Over the past 12 months, I was involved in various cases where family business clients decided to employ external professionals in the role of a full time CEO or GM. In all cases it was a very interesting journey. I decided to write this article to shed some light on this matter, which I believe could help many family businesses. Integrating an outside CEO or General Manager into a family business, an environment often defined by deep-seated legacy and complex emotional ties, requires a delicate balance of respect and disruption. Success depends on the ability to earn trust while maintaining the fresh perspective for which the leader was hired.

Before an outsider is even hired, the family must undergo a structured thinking process to align on their true motivations. This prevents internal resistance as much as possible. I say as much as possible as eliminating internal resistance completely is almost impossible. Family business leaders should ask: What specific skills (digital transformation, international expansion, financial rigor, strategic mindset, leadership experience) are missing from the current internal talent pool? Is our industry facing a faster cycle of disruption that requires experiences we haven’t developed internally? Are we choosing an outsider because there is no internal successor, or because we need a “bridge” leader to professionalise the business for the next generation? Is the new leader hired to maintain the status quo or to drive significant change?

From the perspective of the external CEO or GM joining a family business, that person should understand that joining a family business means entering a culture you didn’t create. So to thrive, as an outside leader, you must move strategically through what I see as three critical phases, as outlined below.

Phase I: Observe and Learn

In a legacy culture, credibility is built faster through curiosity than by immediately pushing for change.

• Listen for “Insider Language”: Pay attention to the acronyms that no one explains and the rituals that repeat year after year.
• Identify Informal Power: Observe who holds informal power and how their trust is earned, as meetings and hallway conversations reveal the true patterns of influence.
• Analyse the “Why”: Watch how decisions are made, who defers in key moments, and what stories people repeat about the company’s past.

Phase II: Connect Through Shared Purpose

As an outsider, you may never share the family’s history or “shared background”. Instead, focus on shared purpose going forward:

• Align with the Mission: Legacy organisations are typically anchored to a mission; find opportunities to align yourself with it in visible, authentic ways.
• Shared Values as a Bridge: Focus on the “why” behind the work; shared values often prove to be a stronger bridge than similar resumes.

Phase III: Strategic Use of the “Outsider Lens” to bring change

Your value lies in seeing inefficiencies or assumptions that family members no longer notice because they have “always done it this way”.

• Name Patterns, Not Prescriptions: Share what you are seeing without advocating for immediate change. Work to create the case for change rather than change itself at first.
• Avoid Comparison: Avoid comparing the family business to your previous roles, as this triggers defensiveness.
• Hypothesis Framing: Frame insights as questions or hypotheses (e.g., “how has coordination worked here in the past?”) rather than judgments.

On the other hand, family business owners and leaders needs to work hard to successfully integrate an outside candidate. Ultimately the family business must be willing to make “belonging” easier for the new leader. Some practical examples include having such family business owners & leaders proactively explaining unwritten rules, acronyms, and the “how we do things here” mindset, allowing the leader time to understand fully what already exists before they frame new ideas, understanding the new leader’s observations and supporting them as signals of future direction. Ultimately, the arrival of an external CEO or GM is not just about a new employment. It is about the family business increasing its mental capacity for change. In legacy cultures, change is often resisted before it is even understood. By successfully integrating an outsider, the family learns to separate identity from process by realising that “how we’ve always done it” isn’t the same as “who we are”. It also help family business that accepting a new “thought leader” who challenges the status quo is more valuable than one who keeps the status quo at all costs. This mean that if done correctly, the family business can use the new leader’s influence to transform the culture for everyone, making the organisation more adaptable to future disruption.

The transition from a family-led legacy to an externally managed one is not a surrender of history, but a strategic evolution to ensure its survival. For the family, success requires the humility to recognise that “how we do things here” can become a cage that prevents the organisation from facing faster cycles of disruption. For the incoming leader, success demands the wisdom to realise that influence is earned through curiosity, not just speed. The real victory is not simply hiring an outsider; it is the moment the family business increases its mental capacity for change. When a legacy culture stops resisting a fresh perspective and starts using it as a strategic advantage, it transforms from a rigid monument of the past into a dynamic engine for the future.