Introduction

In 1996, the new recruits at Arthur Andersen in Luxembourg were sent to the company’s training centre in Saint Charles, Illinois. There they got their first real taste of the company culture and started to lay the foundations of the skill sets that they would build on throughout their careers.

When I joined this group of enthusiastic young professionals, fresh from university, one of our instructors – Karen, an American lady in her mid-thirties – made a particularly strong impression on me. She came across as very smart and clearly talented, but there was something else about her. She had an aura, a presence that made everyone listen when she was talking in group settings. She had a particular way of paying attention to the people around her – being very supportive, while at the same time allowing the new recruits to reach the answers by themselves. This made her different, it made her special. I remember thinking, ‘This is someone I would like to become one day’. She was my first example of what a leader could be.

In August 2007, I joined Shell as the Global Head of Finance for its aviation business. Shell undertakes a People Survey on an annual basis. The survey consists of a series of questions on the level of satisfaction you feel being a Shell employee and gives feedback from your team on your leadership style. It is compared with your own previous year’s score and is benchmarked against different functions of the organisation. In January 2011, after four years in the role, I had helped grow the business by an average of 15 per cent. My scores as a leader were some of the strongest in the group.

My experience begs the question: can anyone become a leader? Can leadership be nurtured or is it an innate part of a person’s nature? These are good questions, but have an ambiguous answer: it depends.

A person’s nature is indeed fundamentally important to leadership – being a leader requires intellect, empathy, wit and decisiveness. However, what really counts is having the drive to become the leader you want to be.

At certain points in my career I hit roadblocks and doubts. Then, the example of Karen came vividly back to my mind. I started thinking a great deal more about my leadership style and ‘brand’. I began to spend time observing my environment and consciously adjusting to it. I focused on thinking strategically about my stakeholders and networkbuilding. I also factored time into my schedule for developing my skill set, translating trends and events into business solutions. Above all, I recognised that I needed to develop a much stronger sense of self-awareness and a much higher level of empathy to truly be a successful leader.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Looking back at my journey, I can now pinpoint what is essential to becoming a good or even a great leader. It all boils down to three critical pillars of leadership:

• a high level of self-awareness built on a deep understanding of what makes you you – your strengths, fears, hopes, brand or the brand you want to be known for (Finding the leader inside you)
• an ability to read, lead and influence people by developing your credibility and level of empathy, as well as building effective and efficient networks to help and support you (Leading and influencing – bringing others on the journey)
• the skill to craft a compelling vision and, with confidence and inspiration, turn it into a successful strategy, plus most importantly, deliver on it (Building and executing your vision – from ideas to results).

It is this that The Financial Times Guide to Leadership is about.

This guide is the result of 15 years of corporate experience – the 11 years it took me to rise from the role of a junior auditor to Global Head of Finance at Shell Aviation and the four years in position as a CFO. These 15 years were spent on three different continents and in six countries. It entailed working with more than 40 different nationalities and managing teams and teams of leaders. I went from analysing financials to working on strategic reformulation and buying and selling equity stakes in different organisations in different countries. Those years took me from being a team member to building teams and, at times, dramatically changing team structures by letting go underperformers and hiring new talent. They saw me learn how to welcome – even embrace – change, then lead and manage it. All of this was done while adjusting to and operating within five different, strong, corporate cultures, mostly in Fortune 100 companies. These five companies had a common feature: they all took fostering and nurturing leaders very seriously. Some of them even had the best in-house leadership development programmes in existence.

What this guide is not is an academic survey of the latest or the greatest theories on leadership. I have no intention of competing with academic literature, nor do I pretend that my work is complete. Leadership is evolving every day and so are individuals. Instead, the goal here is to give you pointers, trigger your thinking and equip you with practical tips and examples to take back to your daily work life. The purpose is to help you either kick-start your leadership journey or further hone some of your leadership skills and/or attributes.

What you are about to read is also the result of meetings with more than 50 fascinating and highly talented individuals, from seasoned corporate leaders to successful entrepreneurs and emerging leaders. Some very kindly agreed to be interviewed, to share their journeys or simply brainstorm their views on leadership with me; some I have worked with and learned from in the past 15 years; some have played the role of mentors in the same period.

What is the quintessential lesson that I learned? Aiming to become a leader is not easy. It is rooted in developing a high level of questioning and self-analysis. It is about constantly challenging yourself, while also being pragmatic and choosing your battles. More importantly, it is a never-ending journey towards excellence.

It is hoped that this will create in you a call for change. The ambition here is to help you assess what is needed for you to become the best you can be, the best possible leader that you can be. The aim is to develop you as a global, diverse, collaborative and inclusive leader, ready and able to have an impact on both your world and the world. As Hillel the Elder (a Jewish religious leader) once said, ‘If not now, when? If not you, who?’