C-suite Archives - The Alexander Group

Jason Hill has been named Chief Marketing Officer for White & Case LLP.

Mr. Hill has extensive, strategic, and transformative business development and marketing leadership experience. He joins White & Case from Goldman Sachs, where he served as Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer for Global Marketing.

Learn more about Mr. Hill here.

This search was conducted and completed by Managing Director John Lamar, Director William Lepiesza and Associate Pam DeLuca.

Truda Chow has been named Chief Operating Officer by Frost Brown Todd LLP.

Ms. Chow has extensive experience serving in highly impactful law firm leadership roles, and before joining Frost Brown Todd, she served as Chief Operating Officer for North America for Clyde & Co. and as firmwide Chief Operating Officer for Michael Best.

For more information about Ms. Chow, click here.

This search was conducted and completed by John Lamar and William Lepiesza.

What do Walmart, Berkshire Hathaway, Dell, Comcast, Publix, and Ford have in common? All are among the nation’s largest companies and members of the Fortune 100. Each of them is “family-owned,” which is loosely defined as having two or more family members involved and a majority of ownership or control within the family. Family-owned businesses date back centuries to family farms and, in urban settings, shops, and businesses where the family lived above the premises. In both examples, all family members actively participated in producing the family’s livelihood.

Although many people think of family-owned businesses as making up only a small part of the economy, the following 2021 statistics from Family Business reveal that family-owned businesses:

Employ 23 percent of the US workforce, accounting for 32.6 million jobs;
Generating 23 percent of private-sector GDP or $3.2 trillion; and
Total 9.1 million businesses, representing 25 percent of all business tax returns.
Pressure to Keep it in The Family—Challenges in Hiring Family Members:

The family-business owner, like all business owners, should be concerned about having the best talent in appropriate roles. This can pose a challenge when hiring family members for key positions. Are they the best qualified? It is important to establish hiring and position requirements and uniformly adhere to them when considering family. These guidelines help avoid the pressure to hire a family member only because they are a family member. Many family companies encourage the next generation of family interested in the business to work for another company for several years to gain general business knowledge and experience to be eligible to join the family business.

When family members choose to work for another company in the same industry, they gain added perspective and familiarity with accepted industry-specific best practices. Family members who work outside the family business can gain increased credibility with other family members and the board. Family businesses should communicate hiring criteria for all positions, which not only sets the standard for talent management but can avoid future misunderstandings and conflicts.

The family business owner should ensure that every employee, whether a family member or not, receives the training needed to allow them to function successfully. Placing a family member in a role for which they lack the appropriate skills without a plan to provide the needed training can cause tension, low morale, and family drama. Family member executives must be assessed on their own merits. Each position should have yearly goals so that the family member can be evaluated objectively and without favoritism.

Strategically Hiring Outside The Family:

Hiring nonfamily members, especially doing so for the first time, can be challenging. Many companies decide to hire nonfamily members when the owners want to accelerate the company’s growth. Other companies hire nonfamily members when the company needs specific skills such as legal, international, or financial expertise. The challenge then becomes ensuring that the nonfamily member is a good fit with the organization’s culture and the family itself, especially if the company is small. Marc Sharpe, Chairman of the Family Office Association, reports that individuals who are comfortable with a “servant leadership style” in which one leads by putting the needs of their team first can be an excellent personality fit for a family business.

He adds that while hiring a nonfamily manager is often done to acquire a specific skill set, it is also important to hire individuals who have the flexibility to take on a generalist role when needed. If companies are recruiting nonfamily members for a position to replace a family member, it is important to communicate the reason for the hire and have detailed position requirements. If the company’s management are not in full agreement to hire a nonfamily executive, it will be a difficult and possibly unsuccessful hire.

To avoid and resolve family conflict, it is important in the recruitment and retention of outside candidates to ensure the family business has well-defined business procedures and corporate governance. Also, making decisions informally outside the office will put the nonfamily member at a disadvantage.

