LOVIN ’ LIVE !
Star attractions – The Tees Business LIVE panel was made up of SABIC ’ s Jos Visser , Aspire Technology Solutions ’ Ben Upton , PD Ports ’ Andrew Crowe , Imperial Recruitment Group ’ s Jason D ’ Silva and Etc ’ s Grant Glendinning , while PD Ports ’ s CEO Frans Calje delivered an entertaining opening speech .
Bosses reveal what it takes to be a good business leader
Commitment , curiosity and creativity – just three of the qualities needed to be a successful business leader , according to panelists at a packed Tees Business LIVE event .
Attended by more than 100 delegates in Middlesbrough FC ’ s Legends Lounge at the Riverside Stadium , the PD Ports-sponsored lunchtime meeting was the latest in a series of networking and information events organised for the local business community by Tees Business , sister publication to Aycliffe Business . And the five-strong expert panel gave a fascinating insight into what a leadership role requires when asked by Tees Business director Dave Allan : “ What one piece of advice would you pass on to aspiring business leaders out there ?”
Imperial Recruitment Group director Jason D ’ Silva said “ commitment ” and “ conviction ” were two key components of a leader ’ s makeup .
He said : “ If you believe in something with integrity and it ’ s heartfelt , follow it through . You need commitment and conviction .
“ I ’ ve empowered the teams around me to have more of a voice but it ’ s helped develop the business because they ’ re not afraid to speak up and have some input .”
Grant Glendinning , chief executive and group principal at the Education Training Collective ( Etc .), said leadership was “ all about people ” – and a realisation that “ nobody is great at everything .”
He said : “ Understand what you ’ re great at , then develop those things , rather than putting all your energies into things you ’ re mediocre at because you probably won ’ t get very far .
“ It ’ s about building the best team , working with experts and getting people around you that can help your organisation to succeed .”
SABIC ’ s Teesside site director Jos Visser said flexibility in decision-making and not being afraid to admit you ’ ve made a mistake were crucial leadership qualities .
He told the meeting : “ As a business leader , you make decisions all the time – that ’ s basically your job .
“ In many cases , you find yourself in a ‘ 49:51 ’ situation , where a decision is not that obvious . You probably take the 51 situation but then after maybe one , two , three years , you discover that actually the decision you took wasn ’ t the right one for the company or whatever society you ’ re in .
“ In those cases , don ’ t hang on to that decision because you don ’ t want to lose face or admit you were wrong – try to be self-critical along the entire journey of what you do .
“ Be able to come back to a decision you ’ ve made . As leaders , we can find that difficult because we ’ re typically not selected for those type of attitudes , but it ’ s an important lesson because we do make mistakes .”
Andrew Crowe , the chief commercial officer of event sponsor PD Ports , said curiosity , creativity and collaboration were three key components to good leadership .
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Andrew , who joined PD from Shell early this year , told the event : “ Firstly , be curious – question and challenge the status quo . Why are things done in a certain way ? Is it because they ’ ve always been done that way ? Is it the most efficient and effective way ? Just challenge – be really curious .
“ Secondly , be creative – try and apply a creative lens to really explore value areas that maybe other people haven ’ t done .
“ And thirdly , collaborate both within and outside your company . It would be pretty arrogant of any company to assume it has all the answers so it ’ s important to have the ability to reach out to a multitude of stakeholders , partners , regulators , suppliers , employees – the whole spectrum .”
Back after a summer recess , Tees Business LIVE saw the expert panel field several leadership questions and included an address from PD Ports CEO Frans Calje .
34 | Aycliffe Business