Succession planning in family business: lessons from the Barbier-Mueller family

A legacy of leadership

According to sisters Marie and Valentine Barbier-Mueller, their father Thierry was something of a paradox. “In some ways, he was very structured, focused on planning, and of course a sharp businessman”, Marie explains. “But also, he would always say half-jokingly, ‘I’m an artist navigating the world of business,’ and indeed, his creativity was never far beneath the surface.”

Thierry’s father Jean Paul had founded the Société Privée de Gérance (now known simply as SPG) in Geneva in 1960, a company that quickly established itself as a major player in the real-estate advisory and services market in French-speaking Switzerland. In 2000, just before he turned 40, Thierry took over the leadership of the company as CEO. But like his father and his maternal grandfather before him, Thierry was above all a passionate art collector.

One side of Thierry’s personality – the clear-eyed and well-prepared business leader – was on full display as his daughters reached young adulthood and he began to consider the future of SPG. “Preparation was of the utmost importance to him,” Marie recalls. “He had it in mind that a proper succession plan takes five to 10 years. So, early on, he started talking with us very openly about it.” Thierry had three criteria he wanted to see before any of his five daughters could be integrated into the family business: completed university studies; a positive experience demonstrating success in an external company; and a genuine motivation to join. Marie and Valentine, the two eldest, ticked all three boxes and joined the company’s leadership team in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

A family business transition

When their integration truly began, however, it was the more fluid and free side of their father’s character that emerged. “He told us, ‘I’m throwing you into the swimming pool and I’ll see how you swim,’” says Valentine. “It wasn’t very structured. He was confident that if there was any area where we lacked skills or experience, we would learn fast.” At the same time, Thierry was a wonderful teacher and communicator, and was very open about sharing information. “Sometimes in companies, the patriarch doesn’t share information with the next generation and it’s difficult for them to understand where information lies and what their responsibilities are,” says Marie. “For us, it was the opposite. We were copied into all his emails and took part in every decision, big and small.”

This tutelage lasted for the best part of five years. In December 2022, Thierry took one of his closest confidants within the company aside and said that he felt his daughters were ready to take the reins. Tragically, he died the following month of a sudden cardiac arrest.

As is the case in family companies, the blow reverberated far beyond just Thierry’s loved ones. “It was a shock for everyone: the employees, our clients and all our stakeholders,” says Marie. It was now incumbent upon her and her sister to guide the company through what was a challenging time, but this is where their father’s preparation, planning and instruction revealed their brilliance. “When he passed away, we felt that we had more or less done 80% of the job, in terms of the transition,” says Marie. Moreover, because of Thierry’s openness, the sisters knew they had all the information they needed. “We knew we had the responsibility to take charge and step in,” says Marie.

Carrying the legacy forward

Today, Marie and Valentine share the CEO role. It’s not necessarily a model that many would recommend, they admit, because it might appear to lack clarity in terms of who holds ultimate responsibility and accountability. But, says Valentine, “if it works, it works really well.” Clearly this is the case for her and Marie. They have split the responsibilities of CEO between them, but they share a strategic vision. As Valentine puts it: “It isn’t that there are two wheels for the company; there’s one wheel and we have four hands on it.”

To ensure they maintain that alignment, regular communication is vital. The sisters speak on the phone several times per day, and on top of that, have organised meetings and a weekly one-on-one with a detailed agenda. For the past two and a half years, they have also used external advisors, including a coach specialising in corporate organisation. “It’s been useful to have someone who sees us from an external perspective, who challenges us, sees some of our blind spots, and helps us make this relationship better,” says Valentine. In terms of management, each director reports to one of the sisters, but they do all of the directors’ annual appraisals as a duo. “It’s important for them to see that we’re aligned in terms of our strategic vision and our expectations,” says Marie.

In fact, the importance of presenting a unified front was something their father taught them during the years of their transition. “You may not always agree, and you can question and challenge each other behind closed doors, but the people around you have to feel and know that you form one body,” Valentine explains. Thierry also taught them that in moments of crisis, it’s vital to keep a smile on your face. “He was telling us that, as a leader, your attitude shapes your environment,” says Valentine.“ People look to you because they want to be reassured and to have a sense of direction, so you can’t fall apart.” The sisters also remember that on a few occasions when they approached their father for advice, being a highly detail-oriented man, he would expect them to come fully prepared. “He was never afraid of sending us back to our desks if he felt we hadn’t done our ground work, if we asked questions without having studied the subject thoroughly,” says Valentine with a laugh.

All of these lessons have proved invaluable over the past two and a half years. A business like SPG is always facing a variety of challenges, from macro-level factors to issues more specific to the real-estate sector, including talent acquisition and retention, and the entry of new competitors. “We are no strangers to the emergence of disruptive business models and technologies, with the rise of low-cost, zero-margin players in the market,” says Marie. However, the sisters’ strategy for the future is centred around a deep faith in where SPG’s value lies. “Fast food isn’t the same as a gastronomic restaurant; you don’t pay the same and you don’t get the same,” says Marie. “We believe that our differentiation through expertise, trust and long-term relationships is an asset.”

While the family business occupies a lot of Marie and Valentine’s time, it’s clear that the Barbier-Mueller family doesn’t define itself purely as an entrepreneurial family. For instance, their grandfather Jean-Paul and his wife Monique opened the Barbier-Mueller Museum in 1977 in Geneva to house their world-class collection of traditional arts from around the world and from various ancient civilisations. The museum still exists today and hosts a busy programme of events and exhibitions. Meanwhile, Marie and Valentine, along with their sisters and cousins, also founded a jewellery venture, Les Muses BM, which takes inspiration from this part of their family’s cultural heritage. SPG also sponsors an annual literature award, which was initiated by Thierry to support Swiss writers. “Obviously, among the next generation and us sisters, there is a will to carry on what was done by the former generations from an artistic and cultural point of view,” says Marie.

Balancing art, business, and freedom

Perhaps this broader cultural legacy feeds into the fact that she and Valentine are surprisingly open when it comes to the topic of SPG and succession. “Our father shared with us a philosophical outlook that was based in humility and perspective,” says Valentine. “Although he was committed to succession, he would always tell us that no company has an inherent right to live on forever. Nobody knows what the future will bring, nothing is guaranteed. And that’s the beauty of it too.” Indeed, she points out that, prior to SPG being established in Geneva in 1960, the family company was a Solothurn-based manufacturer of precision tools; that chapter has since closed, paving the way for a new one.

So, unlike many next-generation business owners, Valentine and Marie don’t feel an overwhelming, oppressive pressure to continue the family business as it is today. “It’s not always easy to find the right balance between honouring what has been done and carving one’s own path,” says Valentine. Perhaps one of the most important lessons that their father imparted, then, was this: “He always encouraged us to live by our values, to push boundaries, and to live our lives with conviction and therefore a sense of freedom.”