Why a top boss won’t sugarcoat his
mistakes
Stephen Badger, chairman of Mars
Inc, learnt more about running a family business after taking over the reins of
the $35-billion empire
Stephen Badger is the great-grandson of Franklin Mars, the man
who founded the chocolate giant, Mars Inc.
With some $35 billion in annual sales, Mars Inc is one of the
biggest family-owned businesses in the world. But the family doesn’t just own
the company. Some members play key roles. And one of them is Badger, who
currently serves as the company’s chairman.
Badger has also worked as the global director of corporate
affairs and served as the president of Seeds of Change, a Mars subsidiary that
makes organic food. While all of his positions have come with their own
challenges, Badger said that becoming the chairman was by far the most
difficult role to move into.
A new dynamic
“The biggest challenge that I’ve had in my career was when the
second of my uncles stepped off the board and I stepped into being chairman,”
he said. “The difficulty in that is you are moving from a dynamic where you had
two individuals who had run the business for over 40 years and were playing
governance as well as an operational role in management in terms of running
it.”
He added: “So all of a sudden, it was a significant shift in the
dynamics of the board and in the dynamics of the family, in terms of really a
generational transition.”
Badger said he was able to get through the transition by being
open with his family and building a collective vision for what the company was
trying to do.
But the experience also taught him one quality that helps a
family business run smoothly — equality.
“The most important thing I’ve learned working for a family
business is that everybody is equal as an individual,” Badger said. “It doesn’t
mean that everybody’s opinion is what’s going to get implemented. But
everybody’s opinion counts. And I think that is the way we run Mars.”
Learning from mistakes
During his career at the company, Badger said he has learned a
lot about leadership. And when he reflects on his experience so far, he said
there are two common business mistakes that he has made and that he cautions
others against making.
“I think the biggest mistake classically, and that I certainly would
have been guilty of ... is not listening to your gut when you know something
isn’t right,” Badger said. “When we first launched into food products, I had a
sensibility that the food products weren’t right. And you know what, lo and
behold, it turned out to be true. So, I think trusting your gut is critical.”
The other mistake Badger cautioned against was not embracing
trends quickly enough. “Somebody said the other day very few businesses fail
for moving too quickly,” he said.
Badger said this is especially applicable to larger companies,
but it’s also relevant for small businesses. “I think trusting your gut and
moving at the right pace would probably be the two things I wish I’d done more
of in my career,” he said.
businessinsider.in
ETP 3OCT18
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