Best Practices for Executives Joining a Family Business:

Individuals who work for family businesses agree that it can either be a rewarding or disappointing experience depending on a number of factors, and we recommend that any executive considering joining a family business evaluate the following:

Has the family agreed on the hire?
How well has the position been defined?
How many individuals have previously held the same position? Turnover, particularly in the C-suite, can be a red flag indicating that the family is not ready for a nonfamily executive;
How are business decisions made? Cultural fit may be influenced by whether the business owner makes key decisions independently or in a distributed fashion;
How does the team operate in terms of executing the business? A well-functioning team is empowered to operationalize projects and business imperatives timely and successfully;
Understand the business owner’s goals; recognize these goals may be focused on objectives other than increasing revenue and growth, such as philanthropy or creating a legacy;
Evaluate the strengths and challenges of the current team and look for signs of dysfunction among family members;
Get to know family members individually, because they may have different goals and objectives; what are the family dynamics in play?

Leslie Diorio has joined Ice Miller LLP as Director of Legal Recruitment. Ms. Diorio is a dedicated recruiting executive skilled in management, strategy, talent assessment, training, and data analytics. Previously, Ms. Diorio was Vice President, Talent Recruiting at Axiom where she acquired more than 20 years of legal recruitment experience.

Learn more about Ms. Diorio here.

This search was conducted and completed by Managing Director John M. Mann and Associate Jonathan Daniels.

Patrick O’Connor has been named Chief Business Development & Marketing Officer for Holland & Knight LLP. Mr. O’Connor joins Holland & Knight from Big Four public accounting and consulting firm Ernst & Young LLP. He has more than 25 years of strategic and operational business development, marketing, and commercial leadership experience.

Learn more about Mr. O’Connor here.

Managing Directors John Lamar, Jean Lenzner, and William Lepiesza conducted and completed this search.

Ryan Kovach has joined PilotLegis as Assistant Executive Director. Mr. Kovach is a seasoned leader focusing on compliance, auditing, contract negotiation, policy development, information security and training.

Learn more about Mr. Kovach here.

Amanda K. Brady, Managing Director/Chief Client Officer, conducted and completed this search.

One of the most frequently asked questions we get is “How do I get on a corporate board if I’m not already on a board?” The hardest board will be your first board.

Here is what you need to know.

1) The Process Is Different than Applying for a Full Time Position

A board seat is usually not a position for which you apply. It is much more like a sorority, fraternity, or even a posh club: Candidacy is by invitation only. While visiting and making contacts with search firms is helpful, it should not be your only strategy. Search firms fill only a relatively small percentage of board seats, though this number is increasing due to the need for highly specialized talents and a commitment to greater diversity.

Because someone can work and still serve on a board, it’s relatively easy for board members to recruit friends, former colleagues or executives with whom they’ve done business. A search firm may not be as helpful to you in seeking a board position as it would if you were looking for a C-suite role, simply because board searches are not put out to search nearly as often as executive positions are.

Secondly, Board positions do not turnover as frequently as C-Suite roles. The average tenure for directors in the larger companies of the S&P 500 Index and the broader Russell 3000 index is nearly ten years.

Lastly, it is expensive. Search firms charge anywhere from $70,000 to $200,000 to complete board searches. Many Boards inquire about their network before retaining a search firm.

2) Know Thy Strengths

What value could you bring to a board? Determine the industry and type of company where your background would be an asset. Would you meet the requirements to serve on a company’s Audit Committee? Do you have a background in a sought-after functional area, such as compliance, data security, or executive compensation? Are you a diversity candidate? There are many functional areas or qualifications that boards seek to ensure they have a well-rounded board.

Prepare an “elevator” speech that you will use to introduce your candidacy to search consultants and sources of referrals for board positions that articulate what you have to offer. You will also need a different resume highlighting your value to a board, your ability to represent shareholders, and interactions with your own or other boards.

3) Define Your Brand

What would someone learn about you if they Googled your name? Does your resume reinforce the assets you would bring to a board? (Define your strengths; see number 2 above). Who are you, and how have you established yourself? What is your reputation? What enterprise challenges have you faced and successfully navigated?

4) Be Visible

It is not enough that you are good at what you do. Being selected for a board requires both an internal and external effort. This requirement is especially important if you are not currently working. One of the fastest ways to disqualify yourself from a board is not to be “current.” Today, board members must be up to date with changes in business and technology. To this end, it is critical to become versed in social media. Have a LinkedIn profile complete with a picture. Have an account with—and understand how to use—Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok (even if you don’t use it). Submit articles, blogs or comments to industry association websites and publications. Engage in online dialog with your peers on social media. Publish an article on LinkedIn that delves into your area of expertise.

