Chinese Version

Tuesday, March 28, 2006 SCMP Business Post
Part four of eight

Fear Not Greatness

Andrew Brandler Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, CLP Group

Andrew Brandler worked in banking for 20 years, specializing in the energy and utility sectors before joining the CLP Group as CEO in 2000. While preserving many of the values at CLP, he has made lots of changes since then. He spoke to Richard Ivey School of Business on leadership, what he learned at business school and the importance of knowing how to reach a decision.

On leadership

“As Shakespeare said in Twelfth Night, ‘Be not afraid of greatness … some men are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them.’ I believe that some leaders are born with the natural ability to lead, and some have to develop their leadership skills. When you have leadership responsibilities thrust upon you, you’ve got to somehow learn to manage – you either sink or swim. Most of us have leadership traits within us, but how these innate traits are nurtured and manifested depends very much on how we interact with other people. It often gets down to being in the right place at the right time as well as having the right circumstances.”

On gaining self-respect

“When I first started at Harvard Business School I felt under a lot of pressure and faced many challenges. As one among 700 MBA candidates, initially I felt like a nobody. I am sure my classmates felt the same. As time moved on, I realized that I was in fact a somebody, that I was not a complete idiot after all, and consequently became more confident in myself. The case learning method really helped me as it pushed me to listen to what others had to say. It also forced me to fall back on some of the basic values that I already had. Looking back at the decisions I’ve made throughout my life, I may not have been right all the time, in fact in hindsight often wrong, but we all have to make numerous decisions everyday and making them based on the best available information, as opposed to sitting on them, is what is important.”

On some of the traps that leaders sometimes fall into

“Not listening to others, thinking that they are so-called great leaders and thinking that they know everything – these are some of the pitfalls. I spend a lot of time listening to what other people say and encouraging a culture in which people can speak their mind. I don’t feel that I have all the answers. It is important to consider the views of those that may be better able to judge as they are closer to the facts. I may have a wider vision overall, but I certainly don’t have all the answers.”

On moving from corporate banking to a public utility

“My job in both industries has been about managing people - although the context has been different. There are management principles that can be transferred across industries – you have to get the right people in the right positions around you and keep them motivated. There are 6,000 people in our company, but I work very closely with only a dozen of them on a day-to-day basis – the same as running a regional corporate finance team, which was my last banking job. At CLP I’m involved with many different facets of business, with many functional areas, and it is rewarding to get involved in all of them.”

Advice for someone just starting out

“Don’t miss any learning opportunities. Learn from all the personal challenges you face and put these into your learning inventory, as you will find that in the future you will likely be able to apply them in the more complex situations that you will inevitably face. Many of the things you learn in non-leadership positions can contribute to your development as a leader later on. It is also key to avoid being complacent. In developing people I always feel biased towards giving people more rather than fewer challenges, to stretch them.”

Making decisions the right way

Many people worry too much about making the right decision, and this can lead to paralysis. What sets high-flyers apart from the rest of us is that they focus more on the decision-making process than the decision itself. By examining how decisions are actually made, leaders can learn how to make better decisions.

Click on www.ivey.com.hk/iveybusinessjournal.html to learn what Michael Roberto, author of Why Great Leaders Don’t Take Yes for an Answer: Managing for Conflict and Consensus, has to say on the importance of decision making as a process.

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