BUILDING CONFIDENCE & CLARITY IN YOUR FAMILY AND OWNER MANAGED BUSINESS
Relevant, creative and powerful support for family offices and family businesses - and those that regard themselves as “family” in professional services, teams and more.
We work with traditional ‘family businesses’ as well as family-like partnerships, founders and owner-managed businesses.
The experience, research and support we provide is suitable for all organisation types and situations.
Magazine cover 2004 - Dani with the first product she designed for her family’s business.
Families in Business (FIB) was a company founded in 2012 by Dani Saveker, having been the CEO of her own family’s business.
She had the intention of creating an independent business with a community to inspire and support families working, and living, in and around business. Little did she know at the time that her quest to help family businesses, like her own, would shape something much more profound.
“FAMILY BUSINESSES CAN TEACH US EVERYTHING WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LIFE. IT’S NOT JUST FAMILY BUSINESSES THAT NEED TO CONSIDER SUCCESSION, IT’S EVERY ORGANISATION, PERSON AND FAMILY; OR TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY, ENSURING SUSTAINABLE SUCCESS FOR THE FUTURE IS IMPERATIVE.”
Dani Saveker - CEO & Founder (The GLAS Group)
the business of family and the 7 elements of family business
While not a comfortable or popular statement, Dani felt for a long time that most family business consulting and work is outdated. It focuses on models developed in the 1970s and 1980s. Businesses are not the businesses they were then - and families are certainly not either. Our world is, and will continue to be, one that needs a new approach.
GLAS was created to address this - and has become so much more. We continue to help family-like organisations with their bold, dynamic and incredible journeys which include succession, alignment, communication and dynamics.
Here’s a very quick overview of 7 areas that are part of every family, business and system.
vision, purpose & legacy
Creating a clear vision and holding true to it is essential - but this is trickier with each generation. It’s a necessary area to align all stakeholders.
identity (business, family & individuals)
Knowing who you are and the “gold dust” that makes you individuals, a family and a business, is the foundation of everything.
business, interests & outcomes
This area tends to get lots of attention but without the other Elements it can feel stuck or manic. How well you’re aligned sits within this area.
relationships & people
Everything we do, and are, relies on how we relate - to ourselves and others, to stories, the past and the future. Alignment and dynamics are critical to all elements of life.
external & impact
This is a huge area - it includes: ownership, investment, brand, clients, technology and all interactions with the outside world. We know the world is constantly changing and planning for this is imperative.
leadership & direction
While we automatically think of leadership as the person at the front, we know that how each of us chooses to lead ourselves individually is most critical to clarity and alignment.
driving influence
As humans, we have unconscious drivers that influence behaviour and decisions. When we know what these are, it empowers us to be motivated positively.
Services for family businesses
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Alignment, Culture & Dynamics
We are often called in to support communication and alignment - helping everyone see the same clear vision and build a strategy to support this. Whether this is for family in or out of the business, non family members or culture in general, we help to improve dynamics which can transform progress.
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Succession and Transition
Succession and change management during transitions can be littered with hazards. We use the GLAS Method to not only help with the overall succession or transition process, but for each person involved within it.
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Legacy and Charter documents
We can take individuals, teams and businesses through the GLAS Method and framework to develop a lasting ‘living’ document. This captures the essence, past, structure and future for the business and family. The output can be a range of options from a legacy book through to a a range of visuals.
in search of understanding
The work that Dani and her team have undertaken over several years, focused on building personal, relationship, business and market alignment - as well as building identity and purpose; which are essential to all family businesses.
Bourn out of the frustrations Dani felt having been fourth generation in her family’s manufacturing business, she wanted to provide the right understanding, support and inspiration.
She also felt that the existing thinking around family business was out of date and irrelevant in a fast changing world, and created FIB to tackle this. Alongside her “day job” within FIB, she continued to seek understanding around the dynamics of both families and business, both separately and combined. This research was eventually what formed the basis of GLAS; the Global Life Alignment System. To this day, Dani and her team are committed to an openness and curiosity for how the world, business and society is changing and evolving - to ensure the best and most relevant support is available to clients.
GLAS became far more than a family business tool in 2015, and is now the overarching framework for families and businesses, sports teams, wealth management, sport and nutrition, legal services and projects - to name but a few areas. We often refer to GLAS as providing the structure for infinite applications.
We still work with many family businesses (as well as clients in many other contexts), but all under the GLAS brand. This includes the option of developing the GLAS framework for other advisors to use with their clients under a licence, whether that is a family office, wealth advisors, accountancy or legal firms.