One of the most fun things about putting together each issue of this magazine is seeing which secondary themes emerge — mostly unplanned — when all the content is pulled together. It's amazing how often articles written by different contributors and interviews conducted with different family business leaders, all independent of one another, develop a recognizable through line.
Still, picking out a unifying secondary theme sometimes requires a little squinting. Not here though. In this issue, it revealed itself in flashing neon lights: humility.
Really, it makes a lot of sense, given that the main theme — the one we intentionally built this issue around — is leadership. True leadership in any organization, but especially in a family business, is not about hoarding power and hogging glory. It's about empathy, service and the self-awareness to understand how the people around you lift you up and make you better.
This point was driven home for me when I sat down with Sara B. Stern, a family business advisor at EOS Worldwide, and Katie Rucker, co-owner and co-president (with her twin sister, Jenny Dinnen) of strategic consulting firm MacKenzie Corp., for an interview that appears in these pages. The original idea was to do a point/counterpoint-style article documenting their opposing views on whether co-leadership can work in a family business. But it became clear within a few minutes that they agreed on a key point: Co-leadership can work, but only if those leaders check their egos.
As Rucker notes, she and Dinnen did not get along in high school. It wasn't until much later that they discovered how well their markedly different skillsets and personalities complement each other — not to mention how much they enjoy working together.
“To be successful has to come down to communication, respect and understanding,” Rucker says. “And if that's not there, I 100% agree with Sara that this would be an absolute fail.”
Dinnen echoed this sentiment recently when she and Katie guested on our new Family Business/Business Family podcast (available anywhere you get your podcasts!). “There’s no vying for that top spot,” Dinnen says of their relationship. “We, no matter what, have each other’s back.”
The theme of egoless leadership comes up in several of the profiles of our Class of 20224 CEOs to Watch, as well. For example, Herschend shareholder Bradley Herschend says it was humility that helped non-family CEO Andrew Wexler steer the company through the uncertainty of the pandemic and, on another occasion, negotiate a complicated, high-stakes deal.
Letting go of ego is also a key to successfully transitioning to the next generation of leadership, a topic Family Business Magazine contributor Dennis Jaffe explores in his latest column on embracing the role of “elder.”
Jaffe notes that elder family members — especially if they are owners/managers/wealth creators — often struggle to shift from long-held positions of near total control to sharing responsibility with the rising generation. “Some leaders take any suggestion as a rejection or criticism of their past success. Their hurt and anxiety leads them to make defensive, impulsive attempts to retain control forever. These usually backfire, as their successors rebel or retreat.”
To truly embrace the role of elder, Jaffe writes, the current leader “must transition from being the sole authority to being a teacher and a learner.” The good news, according to Jaffe, is that senior leaders today seem to be increasingly working toward that goal.
I can also attest that many leaders, regardless of generation, are keenly aware of how damaging ego can be to their enterprises, as well as to their family relationships. I hear it in my conversations with conference attendees, profile subjects and podcast guests.
Family business leadership comes with no shortage of experiences that can be described as “humbling.” I'm happy to report that the vast majority of folks I've talked to recognize those experiences as opportunities to become better teachers and better learners.