Becoming a High-Performing Family Chair

The mentee/mentor relationship of David Barnard and Lynn Clarke has been vital in the former’s role as chair of 105-year-old Vitamix.

Yesterday, as part of a generational transition, the majority family shareholder appointed you as board chair to replace him, following charter protocol. However, it has been a while since you were on the board or worked at the company. And, of course, you’ve never chaired a board. To further complicate matters, you’re replacing your father! What’s your first action? 

This is not a theoretical case. David Barnard, the newly appointed chair of Vitamix, asked the board’s independent directors for advice. For about a year, Barnard served as co-chair with his father, John Barnard. Then, following the board’s recommendation, he hired a mentor who had experience serving on family-held boards, including as an independent, non-family board chair.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Barnard and his mentor, Lynn Clarke. They shared best practices that result in an effective mentor/mentee relationship, one that builds the skills of a family chair so they can help lead the board in its quest for high performance.

Private Company Director: David, what were your objectives in working with Lynn as your chair mentor?

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David Barnard: I didn’t move directly into the chair role. It has been about 15 years since I worked for the company and sat on the board. In the year I was co-chair with my dad, I “shadowed” our independent directors. They provided me with incredibly useful feedback and guidance. Beyond that, I also attained a director certification. Both actions gave me a rule book for being an effective director, but did not prepare me to be chair.

Our independent directors suggested I find a coach. I decided a mentor was a better fit. What’s the difference? A coach helps one learn about the mechanics of leading a board. A mentor helps one to apply those “academics” to real world situations. With Lynn as my chair mentor, I’m able to test my leadership approach in a safe environment before heading into the boardroom. Lynn and I discuss and debate my understanding of business issues, board dynamics and objectives for each board meeting. We’ve worked together for close to two years. It’s helpful for me to test ever more complex approaches with Lynn. We often have rather spirited dialogue that helps me think about issues in a productive, nonemotional fashion so I can help to lead the board to the right conclusions. I suspect Lynn often plays devil’s advocate to ensure I’ve looked at all aspects of an agenda topic … though she won’t admit to it.

PCD: Lynn, how do you help David meet those objectives? 

Lynn Clarke: David caught me! I do regularly play devil’s advocate. As a mentor, it’s important to test the family chair’s points of view and perspectives. It’s also a role I try to play as an independent director or lead director for boards I serve: asking the tough questions and, most importantly, asking the questions that no one really wants to ask is essential to drive board and company performance.  

PCD: David, what attributes or experiences did you look for in a mentor?

Barnard: I wanted someone who had been in the trenches, someone who would enable me to evaluate my own thoughts and positions and who would productively challenge me. I also needed a mentor who experienced the significant transition from a family-run company to a family-owned company, led by a non-family CEO. For 105-year-old Vitamix, this was a tremendous change. As a fourth-generation owner, I needed someone who had been there and done that. I didn’t want to waste time getting a mentor up to speed on the nuances of family businesses or the complexities of our size of business. In addition, I’m a fairly direct person because of my military experience. I needed someone who could be direct and honest in a way I could learn from and respect.

PCD: How did you find Lynn?

Barnard: As I was forming what I wanted from a mentor, I attended a panel discussion on which Lynn appeared.  She discussed issues as an independent director on family company boards and gave several examples of companies with similar sizes and characteristics of family involvement as Vitamix. She also shared examples of family businesses that were not at all like Vitamix, thus she understood the differences.

After the session, I immediately approached her and asked if she would like to consider mentoring me.  She said she had only mentored chairs in the role of an independent director, but wanted to talk

Over coffee, we got to know each other and sketched out a general plan. 

The deciding factor in my selecting Lynn was that she didn’t let me off the hook. When you’re a CEO, an owner or a chair, everyone wants to defer to you. Because Lynn had been a CEO as well as a company owner, she understood. She wants me to succeed and is often quite blunt in her assessments of my performance. Tough love; that’s what any new family chair needs: a mentor who can say, “Wait a minute! You’re not right, or your opinion isn’t founded on facts. You better dig deeper and consider other factors.” It’s much better to have that tough love conversation with your mentor than with the full board.

PCD: Lynn, you serve or have served on a dozen or so privately held boards. A mentor role is quite different from that of an independent director. What is it about mentoring David that made you decide to take on this role? 

Clarke: First, I really like David. He is, as we used to say at PepsiCo, very “coachable.” He is intensely committed to learning and growing as a director and chair. He always wants the best for all Vitamix constituents. He is also willing to admit that he has much to learn and recognizes his strengths and opportunities. Not every family director wants advice or mentoring. David knows it’s important to listen, consider and then act. That makes him a pleasure to work with. His goal is to help Vitamix grow and thrive. Mine is to help him become a better chair every day.