5) It’s All About Contacts and Networking

Landing a board seat is both a numbers game and a contacts game. Let your investment banking, law, bank, public accounting, and consulting firm contacts know of your interest in being on a board and the value you would bring. Use LinkedIn to identify board members of companies whom you can contact. Note if any of the directors are close to retirement. Many individuals have found board positions by contacting venture capital firms. In addition to search firms, check out top registries such as the National Association of Corporate Directors, Catalyst (for women), and various universities that have board training programs. Stanford, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and Dartmouth offer corporate governance programs.

6) Start Small and Leverage Those Successes

Be willing to start small. Are there any not-for-profits for which you have a passion? If so, volunteer to be on their board, even locally. Are there small companies that are looking for a volunteer board? What about your church, child’s school, or trade association? Once you’re on an organization’s board, fellow board members are often senior executives from public companies with whom you can network. It may take two or three not-for-profit boards before you can join a for-profit board. We know several executives who got their start on public boards by working with emerging growth companies and rode with those companies as they went from a garage operation to a Fortune 1000 company.

Most executives agree that it is harder to land their first board position than actually to serve on a board. Look at your contacts and networking as investing in one board and future Board positions. Not surprisingly, most search firms who conduct board searches look first to those already serving on public boards.

Additional resources:

The Executive Leadership Council: Helps provide opportunities for African American executives.

The Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility: Serves as a resource for Hispanic executives vying for board service.

Anyone who has ever been involved with a not-for-profit will at some point be asked to serve on a search committee or lead a search committee’s search for a new CEO/President or senior officer. We have written previously about the responsibilities of search committee members and how candidates can prepare for a search committee interview but wanted to take a deeper look at the role of the Search Committee Chair.

We turn to Steve Taylor, a leader in the not-for-profit community for nearly 30 years who is currently serving as Executive Vice President and Chief Mission Officer of the Arthritis Foundation. Steve recently chaired the search committee for the President and CEO of the National Health Council, which has been widely viewed as a well-run search with outstanding results. Below, Steve answers the questions we are frequently asked as not-for-profit recruits using search committees.

How big should a search committee be?

I believe the ideal size is seven, including the Chairman who should also have a vote. You could possibly do nine or five, but frankly, if the Committee becomes too large, it can be hard to coordinate schedules. You have too many opinions in the discussions, and you want every voice to be heard. You’ll also want to make sure it’s an odd number; that way there is no tie.

Who should be on a search committee?

Much of it depends on the position. Ideally, one to three members of the Executive Committee should be on the Search Committee and supplement that with volunteers who represent different parts of the organization. I recommend looking at the various responsibilities of the position you are trying to fill. Which volunteers can best represent and understand these responsibilities? The key to a successful search committee is that you want members with perspective but who are not living in the past. On the other hand, you don’t want search committee members being so free-spirited they are substituting their vision for that of the Board’s.

The ideal Search Committee member understands the history of the organization as well as its future vision.

And that is what is so important when selecting volunteers to serve on a search committee: they need to be familiar [with] and embrace the Board’s vision for the organization and also represent different constituencies of the organization.

Should current employees sit on a search committee?

Many organizations wrestle with this question. Sometimes, it makes sense, especially when you have long-term employees who understand the organization. But this is not a choice without challenges.

If there are internal candidates for the position, it can be difficult to ask a colleague [to] make an unbiased choice.

Secondly, a staff member on the Committee may not have the strategic view of the organization that a high-ranking volunteer or board member will have.
Thirdly, it can be sensitive for an employee to be involved in salary discussions involving the successful candidate.

I typically recommend that one of the Search Committee members serve as a liaison to a group of employees/staff. On the search I led for the National Health Council, I personally maintained contact with the senior leadership team. While I did not discuss individual candidates, I asked the search firm to solicit their opinions on the type of leaders we were seeking, and I communicated to them on the progress of the search.

Who selects the search firm, and what should be considered?

I can’t overemphasize the importance of a strong partnership with the search firm. You want it to be a partnership, not just a firm presenting resumes. The Chair should have meaningful input on selecting the search firm because they’ll be the one working [most] closely with them. Of course, the Search Committee reviews proposals and meets with several finalists. Ultimately, the Chair of the Search Committee should have a strong voice when selecting a search firm.

For me, the search firm needed to have experience in organizing and administratively providing infrastructure to the committee so that I and the Committee could focus on the candidates.

I also believe the Chair shouldn’t rely on the Search Committee or search firm to coordinate. There will be times that the Chair needs to jump in to either facilitate meetings or deal with scheduling or personnel challenges. The search firm should be willing to do more than just conduct the search as many members of a search committee have full-time jobs.

