roundtable
Gaskell had an interesting angle on the subject of planning horizons; rather than referring to a three-year plan, his businesses always worked to a 1,000- day plan.
“We have to make decisions every day and operate in a world which is turbulent, so change is a daily reality. We have our end goal clearly defined and build a plan to achieve it. Hence, rather than talking in terms of years, where planning can lose its focus, we talk in terms of days because you can break any plan down into that time period, and retain a sense of immediacy and purpose.”
Leadership versus management ...
Chris Garrett (managing director, Selwood) talked about the difference between a manager (controlling) and a leader (inspiring), and the challenges of managing not just business growth but also the growth of individuals. “Some people become a manager and suddenly think that they need to make every decision, which soon becomes impractical.”
The need to empower individuals prompted some heartfelt discussion. Gaskell remembered the first time he empowered a team and his initial fright at losing control. “It was at Porsche, and when the team first started having meetings without me there, it was frankly terrifying. I thought they must be plotting against me ... but they were just making decisions and getting on with stuff. Learning to let go is part of growing up and maturing as a leader.”
Gasser agreed that empowerment could be a difficult skill to master, but the benefits far outweighed any risks: “
...very often, your employees will deliver things you hadn’t thought of in the first place.”
Bates also pointed out that the risk of making (and learning from) mistakes was part and parcel of employee empowerment – “unless they take a decision, what have they learnt in the first place?” – whilst Garrett added the salient observation that “nobody will work harder to correct a mistake than the person who’s made it in the first place.”
Probably the biggest risk was felt to be a failure to engage and motivate staff, to foster a culture that could motivate and inspire, as Susi Lennox (CEO, The YES YES Company) observed. “When I was a management consultant, one of the saddest things I ever heard was the person who confided in me that, ‘When I drive to work in the morning,
I leave 70% of myself in the glove compartment.’”
The Roundtable participants agreed that they had all, at some point, inherited teams or individuals who needed ‘taking out of the glovebox’.
The challenges of step changes in growth
Napier-Munn enquired about the particular challenge of managing dynamic growth in businesses.
Bates stressed the importance of sustainability, noting that “we won’t take business on unless we know it is profitable,” and therefore resisting the temptation to over-expand. He also highlighted his preference for doing more business with existing customers wherever possible. Garrett agreed that a lot of businesses in the growth phase make the mistake of chasing the next order, but end up altering their business model and demotivating their staff as a result.”You have to know what it is you want to achieve growth-wise, otherwise your sales people will go out and find opportunities only to be told by management, ‘We don’t want that one’, and then they end up disillusioned.”
Four core elements – clients, margin, product and people ...
From an external adviser’s perspective, Gasser agreed with the need for a structured growth plan. “If you don’t get the core of the business right, then you can’t grow successfully. You must have solid foundations in place to allow you to proceed to the next stage; clients, margin, product, and people ... you need all four of these elements in unison.”
On the subject of ‘product’, Bates pointed out that in his line of business, customer trust and buy-in was absolutely key to its development. “As far as products for submarines are concerned, there is a long lead time owing to technical, security and fitting issues. We were consistently being faced with situations where we had only nine months to design and manufacture a particular product ... but if we’d been told six months earlier, it would have made everybody’s lives so much easier. Hence, we introduced quarterly business reviews, which have proved to be a great help in ensuring an open, honest dialogue with our customers.”
As far as ‘people’ were concerned, Garrett outlined the challenges of trying to keep everyone in the business
Continued overleaf ... THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH COAST – FEBRUARY 2017
businessmag.co.uk 23 Susi Lennox Martyn Begbour
Chris Garrett
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