Commuting CEOs
Some leaders reside in different states from companies they run by Jack Milligan

by Jack Milligan
for Virginia Business
August 2006

The leader of a company doesn’t have to live in the same town as his employer anymore. Computers, BlackBerries and corporate jets are making it easier to manage from afar. Some Virginia CEOs are shuttling back and forth from work to home, which may be in another state.

For instance, consider the hectic schedule of Walfrido “Wally” Martinez, the new managing partner of one of Virginia’s most venerable law firms.

Martinez, a 39-year-old Connecticut resident, took over his new position at Richmond-based Hunton & Williams LLP in March. The 105-year-old international law firm has 17 offices and 850 lawyers in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Martinez keeps offices in Richmond, Miami and New York. A typical week might have him spending Monday and Tuesday in Richmond, Wednesday at the Atlanta office, Thursday in Miami and Friday in New York.

The travel does take a personal toll, says Martinez, who is married and has young children. Recently, he decided to cut back on his schedule after his 11-year-old son told him that he didn’t see him enough. “He said, ‘Dad, we need you around here,’ ” says Martinez. “So, you make adjustments and listen to your family.”

Technically, Martinez reports to the firm’s executive committee, although in reality he is accessible to any partner who wants to walk into his office or call him on the phone.

As managing director, Martinez says it’s crucial that he not be perceived as pursuing a hidden agenda. Since the firm’s owners are also its major revenue producers, discord can hurt its profitability. “You have to be very transparent,” he says. “You can’t hide the ball on an issue.” This is particularly important when your constituents are lawyers who, as Martinez points out, are by nature skeptical and disputatious.

“ You have to run the firm by consensus,” says Martinez. “It’s not by decree. A lot of my job requires making decisions, but before you get there you have to build consensus.”

Consensus requires trust, and the best way to build trust is to spend face time with the firm’s partners. “You have to be constantly engaged with your partners,” he says. “To do the job right, you have to be on the road.”

Martinez took an unusual path to the position of managing partner. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Martinez joined Hunton & Williams in 1999 and was founding partner of the firm’s Miami office. Wanting to experience a business environment, he left in 2004 to become general counsel at Diageo North America Inc., the liquor company that sells such well-known brands as Seagram’s and Johnnie Walker. When Hunton & Williams recruited him to return as managing partner, Martinez saw it as an opportunity to experience business and the law together.

“This was a chance to do both halves,” he says.