I advise my colleagues running search committees to be very specific with what you would like the search firm to do.

Do you want them to:

-Attend search committee meetings?
-Set the agenda for search committee meetings?
-Provide interview questions?

I believe you need a search firm to do anything the Search Committee and its Chairman cannot or do not want to do because of time restraints.

It is a given that a search firm needs to have a robust Rolodex, but I’m still trying to figure out how to evaluate that. [laughing] What you can evaluate is recent searches a search firm has conducted for similar positions. As we evaluated search firms, some listed searches conducted over a decade ago! That was a lifetime ago in the not-for-profit world.

Finally, I believe you need to find a search firm that is upfront and honest with you about who the lead staff will be—and that you have the opportunity to meet with that lead staff to ensure compatibility and understanding of the process you envision—before you finalize your selection on a firm.

What allowances did you make during COVID-19 in the most recent search you chaired?

Overall, it worked out well. In certain ways, the process moved more efficiently given the Search Committee met by Zoom and the candidates were interviewed by the search firm and us for first-round interviews by Zoom. One advantage we had as a search committee is that we all knew each other—some better than others—but this familiarity allowed us to work together well virtually.

Once we narrowed the process to our finalists, we asked them to meet face to face, of course, social distancing, wearing masks, etc., with another search committee member and me. Despite adapting to video conferencing, meeting the candidate in person makes a big difference. To have a candidate willing to invest the time to travel to a meeting and meet a group of people, some in person, some virtually, was critical to the final steps of our process.

We were able to observe how they handled themselves in the middle of a pandemic, watch how they coordinated their presentation, and even how they arranged the papers on the conference table. In a virtual interview, you have no idea if the candidate has sticky notes on their computer screen providing possible hints to questions. That was important to us because that’s what the job is going to be (ultimately): face-to-face meetings working with different constituencies and being able to communicate and think on their feet. Interestingly, I believe we would have ended up with the same candidate if we had searched COVID.

As a search committee chair, how do you handle candidate withdrawals and surprises?

As a search committee chair or member, you understand that many candidates are currently in good positions, and you are hoping to attract them to your organization. You can’t get too nervous about that. It is part of the process. You reach for candidates; some attract, and some lose. And if a candidate pulls out, I believe they should do it in the search process rather than later.

As for the second part of your question, as Chair, you have to be flexible, responsive, and nimble because issues arise that need to be acted on quickly. Several times, I had to reach out to Committee members individually to keep the process moving either because an issue arose on a Friday night or there was simply not the time to call a full committee meeting. You establish that at the beginning of the search, so there is no misunderstanding. In every search, there may be small decisions made either by the chair or by a smaller group on the committee, because trying to get everyone together all the time isn’t possible, but ultimately the big decisions are made as a group.

How much time does it take to do a good job?

The time required ebbs and flows during the search. If you have a good search firm, as we did in using The Alexander Group, there’s less time initially because you allow them to do the search and trust their judgment on the candidates they’re presenting. The search committee chair is free to focus on the higher-level items most important to finding the right candidate. Once the interview process is underway, you must be available for the search committee, search firm, [and] staff as the process unfolds. There is a significant time commitment required for the Chair. The organization needs someone who can make that time commitment because you’ll never finish the search if it is not a priority.

Who should be the Chair?

Choosing the right search committee chair is critical to a successful search. The chair needs to be a leader in the organization who understands its past and its future vision. It does not have to be the current board chair. It could be a past board chair that might have more time because it’s not the current board chair. It is important the chair can lead without supervision and is trusted by the board.

After a successful 11-year run at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, former CEO Rob Perez asked himself, what next?

“While I loved (almost) every aspect of leading Cubist, my favorite part was helping to develop the unique culture that was a hallmark of the organization. And a big part of that culture was our extraordinary commitment to the community,” he said.

“There were many enticing and, frankly, flattering offers, but I found that nothing provided a greater return on happiness than giving back to others.” After much reflection and conversations with close friends and family, Perez founded Life Science Cares, an organization committed to eliminating the impact of poverty in the greater Boston area. “Being involved in the community, and helping others do so as well … gave me the greatest joy.”

Executive Directors of not-for-profit organizations report high levels of job satisfaction.

