World Class Leaders

Provided by Management Magazine 

Whether they’re in biotech or business, distilling alcohol or ideas, creating new software or pioneering new science, New Zealand leaders have proved they can foot it with the best in the world. Six have just been nominated for the 2007 World Class NZ Awards. Who are they and what have they learned about leadership?

By Vicki Jayne and Toni Myers

The World Class New Zealand Awards, run by NZ Trade & Enterprise and KEA and now into their fourth year, recognise those who are making an outstanding contribution to this country’s economic development as well as identifying leaders that young Kiwis can aspire to emulate.

This year’s award attracted over 100 top-level nominations from around the globe with 22 short-listed for the six sectors: information & communications technology, biotechnology, research science technology & academia, finance, investment & business services, and manufacturing. The overall Supreme Award winner will be announced at black-tie event on March 15 at SkyCity Convention Centre.

Last year’s Supreme Award recognised the achievements of Nobel-prize-winning scientist, the late Alan McDiarmid.
Winners are judged on six criteria: facilitates exchange of information, knowledge and skills with New Zealand; fosters New Zealand innovation and entrepreneurship; being an entrepreneurial role model; promotes New Zealand internationally; builds global connectedness with New Zealand; and the “X” factor.

Sponsors for the event include HSBC, Provenco, Department of Labour, Absolutely Positively Wellington, Enterprising Manukau, and the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology.

Ralph Norris, CEO Commonwealth Bank.

World class, finance, investment and business services

Having notched up an impressive record for leading business growth and culture change in New Zealand-based corporations, first at ASB then Air New Zealand, Ralph Norris is now applying his customer and people-centric style of leadership across the Tasman.

Known for his low-key approachability, Norris reckons there’s an egalitarian edge to the Kiwi leadership style that can to some extent be attributed to our relatively classless communities.

“We are a society that still has significant mobility from a socio-economic perspective. I mean, look at myself – brought up in a state house in Mt Roskill and I’ve had the privilege of some very satisfying CEO roles.”

He is, he adds, hardly unique in that but it perhaps explains what seems a slight air of embarrassment around his ‘world class’ designation. It’s not a claim he’d make for himself and for him, leadership is something that has evolved over time through problem solving, dealing with challenges.

“I started off life in computer programming really and there were certainly plenty of problems and issues to solve there. I think I realised over time the best way to solve these was working closely with others – collaboration, teamwork, making sure you recognise the efforts of others.”

He was fortunate in his own career, he says, to have had managers who recognised and encouraged his potential. And one of the bits of advice he’d give aspiring leaders is to “put your people first”.

“If you expect people to share the vision you have, he says, then you have to value them, recognise them and be inclusive. Everyone likes to be appreciated – and they’ll go a lot further when they do.”

It’s also important to be a good role model for the values and behaviour you expect from employers, to set clear goals and objectives and to counsel people when these are not being met.

He also rates honesty as a key aspect of leadership.

“Not only being honest with others but with yourself – so it is important to understand your own strengths and weaknesses. Don’t be afraid to admit to weaknesses and attempt to do something about them.”

He believes that New Zealand business leaders (and he comes cross a “surprisingly large number” in Australia) tend to be more outward looking, more open to new ideas.
“If you work in the hurly burly of London or New York, you probably think the business world starts and ends there, whereas if you work out on the fringes, so to speak, you’re more open to what’s going on in the big wide world.”

That said, he thinks Kiwis can often underestimate their capabilities.

“The great thing about New Zealand is it has been able to be a thought leader. If you look at what’s emanated from here – and the achievements of people like Ernest Rutherford, William Pickering, Ed Hillary or Peter Blake ... I think we can be influential through the power of ideas.”

Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide of Saatchi & Saatchi.

World class, creative industries

Kevin Roberts is actually not too keen on the ‘world-class’ designation – he reckons New Zealanders should aim higher.

“We want to be way ahead of that – what’s the point of being in the premier league. We’ve got to win shit. We’ve got the right to play now because of the internet – there’s no way the tyranny of distance or size can be used against us, instead we can use that to our favour.

“All development comes from the edge whether you’re in business, sport or biology – because it’s too bloody hard to get up through the middle. So we have this great inbuilt advantage now of geographical dislocation and smallness. We can do anything here.”

He may be a pommy-born, ex-pat New Zealand citizen speaking from a hotel room in California but his use of the possessive pronoun is heartfelt. The CEO of ideas company Saatchi & Saatchi is well known for his passionate and forthright advocacy of all things Kiwi.

