Valerie Irick Rainford

Family Business Advisory Tool-A Family businesses are not just economic entities—they are emotional legacies, deeply rooted in tradition, trust, and transition. As they evolve across generations, they face unique challenges that require specialized advisory tools and thoughtful facilitation. This booklet, "Family Business Advisory Tool-A," is designed as a comprehensive guide for family business consultants, internal advisors, and business-owning families. It combines decades of practical experience with modern assessment techniques to uncover hidden dynamics, measure governance maturity, and guide generational transition planning. This tool offers: Structured frameworks across the ten pillars of business health. A 5-point rating system to evaluate readiness and determine priorities. Proven facilitation techniques for handling difficult discussions. Templates for action planning, follow-up, and progress measurement. This tool features: 1. A comprehensive framework covering 10 core pillars of family business health. 2. A professional presentation with a well-organized layout, clear headers, and structured tools. 3. Practical application through an actionable scoring tool and implementation guide are actionable. 4.  Credibility: Backed by your exceptional experience and global impact. 5.  Flexibility: Adaptable for small, medium, or multi-generational family businesses. This tool has been developed to help unlock deeper conversations, uncover hidden challenges, and create sustainable transitions in family-owned enterprises. 🔹 Assess 10 core areas of family business health  🔹 Structured 5-point scoring system  🔹 Guided action planning and follow-up framework  🔹 Built-in coaching techniques and facilitation tools For In-house Consultants: Score your business Discover hidden risks Plan transitions Improve communication Build a legacy Link: https://lnkd.in/gamDGjXK..

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Rhonda Anderson, Ph.D.✨EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP COACH discusses her path from being a first-generation college graduate to founding Silver Hawk Coaching and Consulting after years of experience in talent development across various industries. She shares how her personal journey and expertise inspired her to help leaders and organizations grow. She highlights her book, The Influential Leader Blueprint, which offers practical tools for building trust and fostering growth mindsets. Silver Hawk Coaching and Consulting offers services including building talent infrastructures, leadership development cohorts, executive and team coaching, and team dynamics facilitation. Rhonda emphasizes the importance of trust, emotional intelligence, and adaptability, positioning her company as a resource for organizations aiming to develop strong, people-focused teams. Link to watch/listen in the first comment below. #podcast #collab #collaboration #business #LeadAtTheTopOfYourGame #Leadership #mindset #highperformers

I recently had a great conversation with Randall Thomas and Mike Rauhut, PCC on Frontline Visionaries podcast, where we discussed the distinctions between mentoring and coaching, why ICF training and certification matter for the executive coaching industry, and how Vanguard XXI delivers value across multiple fronts: from ICF certification programs and executive coaching to keynote speaking and leadership development. Under the leadership of Anthony Randall, DMin, ICF PCC, Vanguard XXI has assembled an impressive team of professionals equipped to support both individuals and organizations in meaningful, measurable ways. If leadership development or coaching excellence is on your radar, this is a group worth paying attention to.👇 Future Training Course Dates: VPCC 2-26 Cohort – May 4-8, 2026 VPCC 3-26 Cohort – Sept 14-18, 2026 Check Vanguard XXI at their website: https://lnkd.in/e3yTdHRh

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Whether you have a big idea or a small idea with big potential, it takes courage to navigate the unknowns. I had fun meeting so many entrepreneurs from across Africa this week at the Nehemiah Entrepreneurship Community Business Success Accelerator. Though they were from different countries and different industries and different stages of business -- they all had big ideas God put on their hearts to make an impact in the world -- and they were courageous enough to openly talk about the risks! If you're interested in learning ways to de-risk your strategy, you can learn more at fastrackyourbigidea.com And see the first comment to learn more about this energetic community of entrepreneurs in Africa, committed to growing thriving businesses with integrity. #fasttrackyourbigidea #purpose #riskmanagement

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As part of our International Coaching Week celebrations, we’re sharing our one week reminder of this amazing upcoming learning sessions presented by our DEIBJ Committee, facilitated by our DEIBJ Director, Kat Sweeney, MCLC, ACC. 🎤 Masking, Code-Switching & Authenticity: Coaching at the Intersection of Identity and Safety This interactive session explores how identity, lived experience, and context shape the way clients show up, and how coaches can create spaces where people feel safer to be fully themselves, at their own pace. 👉 Details in the original post below We hope you’ll join us next week for ICW! #SmallMomentsBigImpact #ICW

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Succession planning reflects stewardship. An exercise when done well ensures continuity, protects culture, enhances talent retention and guarantees strategic corporate advantage builds strong corporate identity and resilience. In a 2 part series, Discovery releases "Succession Planning: keeping the corporate seat warm". It's certainly a good read. Read here:https://lnkd.in/eZHm_msY Discovery....Building succession, keeping the corporate seat warm.

