How Family Businesses Can Attract Top Leaders While Retaining Their Culture
June 10, 2025 – As family businesses scale, they often encounter unfamiliar territory: entering international markets, building e-commerce infrastructure, modernizing supply chains, or responding to changing generational preferences. In such scenarios, relying solely on internal leadership or legacy practices may not suffice. Experienced external leaders can provide the necessary perspective and capabilities to lead transformational initiatives—without undermining the company’s identity.
External leadership expertise is increasingly essential for family businesses expanding into new markets, embracing digital transformation, or adapting to evolving consumer demands, according to a new report from Odgers’ Susanne Thorning-Lund, Jean-Albert Nyssens, Katja Hartert, and Marco Henry Neumueller. However, the study explained that bringing in top executive talent comes with a delicate challenge: How do you attract high-performing professionals without compromising the culture and legacy that defines the business?
As headhunters with decades of experience advising family enterprises, Odgers has seen both sides of this equation. “The most successful transitions happen when families are intentional about aligning their values with professional management, creating an environment where external leaders can thrive while honoring the family’s identity,” the firm said. Odgers offers some advice on how family businesses can strike that balance.
What Executives Need to Thrive
For many senior executives, the appeal of joining a family-owned enterprise lies in the opportunity to lead with purpose, according to the Odgers report. “But thriving in this environment requires more than just corporate experience,” it said. “It calls for adaptability, emotional intelligence, and a genuine respect for the business’s history. To set external leaders up for success, family businesses should focus on three key enablers. First, clear governance structures are critical. Executive leaders need clarity on decision-making authority, reporting lines, and long-term objectives. Introducing formal governance, such as advisory boards, family councils, or a well-structured executive committee, helps ensure alignment, transparency, and accountability from day one.”
A tailored onboarding process that includes exposure to the family’s history, philanthropic efforts, and personal narratives can foster this understanding and build emotional investment in the business, the Odgers report explained. Mentoring programs can further bridge the gap, pairing external executives with family members in tandem structures or formal mentoring relationships.
“Finally, autonomy with guardrails is essential,” the Odgers report said. “Top leadership talent is drawn to environments where they can make a meaningful impact. While alignment with family strategy is crucial, external hires also need room to lead, innovate, and challenge the status quo. Striking the right balance between oversight and independence empowers executives to drive change without alienating core stakeholders.”
Avoiding Conflicts
The Odgers report also noted that tensions can arise when non-family executives feel constrained by legacy practices or side-lined in favor of family preferences. “Equally, families may fear losing control or diluting their identity,” the study said. “The key is to foster a culture of mutual respect and shared purpose. One of the most effective ways to do this is by setting clear expectations early. Before onboarding an external executive leader, define what success looks like – not just in financial terms, but in how they embody the family’s values.”
“Open, two-way communication channels are also vital,” the Odgers report said. “Regular dialogue between external leaders and family shareholders helps to build trust and surface concerns before they escalate. Quarterly strategy sessions, informal check-ins, and open-door policies all contribute to a healthy feedback loop and a sense of shared ownership.”
“And when disagreements do occur, what matters most is how they’re handled,” the report continued. “Defining pathways for conflict resolution, such as mediation processes, independent advisory panels, or clearly articulated escalation procedures, ensures that disputes are addressed constructively, preserving both the business and the family dynamic.”
Finding Leaders Who Respect Legacy
A common fear among family businesses is that bringing in ‘professional management’ means losing the soul of the company, according to the Odgers report. In reality, the best executive leaders don’t seek to overwrite culture, they amplify it, building on the family’s legacy while guiding the business toward the future.
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The Odgers report also pointed to how psychometric testing can help identify the right attributes. “These assessments can reveal traits that indicate whether a candidate will act as a steward rather than a disruptor, offering objective insights into how individuals will lead, make decisions, and navigate the subtle power dynamics that exist in family enterprises,” the firm said.
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Connection also starts with onboarding, Odgers also explained. Effective onboarding goes beyond systems and processes; it should include participation in family events, legacy storytelling sessions, or visits to foundational sites that hold emotional significance.
“Finally, incentivizing long-term thinking is key,” the report said. “Short-term profit alone shouldn’t drive a leader’s success metrics. Instead, design compensation and incentive structures that reward sustainable growth, cultural alignment, and succession planning. This encourages external leaders to act as custodians of the business, not just operators.”
Respecting the Past to Secure the Present
Family businesses must evolve to stay competitive in a fast-moving world, according to the Odgers report. “But they must also remain true to the values and stories that have carried them this far,” the study said. “The solution isn’t to choose one over the other – it’s to embrace both. Attracting top executive talent doesn’t require sacrificing legacy. With the right structures, mindset, and cultural integration, family businesses can build leadership teams that respect the past, energize the present, and secure the future.”
Done right, Odgers explained that external leaders don’t dilute the family’s influence – they become part of it. And in doing so, they help ensure the business thrives across generations.
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Odgers Berndtson delivers executive search, leadership assessment, and development strategies to organizations globally. The firm’s 250-plus partners cover more than 50 sectors and operate out of 59 offices in 29 countries.
Ms. Thorning-Lund is a senior member of Odger’s chair and board practice, specializing in non-executive appointments as well as CEO searches in her areas of focus. Based in London, she has supported boards in the U.K. and internationally on board evolution and on the appointment of chairs and independent non-executive directors since 2003. Having advised FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 large corporations, ambitious start-ups, multi-generational family-businesses and PE-based companies, across sectors and cultures, in the process, Ms. Thorning-Lund has gained expertise in guiding entrepreneurial and family-owned companies through sustainable board succession planning, on which she leads for the firm.
Mr. Nyssens specializes in senior executive search assignments focusing on consumer and retail, private equity and public sector. As an executive search consultant, he focuses on assignments at board, C-suite and senior executive level. Mr. Nyssens has in-depth expertise in consumer-facing companies, private equity & VC, industrial and public sector organizations. He also dedicates part of his work to non-profit organizations and arts & culture. Mr. Nyssens leverages his strong strategic consulting and investment background to work with leadership teams and boards of clients of all sizes.
Ms. Hartert is a partner in Odgers’ Frankfurt office where she specializes in assignments in technology and business & professional services. In addition to her broad expertise in these areas, she focuses on the cross-industry recruitment of CIO, CTO and IT management positions. Ms. Hartert has been working in executive search since 1990.
Dr. Neumueller advises companies on the appointment of senior executives in the manufacturing industry, technology sector (including medical technology and (opto-)electronics), automotive supply and consumer goods industry. In addition to larger companies, private equity firms and family offices, his clients include medium-sized enterprises in general and family businesses as well as foundation companies in particular. Dr. Neumueller also supports medium-sized enterprises in their search for suitable individuals for their supervisory board and advisory board.
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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