I love seeing the progress he has made. It’s personally rewarding to know I’ve helped him become a better chair. Mistakes I’ve made as a CEO, board chair and lead independent director help me to effectively mentor him.

PCD: And what do you like and dislike about this unique relationship and role? Would you do it again?

Clarke: It’s more of a frustration than a dislike. I miss the intellectual challenges of being in the boardroom. It’s rewarding to provide insights based on my experiences as a CEO, an owner and an independent board chair/lead. The business impact of board debate and dialogue is significant and results in better outcomes for the company. While David and I certainly debate, it’s not the same as, to quote from Hamilton, being “in the room where it happens.”

But, with that said, absolutely yes, I would be a chair mentor again.

PCD: How do you measure David’s progress? How does the board weigh in?

Clarke: A few key steps helped me to build useful foundational knowledge and then track progress. First, there was a visit to Vitamix, where I met the company’s first non-family CEO and his team. I already had product knowledge from marketing Vitamix at the e-commerce company I ran. Seeing the factory and history center gave me a great sense of company culture as well. Then, there were individual interviews with each board director — family and nonfamily — helped me to learn their expectations of David and provided some initial ideas on where I could help him to quickly improve and make an impact. Finally, we obtained success metrics – objective metrics from board members via survey questions such as “Is David a high-performing chair?” This created benchmarks that we both use to measure progress on a regular basis.

PCD: David, how have the relationship and learnings been valuable? What aspects of mentoring have helped you the most?

Barnard: I am a direct person, but I am also a little bullheaded. Sometimes, I don’t want to change my opinion. Lynn finds ways to get me to consider my role, my environment and the other director’s perspectives. Without her mentoring, I would have been a bull in a china shop.

I grew up with five siblings, so if you wanted your opinion to be heard you needed to raise your voice and speak with authority. As a family chair, everyone pays attention to your slightest whisper. I was once told “You need to understand the weight of the coat you wear.” I’ll first bring up a board topic with Lynn. She helps me to smooth the corners and guides me into a presentation that is appropriate for the chair coat I wear. 

We work though conundrums together that I couldn’t have solved on my own. To be honest, this is the area that I will be least confident in once we wrap up our formal relationship. Lynn’s perspective is always slightly different than mine and I enjoy debating the details with her. Neither one of us is always right. Perhaps we are tied. She does make me think outside the box.

Some of our best meetings were when I didn’t think I needed a meeting. I didn’t have anything to cover or discuss. Her prompt — “Well, what’s going on?” — is all it took. Next thing you know, we are assessing a problem I didn’t realize I had.  Early in our mentoring relationship, I would get off the call (we like video better; its more personal) and my brain would be sore from thinking. Often, I still wasn’t quite sure of next steps, but by the time I presented the idea to the board it was more complete because of the analysis that I did with Lynn.

PCD: Would you say your objectives been successfully met?

Barnard: Well, if you’re asking me if I’m a high-performing chair, I don’t know. I don’t think it’s an objective that you achieve and move on. I will always be working to be a better chair for Vitamix.

My ability to recognize the effects of a comment and course-correct make me a much higher-performing chair than when I started. I have come a long way and appreciate Lynn’s mentoring efforts. Our board has gained confidence in me. They are seeking my guidance more frequently. 

Clarke: I conduct regular surveys and periodically speak with and interview directors and the CEO to get a sense of how David is progressing. He has made great strides. My conversations with board members indicate this progress. Based on the initial and evolving objectives that David and I set, along with metrics from board member surveys and interviews, my answer is a resounding “Yes.”

Barnard: I think we are getting close to wrapping up our formal mentoring agreement, but one can be mentored by anyone at any time. My advice: “Keep your mind open for feedback.” Unless it is organized like my relationship with Lynn, most feedback is very subtle so you have to listen and be open to picking up on it.

My favorite President is Abraham Lincoln. He formed his Cabinet with very diverse opinions that were often at odds with each other. He would seek advice from his Cabinet, find the common ground and then act with the best interests of the country in mind. That is what a board is supposed to do, and the chair is supposed to help the board find that common ground. In my definition of a high-performing chair, one must be willing to allow a greater diversity of opinions into the discussion and be able to draw them all into the common ground.

I know that I have developed a friendship with Lynn that I hope we hold onto going forward and I’ve made vast improvement in my chair skills though our engagement. So, yes, I believe the objectives have been successfully met.

About the Author(s)

Bill Hayes

Bill Hayes is the editor in chief of Private Company Director.


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