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In this Productive Joy special episode, Dr. Christie introduces Intentionality Group — a team dedicated to redefining workplace culture through intentional learning and leadership. Jonathan Grant Brown, Ben Solomon, and Jason McMullen bring unique talents to solve real organizational challenges — from closing skill gaps to transforming culture and boosting retention. Learn how intentionality can transform your organization. #Leadership #IntentionalityGroup #ProductiveJoy #WorkplaceCulture #OrganizationalGrowth #LearningAndDevelopment

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Really excited to be sharing this opportunity with my Sydney network. Alignment is my theme for 2026 and this workshop sits right at the centre of that. I'm thrilled to be partnering with two amazing ladies, Cathy Dimarchos and Marcela Acosta who both bring a unique and powerful perspective to the table around conscious decision-making and the collective impact and wisdom of conscious collaboration (among other things). I'm focussing on boundaries in my session because a lack of boundaries is typically one of the obvious symptoms of mis-alignment in someone's life. All too often, I find myself coaching women who are either in severe burnout or on the verge of it and when I dig deeper, I find a common theme of people pleasing and filling everyone else's bucket before their own. When you are really clear on holding boundaries, you protect not only your own energy but how you show up for others. This workshop has intentionally been designed to show how decision-making, boundaries and conscious collaboration are all connected and to share helpful tools and takeaways to help participants step towards a more consciously aligned life. If you are a personal or a professional friend and this resonates with you - come join us - I'd love to see you there. Ticket details in the post below. #alignment #boundaries #consciousleadership #womeninleadership thrive4women

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As the new Chief People and Culture Officer at LRN, I was delighted to speak to Roger Trapp about the importance of diverse leadership and how organizations can develop and maintain inclusive cultures with authenticity and intent. This article is worth a read. Thank you, Roger, for highlighting this important issue!

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I’m genuinely excited for the opportunity to demo coaching in this upcoming session. I see these moments as a shared commitment to growth. When each of us shows up intending to elevate our craft, something shifts. The energy builds. The room sharpens. The field strengthens. I continue to demo coaching — not because I’ve arrived (and certainly not because I enjoy having an audience… it actually makes me sweat a little) — but because staying in the arena keeps me honest. Modeling the work in real time stretches me. It exposes edges. It keeps me accountable to the standards that protect our clients and our profession. Will every moment be perfect? Unlikely. And that’s part of the discipline. I’m not above the work. I’m in it with you. I’m committed to our clients. I’m committed to this field. And I’m committed to upholding the level of coaching we say we stand for. I’m looking forward to learning alongside you. Questions to Consider: -What part of your coaching is strongest right now — and how consciously are you choosing to leverage it? -Where in your coaching do you sense comfort — and where do you sense the next stretch that would alter your impact? -If this session were to fundamentally shift one aspect of how you partner with clients, what would you want that shift to be?

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In today’s business environment, disruption is no longer episodic. It’s relentless. Boards are navigating not just isolated crises, but a cascade of them, from pandemics and political polarization to technological upheaval and workforce fatigue. Dr. Nikki Lanier, CEO of Harper Slade Advisors and former director of Premier Bank, has coined a term for this modern condition: “Swan Stacking.” Thank you Bill Hayes and Private Company Director https://lnkd.in/gqRZZFad

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For the past three years, our visionary, female-led team at Positive Evolution Consulting has been developing a breakthrough assessment—one designed to evaluate leadership alignment and unlock accelerated growth in an age of complexity. Unlike traditional tools that focus solely on personality styles (and often reinforce silos), this assessment dives deeper—into the nervous system, team dynamics, and cultural alignment—to reveal the patterns that truly drive or block performance. ✨ Want to see what sets it apart? Read our white paper: https://lnkd.in/gMFmviSH

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The best part of facilitating a webinar conversation is getting to meet more people in my space—and learning from others along the way. The prep work is a gift too. It forces you to slow down, dig into the topic, and be more intentional about what really matters—especially when navigating complex moments like M&A. One thing that consistently stands out: deals don’t succeed (or fail) on numbers alone. Research shows that nearly half of failed deals are tied to overlooking people and culture issues, not financials or strategy. When leadership alignment, culture, and talent aren’t part of the deal strategy, value is at risk. These conversations always reinforce why the human side of change deserves just as much focus as the legal and financial work—and why learning from others doing this work every day is so powerful. Grateful for the dialogue, the shared perspectives, and the chance to keep learning Monica Sauls Chelle O'Keefe, SPHR Rhonda Mahan, MBA, MS-HR Brendan McElroy Michele Dewyea AnnaMay Abbott, Ph.D.Megan Mitchell

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Why do mission-driven leaders often leave organizations? In this clip from the Lead with Legacy™ Podcast, Dr. Casey LaFrance explains the “law of increasing conservatism”—a powerful concept that reveals what happens inside organizations over time. Those who want real change grow frustrated. Those chasing status move on. And what remains are incremental thinkers focused on maintaining the system. If leaders don’t understand this pattern, transformation becomes nearly impossible. Watch now:

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One of the differentiators of Bend’s structure for clients sits in an old line from Proverbs 15:22: “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” Most executive coaching and family enterprise advisory work runs through a single voice. One advisor carrying one perspective with one set of ears and eyes for pattern recognition shaping their work. Bend is built the other way in which the client engagement is guided by many. These are leaders who have run companies, grown revenue, fired people, sat on boards, navigated transitions, fought life-threatening cancer, and carry scars worth learning from. https://lnkd.in/gQydeShA

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