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
But defensiveness can easily create greater distance.
And what you're describing instead is that need for more transparency, bringing family stakeholders closer to the process, sharing data, ensuring they understand not only what is being done, but why.
Perhaps one of the biggest tests of that trust comes when the CEO has been appointed to change the business.
Our research found that 72% of family enterprise leaders believe their organizations will not survive the next decade without fundamental transformative change.
So, the need to transform is clear.
But in a family enterprise, a proposed change may be interpreted not only as a commercial decision, but as a judgment on what previous generations built.
Barak, how can an outside CEO lead transformation without creating the impression that they are rejecting the family's legacy?
I absolutely love this point, Burak.
It takes such humility for a CEO to be
Open to giving wins back to family members.
But as you say, in terms of stakeholder management, it can create a sense of collective ownership.
Which can ensure that people don't feel disillusioned by the level of change and recognise that actually the family are really behind it, as well as a an outside CEO.
And what stands out there is that transformation should not be positioned as a rejection of the past, and nor should it be imposed by the CEO.
It very much should be a collective effort.
That idea is also central to The Catalyst CEO, a new book from our CEO at Russell Reynolds Associates, Konstantin Alexandrakis, which explores how leaders can create the conditions for others to help shape and lead transformation.
In a family enterprise, creating that stronger sense of shared ownership means involving family members, recognizing what they have built, and connecting change to the values that made the business successful in the first place.
So, we're almost at the end of our time together in the Leadership Lounge.
I'd like to thank Hugo and Barack for sharing their perspectives.
In 30 seconds, here's what we've learned: becoming an outside
CEO of a family enterprise means stepping into a business shaped by history, personal relationships, and a legacy that often carries deep emotional significance.
Showing 141–160 of 323 · page 8 of 17
← Previous
Next →