MOST INSPIRING BUSINESS LEADERS
WIND IN HIS SAILS
PD Ports boss ‘ honoured ’ to be named area ’ s most inspiring business leader
WORDS : DAVE ROBSON
The title Most Inspiring Business Leader doesn ’ t seem to rest easily on Frans Calje ’ s shoulders .
Reacting to the accolade , he smiles , shrugs his shoulders , smiles again and admits : “ It ’ s a bit embarrassing , really – I just do my job . I try to make a difference every day , but I don ’ t do anything extraordinary .”
But he admits to being honoured that the business community voted him first , having been second last year behind the late Professor Jane Turner OBE DL .
He said : “ Jane was a force to be reckoned with , truly inspirational . I can never fill her shoes – she played in a completely different league .
“ Whatever she did , she never gave up – whether it was about inclusion , driving the university forward , the way she took on cancer , there were no half measures .”
But how does this likeable and approachable Dutchman – an adopted Teessider who joined PD Ports in 2008 and took over the leadership reins in 2017 – view management ? The art of delegation is a major factor .
He explained : “ PD is a huge , amazing and very complicated business . And I quickly learned that unless you use the intellectual power that sits deeply embedded within the business , you ’ re never going to make progress .
“ Delegate the authority – don ’ t let all the decisions get to my desk because I ’ m bound to make the wrong one . Make space in which people feel comfortable and confident to make decisions to the best of their abilities and let them get on with the job .
“ And when , inevitably , a wrong decision is made , that ’ s not necessarily a bad thing because you took it to the best of your abilities and that ’ s OK . Then you learn and you move on .
“ I think we now have a PD which is far less hierarchical and autocratic , and a far more open and transparent organisation , where there ’ s an increasing sense of belonging .
“ People really care about PD Ports . I ’ m not saying we ’ re perfect , because we ’ re not – we make mistakes and there ’ s lots to do . But in general , we ’ re doing pretty well .”
Getting out of the office , he admits , is a key part of his approach .
“ I haven ’ t got all the answers and sitting in these four walls , you ’ re not going to get them . If you want to understand what really matters in the business , you have to be out there , talking to people and understanding what ’ s going on .”
And getting home to his family – wife Marieke and children Daniel , 14 , Norine , 11 , and Julia , eight – is a key part of the work-life balance he ’ s trying to instil across PD Ports .
He added : “ It ’ s important to know your own limitations – and I have plenty . Also , surround yourself with people who are a lot better at what they do than you are , and who have an edge . When you do that , and you empower those people , the jigsaw comes together . And the end benefit for me is that I end up going home on time to see my kids before they go to bed .”
He hates the term “ boss ”, saying : “ It ’ s a bit of a cliché but it ’ s true – people work for people , they don ’ t work for bosses – end of .”
And his management style isn ’ t a style at all – “ it ’ s just who I am ”. He says : “ It ’ s the way I was nurtured and natured by my parents . It ’ s how your moral compass works . I genuinely care about the people who sit inside and outside the business and the people I come across .”
He ’ s excited about PD Ports ’ “ ongoing transformation ” in areas such as work-life balance , terms and conditions , diversity and inclusion and embracing digital .
And as for his own future ? He smiled : “ As John Lennon said , ‘ Life is what happens while you ’ re busy making other plans ’ and that is so true .
“ I might be here in five years , I might call it a day or the choice might not be mine , but that ’ s how life goes . At the moment , I ’ m just happy to be with a great business that employs great people in a fantastic part of the world .”
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