When Tom Zidar was growing up in suburban Detroit, he wanted to be just like his father. During his 34-year career at Ford Motor Co., Owen Zidar managed some of Ford’s most prominent manufacturing plants, says Zidar, the seventh of nine children.
“My dad was my hero,” he explains. “As a kid, I didn’t know exactly what he did at Ford, but I knew he worked very hard, was in charge of a lot of people, and got them to work together to build cars. I wanted to be just like him and manage a company that made things.”
Zidar’s father had another idea based on his son’s math talents and “having spent his professional life across the table from Ford’s finance guys–bright, articulate, savvy, who questioned everything.” His dad steered him toward finance, recounts Zidar, who majored in finance at the University of Notre Dame. He also spent a summer “across the table” as a Ford finance intern, crunching numbers on the feasibility of outfitting the Crown Victoria as a police vehicle.
“I had to pull together idea people, engineers who focused on concept, design, and performance, and accounting people, finance-types who thought the engineers were big spenders,” he said. “I learned political strategy, getting everyone around the table to buy into a decision.”
Now 37, Zidar has achieved his childhood goal: to lead a company that builds things. As chairman of the Wayne Hummer Cos., the wealth-management subsidiary of Lake Forest-based Wintrust Financial Corp., he manages the team that creates and manages client wealth.
Q. Did you learn anything as a caddy that’s applicable to your job today?
A. While I was caddying, I had the opportunity to hear people talk about how they ran their businesses. They talked about acquisitions and other transactions they were considering.
I watched how they entertained clients and prospects. Not only did I learn the game of golf, I learned a ton about business and sales just by listening and observing.
Q. How did you get your first job out of college?
A. Early in my senior year, I helped Jim O’Neill, an alumnus, looking for football tickets and a place to stay. We had a chance to talk about my job prospects.
Jim suggested I’d learn a lot more at a smaller boutique finance firm than a larger Wall Street firm. He offered to get me an interview at his firm. I got the job, another great learning experience, as number-cruncher on all types of transportation finance projects.
Q. Sometimes plans change due to national events, unforeseen circumstances or something else. Did anything like that change your career trajectory?
A. During a meeting with Scott Heitman, my boss at LaSalle, about how we should integrate Michigan National Bank, a recent acquisition, into LaSalle, Scott mentioned he had another assignment for me. He asked me to become president and CEO of its struggling broker-dealer operation.
I had a number of concerns: My background was in investment banking, not retail brokerage; I’d have to quickly take a number of tests to get recertified with the NASD; much of the business was in Chicago so I’d be commuting between there and Detroit. But, in the end, I decided to take on the challenge.
Q. Where did you get the confidence to decide to take that job?
A. Scott himself was commuting between jobs in Detroit and Chicago, as was Mark Hoppe, another LaSalle executive for whom I have great respect. I’d observed both of them strike a healthy balance between work and family life. It gave me confidence that I could do it too.
Q. How has your personal life fared as you have moved up the ladder?
A. I met my wife, Marianne Haggerty, while we were at Notre Dame. I coached her dorm’s flag football team. We have been great partners ever since. Today, we have four young children. Marianne’s an outstanding manager. She runs a tight, happy ship. Between practices, games, lessons and camps, we are in constant motion.
Q. What do you do when things at work don’t go according to plan?
A. One of my Kellogg professors told us that we needed to have a tool kit that we filled up throughout our careers. The skills and experiences we got along the way would become the tools we’d use to address problems confronted on the job. That’s a great metaphor.
When something goes wrong, look in your tool kit for just the right tool to fix it. I try to add to my tool kit all the time.
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Step by step
2006-present: Chairman, Wayne Hummer Cos., Chicago
2004-06: Executive vice president, personal financial services, LaSalle Bank Corp., Chicago
2002-04: President and CEO, LaSalle Financial Services, and executive vice president of both ABN Amro Bank and LaSalle Bank, Chicago and Troy, Mich.
2000-01: Senior vice president, integration management, Standard Federal Bank, Troy, Mich.
1998-2000: Senior vice president/first vice president, acquisitions and corporate capital, Standard Federal Bank, Chicago
1997-98: Vice president, profit enhancement group, Standard Federal Bank, Chicago
1995-97: Associate, Midwest account team, A.T. Kearney, Chicago
1995: MBA, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
1994: Financial planning intern, Kraft General Foods, Glenview
1991-93: Associate, The Transportation Group, London
1990-91: Financial analyst, The Transportation Group, New York
1990: Bachelor’s degree in business administration, University of Notre Dame
1988-90: Resident assistant, Sorin Hall, University of Notre Dame
1989: Summer financial intern, Ford Motor Co., Dearborn, Mich.
1988-89: Cook and cashier, Sorin Hall, University of Notre Dame
1987-88: Summer intern, American Sunroof Co., Southgate, Mich.
1986: Summer construction laborer/driver, LoMack General Contractors, Romulus, Mich.
1984-86: Stockroom worker, Erb Lumber, Birmingham, Mich.
1984: Busboy/dishwasher, Whistle Stop Restaurant, Birmingham, Mich.
1980-84: Caddy, Oakland Hills Country Club, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
