Baskin says a good consultant can help


deal with the frustration of “kissing a lot of frogs” during the hiring process. “The potential mistake is hiring


someone who is so steeped in the current situation that they cannot help create a new vision. Sometimes you have someone who is an outstanding second in command, but they are not necessarily the right person to take control of the business. “The most important thing is to cast


the net as widely as you possibly can… The family should not create false savings during the search.” Leopold, now an executive head


hunter, says a common mistake is picking someone who the family feels embodies all their own values— when in fact a different perspective is called for. “People usually founded a company


because of the idea they had, not because they necessarily had management skills,” he says. “Management skills are totally


Left: Bill Ford Jr, executive chairman of Ford Motor Co and great-grandson of founder Henry Ford, has had a turbulent experience with his non-family directors


undervalued, but in the end they make the company work. You do need somebody who is full of emotion about the product. But you also need somebody who is totally rational, and even harsh when needed to improve [the company] and change it for the future—because no industry will be like it was forever.”


The pain of letting go In 1847, Samuel Smith and his family left his native Dorset in England and set sail for South Australia. A gardener by trade, Smith worked for a local family for a short time, before buying a tract of land and planting one of the first vineyards in the now-famous Barossa Valley near Adelaide. Fast-forward 169 years and the


resulting wine empire Yalumba—a global exporter exporting to more than 50 markets—is closely held by Smith’s fifth-generation ancestors, brothers Sam and Robert Hill-Smith. Robert Hill-Smith ran the business


until 2015, and remains chairman. But when it was time for him to retire as managing director, both his children and those of his brother were either still in education or just cutting their teeth in the professional world. The solution came in the form of


Nick Waterman, who left a 20-year career with some of the biggest global technology companies to join Yalumba in 2003. He initially managed the imports distribution business, eventually becoming chief operating officer, and on Hill-Smith’s retirement, managing director. Despite his sister being married


to Robert Hill-Smith, Waterman clearly defines himself as a non-family executive. “When I came [into the business]


I was quite clearly an employee. A lot of people didn’t know [about the personal link], it was not talked about for years, and it was not important. We did not want to create a perception of nepotism.” When Hill-Smith decided it was time


Right: Alan Mulally served as non-family president and chief executive of Ford Motor Co from 2006-14 and returned the automaker to profitability, despite the Global Financial Crisis


to move out of the managing director role, he knew he faced a challenge in terms of the trust and discipline required by good governors to step away from the day-to-day operations. He needed to let Waterman use his corporate expertise to make the changes he deemed necessary.


ISSUE 74 | 2018 CAMPDENFB.COM 55


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