Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 956, Running a Family-Owned Business.
This is English as a Second Language podcast, episode 956.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
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This episode is a story about someone who manages or runs a business owned by members of his family.
Let's get started.
When I took over the family business three years ago I didn't know what I was letting myself in for.
My uncle, who ran the business before me, established a clear chain of command which I thought would eliminate infighting and bickering.
I couldn't have been more wrong.
Despite clear lines of authority, family members tend to take sides and play the blame game Whenever anything goes wrong.
In the end, they always look to me to resolve conflict, and I have no choice but to enter the fray.
Another big problem is the hangers-on.
Those are the family members who aren't suited for this line of work but who need jobs.
What do I do with them?
What do you do when everything falls on your shoulders?
Well, I've developed a thick skin, and when someone inevitably reminds me that blood is thicker than water, I remind them that business is business.
I begin our story by saying when I took over the family business.
To take over means to take control of, to take ownership of, to become the person who runs and manages an organization or, in this case, a company.
The family business just means a business, a company that your family owns.
I say that I took over the family business three years ago.
But, I say, I didn't know what I was letting myself in for.
The expression to let yourself in for something means to put yourself in a difficult or challenging situation without realizing it, without knowing it.
We might say unintentionally.
I didn't realize I was going to be putting myself into such a difficult situation when I took over the family business three years ago.
I say, my uncle, who ran the business before me, established a clear chain of command.
A chain C-H-A-I-N of command means is the structure in an organization that determines who is responsible to whom or who reports to whom.
In other words, I have a boss and my boss has a boss and my boss's boss has a boss.
The chain of command goes from me to my boss, to my boss's boss, to my boss's boss's boss, if that isn't too confusing.
That's a chain of command.
We also talk about a chain of command in the military, in the army, for example.
At the top of the chain of command, at least in the United States, is the commander-in-chief.
That's the president of the United States.
He gives orders to the general, who is head of the army.
And the general gives orders to the colonel, who gives orders to the major, who gives orders to the captain, who gives orders to the lieutenant, who gives orders to the sergeant, who gives orders to the corporal, who gives orders to the private.
That's the chain of command.
That's who reports to whom.
In the army, anyway.
In a company, usually there's a...
CEO, and perhaps a president.
Then you have a vice president, and under the vice president you have other company bosses, company officials.
There's a chain of command.
A clear chain of command is one that everyone knows and understands.
In the army, there's a very clear chain of command.
In companies, there's usually a clear chain of command that everyone knows about, but not always.
However, in the case of our family-owned business, even though there is a clear chain of command, that does not eliminate infighting and bickering.
To eliminate, E-L-I-M-I-N-A-T-E, means to get rid of something, to not have something anymore.
Infighting I-N-F-I-G-H-T-I-N-G is fighting within a group or within an organization, within a family?
Infighting relates to conflicts or disagreements that people have in a group, usually a small group, such as a family.
Bickering, B-I-C-K-E-R-I-N-G, comes from the verb to bicker, B-I-C-K-E-R.
To bicker means to disagree, to argue.
To fight, but using words, not your fists or a weapon.
I say I couldn't have been more wrong.
I thought the chain of command would eliminate infighting and bickering, but I was wrong.
That's what I mean by the expression I couldn't have been more wrong.
I was very wrong.
I say, despite clear lines of authority, family members tend to take sides.
Clear lines of authority is similar to a clear chain of command.
It's really the same thing.
Even though we have clear lines of authority in the company, family members still tend Tend to take sides.
Tend to means they often or typically do something.
Here what they do is take sides.
To take sides means to show who you are in favor of and who you are against, who you support and who you oppose.
I think what the story is saying here is that, even though there are clear lines of authority, people don't follow them.
People don't. respect the authority of the people above them, perhaps.
Instead, they do what happens in most families, in most large families anyway.
They take sides.
They decide that John is right and Mary is wrong.
And so whenever there's a disagreement between John and Mary, they're going to side with John.
They're going to take John's side, we could say.
They are going to support John.
I say family members also play the blame game whenever anything goes wrong.
