01Juan Pablo Rodríguez

Expertise

As private and family businesses grow, they often lack the structures and systems needed to manage scale. Key figures may struggle to determine whether success stems from—or exists despite—the company’s unique culture or operating model.

As founders or families delegate day-to-day operations, challenges often arise. While the business may maintain strong sales and brand equity, it might not be prepared to operate independently or attract acquisition interest from corporate players or private equity investors.

I help private and family businesses build the talent and management systems necessary to thrive as they outgrow their initial frameworks and become less dependent on founders, key individuals, or family members. This work often involves addressing people and systems challenges.

Examples of People Challenges

a) Poor organizational design. An ineffective organizational chart can hinder performance, creating confusion and lack of accountability. Structure shapes behavior. Companies often face this issue because they undervalue structure or design it around individuals rather than functional needs and performance goals.

b) Misaligned leadership. This may involve leaders with insufficient skills, inappropriate behavior, or values misaligned with the founder’s or family’s principles.

c) Dysfunctional culture. Culture shows in the way we relate to each other, the way clients and competitors describe us, and it's an effective filter to keep some people inside a company and some people out (for good or bad). I define company culture as the behavior for which company leaders get promoted. Leader behavior is replicated and becomes the accepted standard. This makes hiring for key roles critical to shaping and sustaining a positive culture.

Examples of Systems Challenges

a) Lack of metrics. Many businesses fail to track key performance indicators tied to their core value drivers.

b) Undefined success parameters. Without clear, measurable goals, alignment and progress evaluation become difficult.

c) No accountability. Meeting or missing objectives often carries no meaningful consequences, eroding accountability.

d) Misaligned incentives. Ineffective incentive structures fail to drive desired outcomes, resulting in underperformance.

e) Obsolete software. Implementing new systems can be challenging and costly. For this reason, companies may delay the process, jeopardizing their operational efficiency and even their business continuity.