The next consultant, Ann Kinkade, is director of the Family Business Center at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Kinkade, 45, is most troubled by Kirsh’s habit of setting goals, such as more efficiently using his workforce, then failing to follow through and coach managers on their performance. That’s a sign that the owners are too complacent, she says. “You ask why you’re in the red, but there’s no fire in the belly,” she notes. “You’re saying, ‘We’ve got to make the best of this for ten years until we sell the business.’ Your employees sense it, and feel comfortable too.”
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