Are You the Chief Household Officer?

Here’s why you should run your home more like your business

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How often have you heard, “our company is like a family”?

In a small business, it’s shorthand for a tight-knit team and a willingness to help each other out. It means caring about each other as people – the opposite of feeling like a cog in a corporate machine.

For a business owner, investing in close relationships at work means leading a team that brings heart and volunteers discretionary effort – and that’s a game-changer for their bottom line.

Like many entrepreneurs, I’m a mom as well as a business owner. And as hard as we work to build a cohesive team at work, Family Day is a good reminder that the most important team you’ll ever lead is the one at home. Instead of making your workplace like a family, have you thought about business best practices that would help your family at home?

Of course, the roles and expectations at home are starkly different – but here are a few ways your business acumen can help your family thrive.

Urgent vs Important

To succeed in business, being able to distinguish the signal from the noise is an essential skill. In a day filled with interruptions and distractions, focusing on what’s important rather than what feels most urgent is the only way to get out of the hamster wheel.

At home, the same skill takes on new emotional weight. Carving out real time for one-on-one time with your partner or child is important, but it rarely feels urgent. Getting down on the floor and playing with your kids or grandkids might not feel important, until the years pass and they’re no longer interested.

Communication Takes a System

Communication at work follows a system. Daily huddles, weekly team meetings, frequent one-to-ones with the boss, quarterly performance reviews, and annual planning all work together to make sure everyone is rowing in the same direction.

At home, it would be an extremely unusual family that ran formal performance evaluations.

But the same principal applies. Instead of relying on ad hoc communication delivered in passing, setting aside time to meet on key topics with a partner or the entire family creates a space for meaningful conversations.

Money

No matter it’s size, a well-run business relies on financial recordkeeping and careful planning. And no matter what tax bracket a family is in, financial health means knowing your numbers and planning ahead.

At home, you may not have a P&L prepared every month – but creating a spending plan and tracking against it with the same regularity will keep your spending intentional, rather than reactive.

This Week’s Takeaway

In business, your ability to know what’s important and what just feels urgent, your predictable communication rhythm, and disciplined financial planning give you a sturdy foundation on which to build.

The same skills prove equally valuable at home – and luckily, you don’t need to put your spouse on a performance plan or force your teenager to timeblock their screen time to get the benefits.

Whether you’re working towards retirement, a family milestone, or simply a more balanced life, what’s one business practice you could implement at home that would help you reach your personal goals faster?

Rest: By Alex Soojung-Kim Pang

Rest is a thoughtful counterbalance to the constant pressure to do more and push harder. The author makes a research-backed case that real productivity often comes from stepping away, not doubling down, and introduces the idea of “deliberate rest” as a skill rather than a reward. Better work often starts with taking rest just as seriously as effort.

Check it out!