He arrived here with his family in 1989 as chief operating officer of Lion Nathan and still has a Kiwi home base – along with homes in New York and St Tropez. Although appointed CEO of Saatchis nearly a decade ago, he also retains strong ties through academic, business and sporting links as well as via family, friends and government – he was appointed a private sector ambassador to the NZ/US Council in 2004.

So it’s no coincidence that several local companies feature in his latest book The lovemarks effect: winning the consumer revolution. This and his earlier Lovemarks: the future beyond brands also provide some insights to his own views on leadership – which is, he says, about “serving, connectivity, collaboration and how to be in flow all the time by combining passion and harmony”.

The leader/follower model is, he suggests a load of rubbish.

“It’s all about inspiring everyone to be the best they can be against the dream of the organisation. So share a dream, inspire them, provide them with a framework, then get the f___ out of the way.”

His approach is to hire great talent then give them four things: responsibility (the earlier the better); learning; recognition; and joy.

He takes the ‘know thyself’ aspect of leadership seriously because he reckons the further up you go, the more stupid you get.

“That’s because you forget who you are and start believing your own PR. Plus everyone is telling you porky pies because you’re the boss. You have to keep a grasp of who you really are – not who the media says you are.”

Roberts keeps himself honest by regularly asking three questions: where do I want to be in five years’ time? (serious aspirations only in here); where am I when I’m at my best? (patsy answers not allowed); and what will I never do again?

He reckons Kiwi leadership should stand for “creative action-packed results”. One of the reasons he employs a lot of Kiwis is you can rely on them to get things done.
“Show them a problem, they find a solution. I’m a massive believer in New Zealand creativity – in film, in design ... we’re kicking serious butt.”

His advice to aspiring Kiwi leaders.

“Start a business, get off your ass and go overseas to see if you can compete. Learn as much as you can, then go out and conquer the West Coast of America and China because they’re the two markets we’ve got to win in.”

Brian Peace, Founder Peace Software.

World class, information and communications technology

Even at school Brian Peace was never a follower. “I always wanted to be in front on the tramp; to be class captain. I knew there would be better experiences being in the lead.” It never occurred to him not to aim for the top job.

But the founder and former CEO of Peace Software, has played out his leadership role on the world stage largely unheralded here in New Zealand where he assembled the springboard to launch his globally successful IT enterprise. The company, which became the world’s leading utility Customer Information Systems (CIS) software developer, was bought by First Data Corp last year.

That lack of profile reflects a leadership style which shuns personal status symbols in favour of nurturing both his client and employee relationships – promoting the product not the person. His lead-from-the front approach involves articulating the vision clearly – then leaping in.

When Peace Software went offshore, the first to make the move were the company’s leaders. “It seemed a crazy statement to make then – to take on the US software market. First you need to pick yourself to lead the charge; show you are absolutely determined to do this.”

It’s vital, he says, to seek the best people to move your organisation forward – “people who are smarter than you” in their discipline – and what you need to hand over at critical growth stages.

For his last three years with Peace Software he sought out a top flight executive from Oracle, Sebastian Gunningham, and lured him in to run the company. “It was a great learning exercise. He was 10 times the manager that I was – managing 300 to 400 people around the globe.”

Peace, on the other hand, was good at people motivation and he focused on being the “pre-eminent advocate of our products”. The business values he espouses include respect for the partnership with customers and, equally essential, for those you work with. Part of that is an outward focus on the community and instilling a sense in his employees that they contribute something real.

“We were responsible for generating 12 million invoices every month; that’s 12 million people relying on us to do a better job [than the service they got before]. We could go into a city and think that we were touching a lot of people’s lives there.”

Peace pursues what he calls the “Kiwi” attitude of “work hard, play hard”. His company once took 170 people to Club Med Tahiti for four days. “They came back really fired up. You get back in spades what you give out to your people.”

And he believes there is a uniquely New Zealand style of leadership. “New Zealand has a long history of being different – what Kevin Roberts [Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide CEO] calls ‘being on the edge’; the first to give women the vote; our anti-nuclear stance; a willingness to stand up and say what we believe in.

“New Zealanders have tremendous vision. In 1996 two people came to me with the notion that the internet was going to be huge and we needed to develop browser-based software. But we thought if we’ve thought of this so have the Americans. When we developed the software and took it to the US, they had thought of it but we were ahead of them...
“New Zealand has tremendous visionary capability – to understand the next big thing and follow it up.”

