BONUS: Leadership By Wandering Around w/ Dick Leinenkugel

This episode is a replay of the previously released interview with Dick Leinenkugel from Season 1. Season 3 of the podcast will premiere September 2nd.

How many family businesses can you think of that have spanned 5 generations? My guess is, not many. Because they are few and far between.

And how often do you think a family business sells to a large global company, and the family stays on and keeps running the business? Not just in the beginning, but for the next 30 plus years. Imagine trying to maintain the culture that made the family business successful, continue to thrive inside a large corporation.

Up until a few months ago, I couldn’t name a single company that had pulled this off. But then I met Dick Leinenkugel, who is the President and Chief Beer Merchant of the Leinenkugel Brewing Company. Dick is the 5th generation of the family to run the business and the Leinenkugel culture carries on many years after the acquisition by Miller Coors.

If you’re outside of Wisconsin, you may only know of Leinenkugels because of one product: Summer Shandy which is a seasonal beer that they only make for about 5 months each year. During our conversation, Dick took us behind the scenes on how that idea came to be, the impact it has had on the company, and how it was almost called Leinenkugel’s Lakehouse Lemon. I think they made the right choice on the name.

But Dick’s career extends well beyond beer - first as a Marines Corps officer and later as Secretary of Commerce for the State of Wisconsin, where he learned the value of leadership by wandering around. He also learned the value of listening and understanding that he may not have all the answers.

Please check out the episode in the above link. If you have an opinion on these topics, please feel free to email us through the contact page. The best ideas often stem from the intersection of different points of view. The episode is also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you listen to podcasts. Enjoy!