In 2008, when the search firm helping IDEAL Industries find a non-family CEO suggested Jim James, third-generation leader Dave Juday balked. James was then working an hour and a half away from IDEALâs Sycamore, Ill., headquarters as a group president at Illinois Tool Works.
âI said, âNo way,â â recalls Juday, then chairman and CEO of IDEAL, which makes tools and supplies for the electrical and telecommunications industries. Juday didnât think an executive accustomed to the corporate culture of a $14 billion company would be a good fit for his family business. He didnât want a CEO who would try to apply a âprescribed modelâ to IDEAL.