A not untypical partnership
Let us give you an example of a successful business whose owners were on the verge of getting into a big 'brouhaha.' They had been in business for six years. Each owned one-third. They took no salary and shared the profits equally.

Partners’ work contributions
Bob was a 'golfaholic' who was at the plant about 20 to 25 hours per week. He brought in most of the new business. Jim was a workaholic. He worked 50 to 60 hours per week. He made sure everything and everyone worked. Tom never ruffled anybody's feathers. He went about his assigned tasks quietly and was on site about 35 to 40 hours per week.

The corporate attorney became aware of developing tensions and feared an impending explosion. He convinced the partners that disaster was around the corner if they did not get outside help. We were retained. Our initial confidential interviews came up with this picture.

Partners’ personalities
Jim, the workaholic, complained about low profits. In business meetings he talked about the need for faster growth to increase profits and his income. He believed that he had to put in the long hours because Bob and Tom were not carrying their fair share of the load but he never told them.

He often hinted he should be entitled to a larger share of profit because he was putting in more effort than the other partners did. However, he never confronted the issue head on. He liked the others and did not want to risk a blow-up. In spite of it all, each of them was receiving around $175,000 per year from the business. He believed Tom would agree with him.

Bob, the golfaholic, believed the company would die for lack of customers if he did not continue his marketing efforts on the golf course and social circuit. He believed Jim spent so much time at the plant because he was henpecked at home. He also believed that the company would be better off if some of what Jim did was delegated to employees.

He suspected Jim wanted a bigger slice of profits but he was not going to open that can of worms. He believed Tom would agree with him.

Tom just wanted to get along with everyone. He was happy with his share of the profits and the way business was developing. Tom could not understand why Jim and Bob kept asking him to straighten out the other guy but never talked to each other about their gripes.

He would not take the side of either Jim or Bob but he never said that to either of them. He now recognized that his silence caused both of them to look to him as an ally.

Continued…