The auto parts company ushered in a new chief executive ̶ without the backstabbing and boardroom brawls
No backs got stabbed, that’s the first thing. Nobody screamed or tearfully pleaded. And there was no frantic last-minute, boardroom-adjacent wrestling match. Maybe that’s a tiny bit surprising for some, given how thoroughly the hit HBO show Succession—not to mention certain real-life examples —managed to bundle the idea of leadership transition in a family business with the expectation of chaos, rivalry and betrayal.
We need to know, too, that this leadership succession comes as Linamar is facing a couple of existential challenges, through really no fault of its own. The first has to do with the auto industry—with what the company calls its mobility segment accounting for nearly a 70% chunk of its business. These aren’t normal times in car and truck land.
Let’s jump forward 24 years. By 1990, Linamar was a publicly traded company with 13 machining and assembly plants and $129 million in annual sales. Linda was a young woman with a degree in chemistry and the beginnings of a career in the pharmaceutical industry. Her parents were away on holiday when she called to tell them she had important news, but she wouldn’t tell them over the phone.
“I think I had him on an airplane,” she remembers, “so I had him captive for a period of time. And we agreed on the four things that he was gonna do, and I wrote it down on a piece of paper. Because my dad always said, ‘If you make a deal, get someone to sign it right away.’ So, I wrote the four things down, and we both signed that piece of paper.”
Obviously it’s not the nature of the business itself that sees rare and momentous changes in leadership occur without quarrel or consternation. There’s another major parts manufacturer you may have heard of—Magna International—whose leadership controversies involving its own founding Frank and his ambitious daughter produced countless headlines . But the Stronachs are not the Hasenfratzes, and Magna is not Linamar.
“I thought it was a fantastic idea,” she says. “I was excited about it.” But the market wasn’t thrilled, and the share price initially suffered. “I think it took the market by surprise,” says Hasenfratz. “I was just a general manager running a few plants, and all of a sudden I’m chief operating officer.” She sighs. “So, there I was again, back to having to prove myself, just like I did every time I moved plants or jobs.
Was there grumbling? Sure. People had always just gone to Frank to get things done. But Linda was more comfortable working with data than her father had ever been, and as information began to flow in a more orderly way, she was able to start collecting and using that data to help drive returns. Almost by accident, she’d created a framework for the company to grow.
Usually, three times a week, she and her team meet with plant reps to review a specific program and spend hours looking for ways to pare costs. Under her, the CAT has become highly data focused. By looking at energy use, for example, they discovered that some plants left their equipment in standby mode over the weekend. Others took their machines to emergency-stop mode, others to zero power. Some larger pieces of equipment, even in e-stop mode, were drawing 10 kilowatts an hour.
He also had a memory of the moment he was introduced to Frank Stronach, shortly after he’d started. “Hey Joe,” said Stronach, not catching Jarrell’s name, “Just don’t screw up the customers, the employees and the shareholders. See ya!” And he walked away. Today Jarrell has two documents he holds close. One is a letter from his own father when he was on Linamar’s board, that predicted a career path for his son that would lead to a CEO’s job. The other piece of paper Jarrell treasures is a printout of an email from Frank not long before he died that made the founder’s respect and affection clear.
Linamar Jarrell Company Frank Ceo Linda Hasenfratz Plant Carlos Tavares CTO Rogers
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