The Divine Right of Kings, or in the case of the United Kingdom, Queens, is the belief that God appoints the monarch and, as such, we cannot rebel against the king (or queen). As a general rule, the western world rejected this philosophy. (And the American Colonies rejected it in a big way in 1776.) But, several western countries maintain monarchies that have no real power, but a whole lot of privilege.
Queen Elizabeth is the most famous. And until a few days ago, everyone expected Prince Harry, like his father and brother,would stay in line and stay in the family business. But, the Prince did something unexpected and left the family business. Here’s why family business owners should pay attention.
To keep reading, click here: Megxit Is a Cautionary Tale for Every Family Owned Business
You nailed it regarding many (not all) family-run businesses. Failure lies in expecting employees to swear fealty. Most people work to live, not live to work. Whether they’re relatives or not, employers will do best with employees who are engaged in their work and actually want to be there.
Re Meghan and Harry, I understand the discussion with the Queen and family had been going on for a while. The announcement came sooner than they wanted it to due to a tabloid leak. The British press is mainly tabloid-based (no thanks to that dirty squid, Rupert Murdoch) and they’ve been absolutely horrible to Meghan. After losing his mum the way he did, Harry wants to protect his family. I don’t blame him one bit. He has no shot at the throne and they just want to live. The people blaming her for this can go jump in the lake. Harry’s a grown-@$$ man who makes his own decisions.
I worked for my family business. My dad and uncle could not keep the non-work family drama out of the office. Personal events and failures from decades before were tossed about as ammunition in work-related disagreements. My uncle was appointed President by his parents simply for being the oldest, which caused more drama. I managed the finances. I was 24 with a BA in Accounting yet I was addressed as “Kid” constantly & my expertise ignored. So, if you want your adult-children to work for you, you need to treat them like adults. The “parent-child, do as I say because I’m the parent” dynamic cannot come into play at work. I left after less than a year. No regrets.
The moral of the story is that — regardless of the perks (we won’t even talk about the drawbacks) — most people won’t settle for a situation in which they have no way of advancing their status. In fact, the more children William and Kate have, the farther behind Harry would be.
I figure that moving to Vancouver BC seems a great place to enjoy moderate weather, with numerous TV and movie filming opportunities, and an easy hop to California.
All in all, the situation is nowhere near the furor over Edward VIII and Mrs Simpson.
Agreed; the Duke of Windsor could have ascended to the Throne. Harry, likely, could never even come close.
No. For Harry Charles, William, George, Charlotte and Louie all need to die before any one of the three children reproduce.
There’s not a chance.
I don’t blame him for wanting to get out.
A while ago I read an article about family businesses – the conclusion was that family business tended to do better when women inherited them..
.. because usually, the woman then hired someone skilled in Running A Business to run the business, instead of ‘first-born son’ or ‘only son’ or ‘only son who wanted to’.
I can’t find the article now, regrettably.
Huh. I’d like to see that.
And – back to “Brotopia,” where Emily Chang cites research that shows that companies with more women in executive leadership are actually more profitable.