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6 min read
The first CEO from outside the family
The search is the easy part. The harder part is agreeing what the family keeps and what it gives away.
For many owner families the first external chief executive is the biggest decision since the founding of the company. It is also one of the easiest to get wrong.
The most common reason is not the candidate. It is that the family has not agreed which decisions it will keep. A chief executive who is told to run the business and then finds every investment reviewed at the kitchen table will not stay long.
Agree the boundaries first
We ask families to write down, before the search begins, which decisions belong to the shareholders, which to the advisory board and which to the chief executive. It is a short document. It saves a great deal.
Once that is clear, the profile almost writes itself.
Written by
Thomas Achterberg
Chief executives and managing directors in the German-speaking market