I have to confess that I knew nothing about Michele Ferrero until I read of his passing. Which is not surprising. As The Economist noted in his obituary, this Italian businessman from the Piedmont gave only one interview in his entire life. It was to Italy’s La Stampa and he did so wearing sunglasses, to shield his weak eyes a well as to recede into the background.
While Ferrero was personally unassuming, his products had global impact. He was a chocolatier who tinkered with a hazelnut chocolate paste his father Pietro had developed. Michele reformulated it, bottled it, and called it Nutella. It was one of more than twenty product lines his privately held company Ferrero SpA produced.
When he took over the family business from his uncle in 1957, according to his obituary in The Guardian, Ferrero wrote to his employees, “I pledge myself to devote all my activities and all my efforts to this company. And I assure you that I shall only feel satisfied when I have managed, with concrete results, to guarantee you and your children a safe and tranquil future.”
Although he was considered Italy’s richest man (worth over $23 billion), Ferrero did not flaunt his wealth. As a Catholic, he was a devotee of the Virgin Mary visiting her shrine at Lourdes annually. He even funded trips for his employees to do the same. Even better he treated his 4,000 employees as members of his extended family, providing bus service to work, free medical care and other benefits. Never were there any strikes, and when a factory in Alba was flooded, workers helped with the cleanup and had it operating in just 15 days.
Examples of executives like Michele Ferrero are sadly rare but not unique. In my own hometown of Ann Arbor, Howard Cooper, distributed profits to his employees from the sale of his car dealerships. Eighty-nine employees received $1000 for every year of their service. Cooper believes that since his employees had helped him succeed, they deserved a financial benefit in return.
Men like Ferrero and Cooper know that success in business is not a solo endeavor; it requires the commitment of others to help it run optimally. And so for them sharing their good fortune is inherent in their business philosophy. Such a commitment is an example of what it means to serve as a leader.
Such leaders serve through their commitment to the company. Michele Ferrero took time developing the business organically not through acquisition. He often worked nights and weekends on new recipes. And according to The Guardian his company “paid growing attention to the issues of equity and sustainability” for producers of the raw ingredients it used.
Howard Cooper invested himself personally, too, meeting and mingling with employees and customers, including after he had sold the business. When employees see owners exerting extra effort it can be inspiring, particularly when the owners share the wealth with them.
While it is not feasible for every business to share its material wealth, leaders can certainly find ways to share themselves in ways that help employees do their jobs better. And when that happens employees feel better about what they do and in return can perform at their best.