Peace sees limitless opportunities in IT – if we could just get over the Kiwi mentality that we’re too small to lead. “We need to focus on the ‘how’ not the reasons not to try.”
He exhorts budding entrepreneurs to act fast when they have an idea. “The critical thing is speed to the market. Every-thing happens so fast now.”

And his final word of advice to aspiring young leaders: “Don’t stop and don’t look down.”

Paul Callaghan, Victoria University’s Alan MacDiarmid professor of Physical Sciences and director of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology.

World class, research, science, technology & academia

Science, says Paul Callaghan, “knows no geographical boundaries” so New Zealand has the opportunity in some areas to lead the world.

He’s in a position to know. Wanganui-born and New Zealand-educated, he’s earned plaudits for his scientific work both at home and abroad – including becoming the first scientist outside Europe to win the Ampere Prize for his work in magnetic resonance and being made a fellow of the Royal Society of London. Last year he was made Principal Companion of the NZ Order of Merit which he welcomed as a victory for this country’s science community.

Engaging and articulate, Callaghan says leadership in science has special characteristics. “Scientists are very individualistic and creative. To lead them successfully you need to encourage, motivate and inspire. It’s different from line management in a corporate environment.”

His own experience of being thrust into a leadership role in his 30s proved demoralising because he wasn’t ready for it. But he believes he needed to “plumb the depths”, to realise his own strengths and weaknesses. “It’s very important to know your own limitations.”

As a leader, he is optimistic, energetic and involved; leading from the front but knowing when to step back and let others come through. “It’s not about your own ego.”
As for the values underpinning his leadership approach; “It’s about lifting people’s sights – getting them to see the moral or human value of involvement in a project. If people believe in the virtue or value of doing something they will come with you.”

The sorts of leaders he admires are the greats of sports and music – those exceptional people who have “a sense of purpose and a self-confidence you can identify with... they have mana, qualities that you admire”.

As to a New Zealand style of leadership, Callaghan points to those who are typical of the people we admire – like Sir Edmund Hillary. The characteristics are humble, self-effacing, gritty, determined.

This, he believes, is a very interesting period for New Zealand as we develop our identity as a nation. While we’re a small country, New Zealanders have the reputation of being well-educated, very democratic, not weighed down by history – nor “constrained by hierarchy or age”.

Despite a shrinking world, there is still some tyranny of distance as well as limitations in the belief that this country is primarily farm and theme park – particularly in view of the environmental impacts of increasing either dairy farming or tourism.

Which is why Callaghan believes growth must come from outside traditional areas and cites Rakon and Navman as examples of companies that use no water, energy, or land and make no pollution. “Smart companies like these are the future.

“We need to encourage young people into these new technology/science-based industries; get kids to believe they are capable of achieving great things and leading the world in these new sectors. We need to ‘break the mould’.”

Finally, his advice to aspiring young leaders is that to build our society we need to build leadership at home. “Historically, many of our talented people have disappeared offshore but, “New Zealand is a cool place to live. You can live here but take on the world.” He admired Peter Jackson and Peter Blake, for example, for their loyalty to their New Zealand roots.

“It’s very easy to go to London and do incredibly well, but… ,” you get Callaghan’s implication that it is more worthy, more satisfying even, to achieve on the world stage from here in New Zealand.

John Bedbrook, vice president research & development, DuPont Agriculture & Nutrition.

World class, biotechnology

He may run a research budget worth US$600 million for a division of DuPont that has global revenues in excess of US$6 billion but John Bedbrook sees himself primarily as scientist rather than business leader.

The latter is something he’s learned along a career track that’s taken him from Papatoetoe High through the universities of Auckland, Harvard and Cambridge to gaining global fame for being the first person in the world to clone a plant gene, founding Advanced Genetic Sciences – the first agricultural biotech company to go public in the US, then heading a clutch of progressively bigger science-based companies.

It’s not something he trained for but a natural gravitation toward leadership is, he says, part of his makeup – as is an enquiring scientific mind.

“As an experimentalist, you do get enamoured of seeing what works and what doesn’t and I think that’s probably played a huge role in my leadership training.”
On the phone from his homebase in California, Bedbrook’s happy to share what he’s discovered. Self-knowledge? Well that’s a given.

“I think knowing yourself is a prerequisite for being human. Period. The risk, of course, is that you’re delusional...”

No surprise, perhaps, to find that a sense of humour (thanks, Mum) gets mentioned as a useful leadership attribute along with clarity of purpose, decisiveness, openness and trust in your gut instinct. He may be a scientist but he doesn’t rely solely on information.

