FRANCE WINNER:

Alain Lunati SP3H

CEO Insight... Q

What are your most important professional achievements at your current company?

Nothing matters more than people : SP3H has assembled a team of talented, experienced and accomplished individuals to develop our miniaturized Fluid Quality Sensor for a comprehensive array of uses.

I’m very proud of the team and what

we have achieved together in 8 years. We have created an incredible added value by building new synergies and specific know-how, pooling together competences in Fuel formulation, engine optimization, electronics, statistics, and optics within the same company.

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How did you do that?

One-third leadership; one-third experience and one-third chance!

What education or prior experience helped you succeed at your current

company?

I worked for 10 years in large international companies (BP Oil and ABB Process Industries) where I had the opportunity to set-up and launch a new and profitable business unit, building a team and developing and commercializing technologies for the Petroleum Industry. It was somewhat like having my own start-up and this former experience was very helpful a few years later in setting up SP3H, as it was possible to use previous experiences to help me on the way.

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What lessons did you learn on your way to becoming a CEO?

Prior to starting the project, I believed that “anticipating” would be the key to success and time showed that it was !

What lessons have you learned as a CEO?

If you try to manage everything by yourself, it’s a recipe for disaster ! You need to find internal and external advisors to help you to get the full picture. However, at the end you have to demonstrate your ability to find the correct path. As CEO, you must accept responsibility when you’ve made a mistake, whilst sharing the credit of any success with any other members of the team who were involved.

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What are the key success factors for a CEO?

You need to have the capacity to build a talented executive team to support you throughout. Also, you have to limit any turnover in your team, especially during the early development stages of the company. To do this, you need to have a strong team ethic and stick with it. You have to strive to maintain the confidence of the team by showing your ability to make the right choices at all times.

What are the key challenges for a CEO?

You have to accept at some point that the lead should pass to others members of the team, enabling you to achieve your targets and objectives and go beyond your initial expectations.

How did you overcome those challenges?

By being open and listening to my closest managers. I made the choice of sharing responsibilities with them and involving them in the strategy and decision-making process. Also, I had to demonstrate a high level of integrity and honesty in all circumstances.

How do you manage the relationship with your Board of Directors?

It is a wide-open and collaborative relationship. SP3H is a start-up where each voice carries equal weight.

What advice do you give to rising CEOs?

Firstly, there has to be a client before any move can be initiated. Financial considerations are the next step. In our “Cleantech” area, the “good” business plan is not necessarily “the best” we can achieve, but the most appropriate, given the time constraints. We have to apply stress tests and check how strong we are with regards to our cash flow.

How do you balance and manage various stakeholders’ interests?

Good communication is the key. This can be done formally, or more spontaneously. You have to develop a special and personal relationship with the different stakeholders.

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How do you describe your leadership style?

I have a very open leadership style with my team, but when the need arises I can act decisively, objectively and quickly.

How do you compete in a global business environment?

We are a blue ocean company and therefore have an advantage over the larger technological companies who might be constrained by their core business and accounting strategies. We have the time and space to innovate. Our company utilises “building blocks” of proprietary technologies which have been developed over the past 8 – 10 years.

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How do you see the future of your industry?

The sensor business is fast-growing. We are very confident that we will have great opportunities to develop our smart, miniaturized sensors because the need to measure in “real time” is expanding, pushed by more demanding environmental standards.

Can you share with us a CEO humour?

There are a couple of quotations from Albert Einstein which can underline the daily challenges faced by an innovative company:

“It is harder to crack a prejudice than an atom.” "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; regarding the universe, I did not acquire absolute certainty."

Contact: Alain Lunati

Tel: +33 (0) 442 976 950 Email : contact@sp3h.fr Web : www.sp3h.com

EUROPE

Finance Monthly CeO AwArdS 2013 13