What the Next Generation Needs for Succession Success

Founders typically want to know where their income streams will be after they let go of power and control of management and/or ownership. They also have marital conflict about  home residence issues, and how to be fair to non-business heirs. The next generation can’t...

When Silent Nights Don’t Bring Peace to Your Farm

When I was a very small farm girl, dressed in my homemade red velvet jumper, I looked forward to “Edie” Christmas on Boxing Day with my cousins. I recall my great-grandmother singing  “Silent Night” to us in German. Little did I know then that I would marry into a...

Making Sense of 2013 to Plan for 2014

The calendar may say that it’s a new year, but my new year was a few months ago in September. I always feel that “going back to school time” is really the start of my new learning season. But alas, you have bright shiny new calendars on your office, shop, and kitchen...

Cain’s Legacy – Farm Sibling Strife

The radio announcer suggested that the longest relationships we have are with our siblings, 80 years or more, and he hoped they were good ones. Then he mentioned the book “Cain’s Legacy: liberating siblings from a lifetime of rage, shame, secrecy and regret “ by Dr....

Happy Christmas in the Country

Heaps of snow in the Peace region of Alberta make it easy to visualize a “white Christmas” as I write this.  If I were to ask you about the top ten things that make a great Christmas celebration for you, what would you answer? Most families that I work with want to...