Families are like parachutes: they both surround and protect us; both are made up of a network of ropes and knots; and most importantly, they cushion the blow of a free fall. But families, just like parachutes, need to be taken care of; otherwise, they can get tangled, fall and crash.
Something similar happens with a family-run company. A business bound by blood ties offers the opportunity to enjoy exciting experiences, move beyond the quest for monetary profit and be something more than just the place where you work. It is a place where, day by day, a legacy is built for the children of your children. But this blend of things personal and professional requires a special kind of dedication.
The book Plan de Vuelo (Flight Plan), written by Martí Gironell, Josep Lagares and IESE Prof. Josep Tàpies, offers a series of rules for building a company that is more solid, competitive and prepared to succeed. The authors do so through their experience both as executives and skydiving buffs.
Written as a novel, the book tells the story of Mateo, the CEO of a troubled family-run holding company, who has to overcome major management problems in order to get the firm back on its feet. And he does so while taking on another personal challenge: setting the world record for a team free fall, in which he and colleagues achieve a 400-person formation in mid-air.
Skydiving as a School for Executives
A team free fall requires talent, coordination and commitment from all of its members, just as a family-run business does. Many of these concepts can be transferred directly to the workplace.
For starters, it takes excellence. The challenge of jumping out of a plane at an altitude of 20,000 feet requires the best specialists, wherever they come from. A company, even a family-run one, must aspire to the same and be an open organization.
When a free fall is done in a group, it is essential that all the members share a mission and strategy for the descent. In a family-run company, the founders must work hard to transmit values, so that new people coming on board understand with what intentions, and on what basis, the business was built. Those guidelines must never be lost and are one of the secrets for a team made up of hundreds of people to work properly. Although it is simple and almost natural for parents to pass on such values to their children, and even to their grandchildren, maintaining that spirit among subsequent generations requires a non-stop effort.
In a free fall, each member must accept his or her role in the group. There is no room for big egos because everyone’s task is important and must be respected. The roles of the leader as well as those who, after each jump, check the parachutes and fold them up are equally important. The group members must respect each other and keep anyone from feeling unappreciated and working against the group.
Another issue that the book addresses is timing. A skydiver can only join the group at certain moments. If they jump too soon and the rest of the team members are not ready to hook up with them, the shape of the free-fall formation will be off. In a family-run company, that means calculating very carefully when to bring in new generations. And knowing when to bow out is just as important. Retirement must be orderly and carefully studied. If it is done late or wrong, the whole team will be in jeopardy, as would an organization.
In skydiving, this level of coordination is achieved through people who serve as bridges or hinges joining the different sections of the formation. They connect the leaders, who are located in the center of the formation, with those who are further out. In a family-run company, these coordinators are in charge of facilitating relations between the different generations. They act to prevent clashes and division.
There is another interesting part of skydiving. In the preparatory stage, each jump is meticulously recorded and studied by a team on the ground. Its members adopt the distance necessary to gain an overall perspective as to what works and what does not. In the book, there is a team of outside advisers who are not going to take part in the effort to set the world record. Instead, their mission is to contribute ideas and points of view that are different and more neutral. In the business world, this should be the role of independent advisers.
All of these practices help a family-run company work well. They are necessary, but not sufficient. For the organization to last and grow over time, it needs the will and desire to do so. The authors say it all comes down to believing in the project in a way that is almost religious, and above all, active. One must move from the concept of “seeing is believing” to “believing in order to see.”