To play the blame B-L-A-M-E game means to say that You are not responsible for anything that goes wrong.
It's not my fault, it's her fault, or it's his fault.
You never take responsibility for things that go wrong.
To blame someone means to tell them that they did something wrong.
They are responsible for something bad that happened.
In the end I say meaning.
After all of these disagreements and all of this bickering, they meaning my family members always look to me to resolve conflict.
To look to someone means to go to someone expecting he or she will solve your problem or will take care of whatever is wrong.
To look to someone means not to take responsibility yourself, not to make the decision yourself, but to expect someone else to do it.
My family looks to me to resolve conflict.
To resolve conflict, C-O-N-F-L-I-C-T, means to find a way to end an argument, to end a disagreement.
I say I have no choice, I have no option, but to enter the fray.
To enter the fray, F-R-A-Y, means to participate or join an argument.
Another problem I have in the story is hangers-on.
A hanger H-A-N-G-E-R hyphen on O-N is a person who joins a group so they can get the benefits of that group, but doesn't actually do anything.
Often doesn't do the work they're supposed to do.
In this case, it would be family members who have jobs in the company but don't work very much.
I say these hangers-on are the family members who aren't suited for this line of work.
To be suited.
S-U-I-T-E-D means to have the qualifications for something, to be prepared for something.
A line of work is a kind of work, a type of job.
My family members who aren't suited for this line of work, whatever the family business is, still need jobs and I don't know what to do with them.
I say, what do you do when everything falls on your shoulders?
To fall on your shoulders means to be your responsibility, especially when it is a difficult or challenging situation.
I say I've developed a thick skin.
The term thick skin means the ability to, To not be affected negatively by bad things that are happening, especially when things are said about you, when people criticize you, when they say bad things about you.
To have a thick skin means not to be affected by that.
To say, oh, whatever, I don't care.
The opposite of a thick skin would be thin skin.
If someone says I have thin skin, they mean I am easily affected by criticisms.
When someone says something bad about me, I feel hurt.
I say to conclude our story when someone inevitably reminds me that blood is thicker than water, I remind them that business is business.
Inevitably means unavoidably, something that will almost certainly happen.
Someone always reminds me of an old expression in English, which is blood is thicker than water.
The meaning of that expression is that family relationships are stronger and more important than other relationships, such as friendships.
The blood that you share with your family members is thicker, and therefore stronger than the water, if you will, that you share with your friends.
In other words, your family relationships are more important and should be stronger than your relationships with your friends.
If you have to choose between your family and your friends, you should choose your family.
When someone tells me this, meaning that I should look out for, or be protective of, or loyal to my family, I remind that person that business is business.
This is another expression we use often.
In American English, business is.
Business means that we need to make decisions in a company that are good for the company, good for the business, not good for, in this case, the family members.
The expression business is business is usually used in cases where someone is saying that a business should make a decision based upon some personal reason or some reason that has nothing to do with the economic well-being of the company.
Is this going to help the company or hurt the company?
That's what we're trying to say in the expression business is business.
People might also say in this situation I don't want to mix personal things with business, or I don't want to mix family with business.
They mean they want to make their business decisions based upon the things that are important for the business, not for one's family or friends.
Now let's listen to the story this time at a normal speed.
When I took over the family business three years ago, I didn't know what I was letting myself in for.
My uncle, who ran the business before me, established a clear chain of command which I thought would eliminate infighting and bickering.
I couldn't have been more wrong.
Despite clear lines of authority, family members tend to take sides and play the blame game whenever anything goes wrong.
In the end, they always look to me to resolve conflict, and I have no choice but to enter the fray.
Another big problem is the hangers-on.
Those are the family members who aren't suited for this line of work but who need jobs.
What do I do with them?
What do you do when everything falls on your shoulders?
Well, I've developed a thick skin, and when someone inevitably reminds me that blood is thicker than water, I remind them that business is business.
Our scriptwriter, Dr. Lucy Say, is definitely suited for her line of work, scriptwriting.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thanks for listening.
Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2013 by the Center for Educational Development.
