Emma Combe
speaker
323 appearances
4 recordings
1 series
first heard Jan 2026
last heard 9 Sep
Emma Combe’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
Trend
recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 4 in all, peaking in Sep 2026 with 1.
Appearances
Hugo, what makes stepping into a family enterprise as an outside CEO fundamentally different from other CEO appointments?
What really stands out for me, Hugo, is the added complexity and pressure you might face as an outside CEO.
You're not only taking responsibility for a balance sheet or a business strategy, you're being entrusted with generations of hard work, sacrifice, and family history.
And of course getting that balance right between proving your worth and adding value yourself versus taking the family members with you is so critical.
So given that added responsibility, what does an outside CEO need to understand from the outside about the expectations placed on them?
I think that's such a fascinating point, Hugo.
And normally, as you say, when you're named CEO of a listed business, for example, you immediately get a degree of institutional authority.
But in a family enterprise, even if you have the CEO title, you may not yet have what we might call emotional permission to lead.
The trust still has to be earned.
At the same time, appointing an outside leader does not necessarily mean accepting a lower chance of success.
McKinsey research found that 39% of family business transitions to non-family CEOs created value over time, compared with 29% of transitions to family CEOs.
But that success still depends on how effectively the new leader is anchored in the family's values, vision and legacy.
To talk about this in more detail, I'd like to bring in Barak Gorbin, a leadership advisor in our Dubai office, who not only advises family enterprises, but also began his own career in a family enterprise.
So I'm really excited to hear his perspective.
Barak, welcome to the Leadership Lounge.
Barack, what other challenges might an outside CEO face when trying to build trust in a family enterprise?
That's a great example, Barak, because of course it's not just about the car, is it?
It's about how something relatively innocuous can take on much greater significance if the family's values are at stake.
I'd like to now shift focus to explore how an outside CEO can navigate some of these complexities to set themselves up for success.
Hugo, let's start with you and the period before the CEO officially takes the helm.
Showing 101–120 of 323 · page 6 of 17
← Previous
Next →