---
id: "action-recruit-for-f2f-values"
type: "action-item"
source_title: "When Being a Family Business Becomes a Competitive Advantage"
source_url: "https://hbr.org/2026/01/when-being-a-family-business-becomes-a-competitive-advantage"
source_timestamps: ["§ The F2F Playbook: Turning Familiness into a Strategic Advantage", "§ F2F in Action: Rebuilding Trust and Creating Shared Value at Vitex"]
tags: ["hiring", "culture"]
related: ["framework-f2f-playbook"]
action: "Recruit executives and sales teams first for character and F2F values, then for performance."
outcome: "Allows the business to scale professionally without sacrificing the personal touch of familiness."
speakers: ["Vasilis Theoharakis", "Armodios Yannidis", "Josh Baron", "Moe Khant-Thu"]
sources: ["ecosystem"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-ecosystem"
originDay: 11
articleStem: "hbr-foci-67-family-business-advantage"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/01/when-being-a-family-business-becomes-a-competitive-advantage"
sourceTitle: "When Being a Family Business Becomes a Competitive Advantage"
---
# Recruit for F2F Values

**Action:** When scaling and professionalizing, do **not** hire executives or sales teams based solely on technical skills or performance. **Recruit first for character** and genuine embodiment of [[concept-f2f-strategy|F2F]] principles, ensuring they can authentically **extend trust on behalf of the family**.

**Outcome:** Lets the business scale professionally without sacrificing the personal touch of [[concept-familiness|familiness]].

**Where it fits:** Step 4 ("Professionalize while Preserving Familiness") of [[framework-f2f-playbook|The F2F Playbook]] — the article's answer to the [[contrarian-professionalization-trap|professionalization trap]]. Its limit is the subject of [[question-f2f-scalability-limits]]: can hired managers carry authentic familiness at large scale?