And he is not alone. A 2011 study of nonprofit executive leadership found that Executive Directors of not-for-profit organizations, like Perez, report high levels of job satisfaction. Ninety-one percent reported that they are very happy in their jobs or have more good days than bad. Sound attractive?

The opportunity to “do good” appeals to many chief executives who are looking to channel their leadership skills and good fortune more directly toward their community and causes.

But there are a few myths that must be confronted:

Myth #1: If I can lead a Fortune 500 company, I can run a nonprofit.

Much of what you have done in the private sector will be relevant, but there are some profound distinctions. Businesses have wide-ranging goals and objectives, but there is really only one focus: To make a profit. The goal of nonprofit organizations, however, is to “change lives.” That passion for the mission or the art often competes with—and sometimes trumps—business decisions. An Executive Director, and his or her board, must learn how to balance the two: develop and maintain a sustainable organization that also has the means to pursue its passion.

When a leader can’t affect performance through giving or withholding rewards, leadership style shifts from power to influence.

Another key distinction? In the business world, one enjoys a deep bench of talent. By contrast, nonprofit staffs are generally lean, paid at below-market wages and hampered by limited resources. And nonprofits often have large numbers of volunteers who aren’t getting paid.

“You can’t just pull everybody into a conference room and make them do something,” says Dean Niewolny, CEO of the Halftime Institute, a nonprofit organization that coaches and connects high-capacity leaders to serve communities. “When a leader can’t affect performance through giving or withholding rewards, leadership style shifts from power to influence.”

Jane Howze, Not-for-Profit Practice Leader at The Alexander Group, agrees: “A not-for-profit CEO does not have the power of promotions, salaries, or discipline to motivate teams. Instead, a not-for-profit CEO must rely on his or her ability to appeal to constituents by communicating the organization’s mission and vision.”

Myth #2: I’m not ready to retire; this will be an easy transitional role.

Many mistakenly believe working for a nonprofit is easier than corporate work. The work can be incredibly rewarding, but one will be expected to do the same work as before, and with fewer resources. The work takes passion and commitment.

It feels like I am just beginning and I couldn’t be more grateful.

Retired pharmaceutical executive Scott Boyer helped launch ROW Foundation in 2014 to deliver epilepsy treatments to underdeveloped countries. “All of this is happening at an age when many of my contemporaries have retired. For me, it feels like I am just beginning and I couldn’t be more grateful.”

He urges other executives considering a transition to “think about listening to that voice inside you that says you could make your ‘what if’ a reality and ignoring the voice that says you cannot.”

Myth #3: I know lots of people with deep pockets.

More important than who you know, is how you know them. A robust personal network indicates that one is adept at networking and building relationships—an important skill for nonprofit leaders. Executive Director candidates must demonstrate that they can continually seek new sources of revenue and in-kind support, whether donations, grants, corporate alliances, or partnerships with other community organizations.

Club promoter Scott Harrison used his social media influence to spread awareness of charity: water, the nonprofit he founded in 2006 to bring clean water to communities in developing countries. Harvard grad Elizabeth Scharpf engaged in a creative corporate alliance with Johnson & Johnson, the multinational consumer goods company, to lend brains, talent and equipment to Scharpf’s nonprofit organization Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE). In exchange, SHE is sharing its innovations in producing affordable sanitary napkins in rural Africa.

A robust personal network indicates that one is adept at networking and building relationships—an important skill for nonprofit leaders.

Networking can also help attract new board members and create staff development opportunities including recruiting, education, best practice sharing.

Myth #4: I’ve served on a not-for-profit board; I can easily transition to Executive Director

Nonprofit board membership is very different from running the organization day to day. As a board member, you understand the need to balance the expectations of various stakeholders—local governments, donors, beneficiaries, employees, volunteers and the community at large—all with distinct points of view and demands. As Executive Director, however, those demands will routinely land on your desk. The buck stops with you. And balancing competing agendas takes diplomacy, tact and thick skin.

Balancing competing agendas takes diplomacy, tact and thick skin.

“Not-for-profits often have limited resources and competing demands for those resources,” says Howze. “It is up to the Executive Director/CEO, along with the board, to prioritize the resources. We see this quite often with voluntary health organizations in which some constituents’ priority is funding research in hopes of finding a cure in the future, while others are more focused on offering the best treatments, programs, and services for those presently afflicted with the disease.”

“Stakeholders with differing, and often conflicting, agendas can make a not-for-profit CEO’s job much more complex,” Howze emphasizes.