I spent 6 hours cooking Thanksgiving dinner. At 7 pm, my son arrived with 6 guests from my daughter-in-law’s family. They sat down like they owned my home. My DIL said, “Would you mind eating in the kitchen, Dad?” I just smiled and walked into the kitchen… what I did next had everyone screaming. – usnews

I made the adjustment you make when a son joins a company his father built. I gave him room to try things. I gave him more room than I should have given him.

Because giving a son room is not the same as giving him the company, even when it starts to feel like it.

Candace came with Trey 2 years after he started working with me. She was efficient, organized, and possessed of a particular kind of confidence that presents itself as warmth, but operates entirely on its own agenda.

I noticed that about her early, not as a judgment, just as an observation. The way you observe a piece of equipment, and note its capabilities and its limits.

What I did not observe early enough was the pace at which she was operating, or the direction she was moving.

It began with small things, as it always does. A Sunday in February when her family visited and she suggested I eat at the kitchen counter because the dining room table was getting crowded even though I counted four people and eight chairs.