-up to Lynn Rosado at [email protected]
In our November 2025 Newsletter, one of our Silver Fox Advisors will provide a response to what he or she would have done and what precautions he or she would have taken in this October Leadership Situation.
If you need assistance in becoming a better leader, I recommend you start by contacting the Silver Fox Advisors. Silver Fox Advisors are former or present business owners themselves, and they have leadership experience in running a business, and in some cases several businesses, and have dealt with unforeseen and unplanned situations throughout their careers. We encourage you to visit our website at www.silverfox.org to select a Silver Fox Advisor and also to learn more about the Silver Fox Advisors, as well as our great programs and community outreach endeavors.
Leadership Training/Mentoring Corner - October Situation Responses
THE LEADERSHIP TRAINING/MENTORING CORNER
In the August 2025 Newsletter, we started a series called “The Leadership/Mentoring Corner” in which we posed a thought-provoking situation for you to think about and put yourself into the situation, detailed and ask yourself – “What do I do now?” and “What precautions should I have taken?”. Below is the situation that was in the October 2025 Newsletter.
OCTOBER LEADERSHIP SITUATION
You have recently taken over the Company that your grandfather started 50 years ago. Your father has been the CEO for the past 30 years, and now it is your turn to lead the family business.
Your business philosophies regarding growth and profitability are more in line with your grandfather, who believed in double-digit annual revenue growth and who was OK with single-digit profitability growth in order to expand revenues. Under your father’s tenure, the Company had slow, steady growth, and profitability was above industry benchmarks.
You want to grow the Company through expansion into new markets or acquisition of a similar smaller company down the street. You are not sure if the talent is in place at the Company to take on your more aggressive growth strategies while settling for smaller profitability goals.
We polled some of the Silver Fox Advisors, and below are some recommendations on what your next steps should be:
- It would be a good idea to meet with both the grandfather and the father to determine why they made the decisions that they did at the time so you have a better understanding of the internal and external factors and circumstances that went into making the decisions they did.
- The father’s business model over time is a good one (slow and steady growth and profitability above industry benchmarks), thus it might be a good for the father and son to get together, with maybe a third advisor, and develop some common ground, especially if the father is going to remain is some capacity at the company.
- Having financing available is always a critical element of any planning process for a company’s future; thus it would be a good idea to develop at least three years of financial projections to determine what, if any, additional financing may be needed to achieve a plan going forward. Once those projections have been developed and agreed upon, it would be a good idea to have a meeting with the company’s banker to present the plan and make sure if financing is needed that the funds would be available to support the plan.
- Finally, it might be a good idea to schedule meetings with some of the company’s larger clients and confirm as much as possible that any change in the company leadership or business model does not present a potential loss of revenues already in place.
