As we ramp up for The Private Company Governance Summit 2026, which will take place June 10-12 in Washington, D.C., we are speaking to our panelists to get a bit of insight on the topics they will be discussing at the event. Today, we speak with Nancy M. Dahl, lead independent director of Knutson Construction, about the subject matter of “The CEO You Need (and How to Find Them),” the session she will be participating in at PCGS 2026.
Private Company Director:What do you think are the most essential skills for a private or family company CEO in today’s day and age, and in today’s volatile business environment?
Dahl: I love this question because the CEO job in a private/family company today is very different than even five to 10 years ago. It’s less about command-and-control and more about navigating complexity, relationships and long-term stewardship — all at once.
Here’s how I’d break down the most essential skills right now, especially in a volatile environment:
Clarity in chaos (strategic judgment). You don’t get the luxury of perfect data anymore. A strong CEO can:
- Make decisions with incomplete information.
- Separate signal from noise (huge right now).
- Stay anchored to long-term strategy while adjusting short-term tactics.
In family businesses, this is even more critical because decisions often have emotional and generational consequences, not just financial ones.
Capital allocation discipline. This is the quiet superpower. Where you put money equals what your company becomes. Great CEOs:
- Know when to invest, hold, or pull back.
- Balance growth with preservation of family wealth.
- Avoid “pet projects” driven by internal politics.
In volatile times, not losing money can be just as important as making it.
People leadership across generations. You’re not just leading employees, you’re often leading:
- Family members.
- Nonfamily executives.
- A board that may include both.
A key skill is managing trust, expectations and egos without losing momentum.
The best CEOs create alignment without forcing it and know when to have the hard conversations early.
Emotional intelligence with backbone. This one is massively underrated. You need:
- Empathy to understand stakeholders.
- Self-awareness to not overreact in stress.
- Backbone to still make tough calls.
Family dynamics plus business pressure equals a constant test of emotional control.
Communication that builds confidence. In uncertain times, people don’t just want answers, they want confidence and direction. Great CEOs:
- Communicate clearly and consistently.
- Don’t sugarcoat, but don’t create panic.
- Repeat the vision until it sticks.
If your team is confused, your strategy doesn’t matter.
Governance and boundary-setting. This is the differentiator in family companies. You need to define:
- What is a family decision versus a business decision.
- Roles, accountability and authority.
- How conflict gets resolved.
Without structure, even great businesses get stuck in slow-motion gridlock.
Adaptability (without losing identity). Trends, such as AI, supply chains and workforce shifts, are moving fast. The trick is adapting how you operate without losing who you are. Family companies that win long-term tend to keep their values steady while evolving their execution constantly.
Talent magnetism. Top CEOs today aren’t just operators, they’re talent magnets because they:
- Attract people better than themselves.
- Retain them through purpose and autonomy.
- Build leadership depth (not dependency on themselves).
This is especially important if the next generation isn’t ready or isn’t interested.
Resilience and energy management. This role is a marathon during a storm, and one that never really ends. The best CEOs:
- Manage their energy, not just their time.
- Stay steady when things get messy.
- Recover quickly from setbacks.
Your emotional state becomes the company’s emotional state.
Long-term stewardship mindset. This is what separates private and family CEOs from public-company operators. You’re not just building a business, you’re:
- Protecting a legacy.
- Creating optionality for the next generation.
- Thinking in decades, not quarters.
Sometimes the right decision financially isn’t the right decision for the family, and you have to know the difference.
To put it simply, a great private company CEO today isa calm decision-maker, a disciplined allocator, a relationship architect and a long-term steward — one who can still move fast when it matters.
An outside CEO stepping into a family or privately held business isn’t just running a company — they’re entering a system that already has history, identity and unspoken rules. The skills shift from “builder/operator” to something closer to translator, trust-builder and disciplined operator.
Here’s what I think matters most for the outside CEO.
Earning trust before exercising authority. You may have the title on day one, but not the trust. Early success looks like:
- Listening more than directing.
- Understanding why things are the way they are before changing them.
- Respecting legacy without getting stuck in it.
Move too fast and you’ll trigger resistance you can’t see yet.
Reading the invisible org chart. The formal org chart is only half the story. You need to quickly understand:
- Who actually influences decisions.
- Which family members carry emotional authority.
- Where historical tensions live.
The biggest risks are usually relational, not operational.
Aligning family, board and business (without playing politics). You’re often balancing three groups:
- Family shareholders
- Board members
- Operating team
Your job is to:
- Create alignment without becoming “owned” by any one group.
- Stay neutral, but not passive.
If you get pulled into family factions, it’s almost impossible to lead effectively.
Establishing clear decision rights. This is where many outside CEOs fail quietly. You need clarity on:
- What you can decide independently.
- What requires board approval.
- What the family expects to weigh in on.
Without this, you’ll either overstep or become a bottleneck.
Communicating change without threatening identity. Change is necessary, but in family businesses, it can feel personal. The skills are:
- Framing change as evolution, not replacement.
- Tying decisions back to preserving what matters most.
The mindset looks and sounds like this: “We’re not changing who we are, we’re strengthening it for the future.”
If people feel like you’re erasing legacy, you’ll lose them.
Quickly building a strong inner circle. You need a small group of:
- Trusted operators.
- Cultural translators (often long-tenured insiders).
- People who will tell you the truth.
You cannot navigate this role alone and not everything will be said openly to you.
Balancing patience with performance pressure. There’s a paradox:
You’re expected to respect the culture and take your time, but also deliver results quickly. Great outside CEOs pick a few visible, early wins while pacing deeper, more sensitive changes. Early credibility buys you room to lead.
Handling family dynamics with emotional intelligence (and boundaries). You’ll see things like:
- Sibling tensions.
- Different visions for the future.
- Varying levels of capability and involvement.
Your role is not to fix the family. Your role is to keep the business functioning effectively despite it.
Practice care and respect, but don’t become the referee of family relationships.
Protecting meritocracy (respectfully). One of your biggest long-term contributions is ensuring the business rewards performance, not proximity to the family. This requires:
- Clear expectations.
- Fair but firm accountability.
- Courage in difficult personnel decisions.
Done poorly, this creates backlash. Done well, it builds trust across the organization.
Acting as a steward, but not an owner. This is a subtle but critical mindset shift. You are:
- Responsible for performance.
- Trusted with legacy.
But you are not the family. The best outside CEOs think long-term like an owner, but operate with humility and respect for ownership.
It’s a balance of confidence and deference.
The biggest trap to avoid is trying to “professionalize” the business too aggressively and too quickly. Yes, systems and structure matter, but:
- Relationships are the system in many family companies.
- If you break trust, no process will fix it.
To sum it up, a great outside CEO in a family business is a patient trust-builder, a sharp observer of people dynamics and a disciplined operator who knows when to push and when to pause.
To hear more from Nancy M. Dahl, register today for The Private Company Governance Summit 2026.