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Barbara Lupient: Board Chairman of The Lupient Companies | How To Lead a Family Owned Business

Apr 13, 2022

Barbara K. Lupient is the retired CEO and current Board Chair of The Lupient Companies, a household name in Minneapolis, Minnesota, known for their quality products and commitment to customer service. Barbara Lupient built on the reputation her husband helped create, and following his death, she carried on the business and assisted her children to assume greater responsibility and ownership roles. Today, the second and third generation of Lupient family members continue the business while Barbara "retires to" the next stage of her career -- serving as Board Chair and as a philanthropist, her primary current focus on Opportunity International, an organization dedicated to helping (primarily) women in developing countries create and successfully manage their businesses, working to liK their families out of poverty.

 

Barbara joins the Wow Factor podcast to share her experience and insight with leaders facing external complications or pressure in their business or industry and gives her advice on how to move forward as a leader in challenging times. She discusses some of the issues that are unique to leading a family business and her strategy for having a positive professional relationship with your children when they join the family company. Barbara also highlights the difference we can make as leaders when we lead with authenticity and integrity and aren’t afraid to be honest and transparent with our people.                                                                                                                                            

“There's just something in you, that God has put there, that gives you a skill set that allows you to be successful when you’re a leader and allows you to be successful when you're managing people.” - Barbara Lupient

 

“As a giver, you receive far more than you ever give. You receive it in joy, you receive it in relationships, you receive it in so many ways.” - Barbara Lupient

 

“It seems to be the nature of life that we make mistakes — but if we can learn from them, I think that's a good thing.” - Barbara Lupient

                 

                                                                           This Week on The Wow Factor:

  • Growing up as the oldest daughter of six children in North Dakota and how that informed Barbara’s leadership skills and work ethic
  • When it became apparent that the industries of real estate and automotive had a strong family focus
  • When Barbara’s husband, Jim, founded the first dealership and some of the twists and turns in the first few years of business
  • Some of the reverses that Barbara has endured in business and in life and how she and the company got through those challenging times
  • What Bart o do as a leader for her team when Gens pulled the rug from under the business
  • Jim’s Parkinson’s diagnosis and it’s impact on Barbara, her family, and the company
  • The importance of being authentic, being true to yourself, and being true to your moral compass in all that you do
  • What drew Barbara to Opportunity International and why she felt connected to their purpose of supporting women in business

 

Barbara Lupient’s Words of Wisdom:

If people lead from their own True North and make choices that align with their authentic purpose, then we would not have all this contention in the world today. Leaders need to be looking outward to the greater good rather than focus on their own needs.

 

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