“Sure, you seek out the best information you can get but that is not what solves the decision-making process. Gut feeling is incredibly important.”

He advocates “relentless attention” to the quality of people you bring into an organisation and to creating the conditions that encourage top performance. A lot of his time goes into smoothing the path for people who are both very creative but ‘difficult’ because he sees creativity as a high-value attribute.

If he has heroes, they are those scientists whose tenacity, dedication and “mind-boggling” insights have made an enormous contribution.

“I’m really interested in creative thought and it never ceases to disappoint me how the thought leaders and creative minds of the world seem to lack day-to-day visibility and influence. You know, if everyone was reading Scientific American rather than People magazine, I’m sure that would be a very positive thing for the world.”

When Bedbrook first left New Zealand to take up his Fulbright scholarship at Harvard some 32 years ago, he didn’t really plan to stay away and his associations remain strong. Last year he came here under NZ Trade & Enterprise ‘Beachheads’ programme to exchange information on biotechnology trends with local leaders in the field.

He says New Zealand has a very positive image offshore but worries that we’re slipping in terms of global performance and believes Kiwis need to put their expectations on a higher setting – to get more ambitious about our global opportunities.

“There’s plenty of creativity which I absolutely honour but it’s not getting translated into commercial outcomes. If it was my decision I’d say build on the strengths we have – our innovation in agriculture, food biotech, horticulture, dairy, viticulture – is world class. Much of this was done for our own needs but happened to be leveragable to the world. Now we need to find where growth is in global markets and apply the same innovation to that.”

And his advice to aspiring young Kiwi leaders is: “Think bigger, think globally. You can’t understand the market unless you go out and look about – then come home, develop the products and go where the growth is.”

Geoff Ross, Chief Vodka Bloke, 42 Below.

World class, manufacturing

Getting the culture right is top of Chief Vodka Bloke Geoff Ross’ list of essential leadership attributes. And it’s not hard to see why. The international success of 42 Below owes much to the cultural phenomenon spawned by the irreverent and unorthodox marketing of the brand – using cutting-edge strategies involving new media channels and reflecting the ‘anti-tradition’ culture created within the organisation.

“If the culture is right, the whole place will be motivated, everyone will understand the big goal, and love what they are doing. Everything comes from the right culture – people require less hand-holding if they get the culture. They must feel they have the freedom to have a bloody good go themselves. I reckon you can smell a sick culture when you walk into an organisation – there is no zing to the place. Equally you can feel a great culture – the energy will reach all the way out to reception.”

Ross says his own leadership style is to “articulate the dream” as best he can, “and keep talking about it. Then give people the freedom to get on with it. Celebrating often is a key part of the picture as is congratulating individuals in public. “But,” he says, “when a bit of a tune up is needed, do that in private.”

Inspiration came from “working in some great cultures: Saatchi, Wellington, during the ’90s; DDB; and from a great book called Built to Last [Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by James C Collins and Jerry I Porras], which is all about the financial payback to shareholders of having a great culture.”

And Ross echoes the advice of many a successful and inspirational leader before him – to be prepared to lead by example; “Sometimes a leader has to get up out of the trench first and run the fastest.”

Heading the list of key learnings from his experience of leadership is the need for honesty, and acting fast in the face of adversity. “Just be honest. And make the hard calls first; if there is a bit of a virus get it out quick. Be ready to get the pruning shears out if needed – and do it straight away.”

The values Ross identifies as underpinning his leadership approach he describes as “basic human needs – the freedom to succeed, freedom to have a go, and fun”, which says a lot about his approach to life in general.

He names the 42 Below chairman, Grant Baker, as a mentor and inspiration, quoting Baker’s pet saying, “get a proper goal” , as a driving force, always pushing them to have the confidence to think big.

“New Zealanders can do anything we want. We are more resourceful than other cultures, have a broader range of skills and can act quickly without being caught up in hierarchy and politics. Our only deficiency is confidence; we don’t back ourselves or believe in ourselves enough. We have to believe we can do anything we want and be better than anyone else on the world stage.”

Ross is not keen though to identify specific areas of activity or industries where he thinks New Zealand has the potential to take a lead. “We all have amazing skills, therefore we can have all sorts of amazing businesses.”

He believes the Kiwi style of leadership denotes “frankness, honesty and speed”. “In other words we can be sharp and quick without the fluff.”

And his advice to aspiring young Kiwi leaders is to: “Start now. Don’t wait for research, feedback from the market, survey data or any committee views – stuff like that is for people who can’t make decisions. Trust your gut, and be in for some hard yakka.”