Huffington Post: Gen Y in the Boardroom

Generation Y’s entrepreneurs have received well-deserved publicity of late, most notably Nick D’Aloisio’s sale of Internet start-up Summly to Yahoo! And HuffPo has led the way in showcasing the full breadth of Gen Y talent from the catwalk to the kitchen. But there’s another place where Gen Y leaders are also starting to make a big impact: the corporate boardroom.

As globalisation speeds up, customer expectations shift, and the impact of social media rises, the global market place is now more complex than ever before. Businesses that want to stay ahead of the competition – especially in customer-facing sectors like retail, media and finance – need Gen Y to help them understand and respond to the big trends that are already shaping the future: understanding tomorrow’s customers; responding to the desire for more responsible business; and gaining a competitive edge in emerging markets.

Following the global financial crisis an irreversible (and positive) shift has taken place: we all now expect business and management to be done differently, and done better. Businesses from banks to supermarkets are having to re-define their values and become more transparent, accountable and sustainable. Such changes range from Marks & Spencer’s “Plan A” (which overhauls every aspect of their business model) to efforts like TheCityUK’s Next Generation Vision, the UK financial services sector’s Gen Y-led plan to reshape their industry. Havas’ Global CEO David Jones explains it best in his best-selling book “Who Cares Wins”: “for business, the price of doing well is doing good“. Gen Y has grown up with, and instinctively understands, this new thinking, and is best placed to lead the change from the top. For us, the world has moved on from Milton Friedman’s famous quip that “the business of business is business“.

Rapid cultural change has been matched (and driven by) rapid technological and demographic change. Today’s consumers are heavily influenced by social media, which has given them more access to information about how companies do business than ever before. If the industrial revolution gave power to corporates, the digital revolution has empowered the consumer. As Jones says, “…there’s not been another time in history when the youngest people understood the most about what is going on in the world“. Companies that fail to respond to Gen Y’s desire for good business, like BP and HMV (where the marketing director’s helplessness and ignorance of Twitter started trending) find their brands tarnished and their valuations plummeting. Generation Y business leaders can add value by acting as cultural translators, helping their colleagues navigate the new business environment. That’s why, for example, Starbucks appointed Clara Shih, then 29, to its board, hoping she would “bring fresh insight” to their business.

As traditional models of business leadership break down, demand for Gen Y leaders who understand these changes will only rise. Globalisation has created increasingly complex decision-making environments which require new skill sets and fresh perspectives that were simply not around when many of today’s board room executives entered the labour market. Simply accumulating decades of experience in a corporate silo no longer means you will become a successful leader. In the fast-paced, digitally-enabled, multi-cultural and multi-lingual market place, every company now needs to balance Gen X’s experience with Gen Y’s dynamism, inherently global outlook, digital aptitude and understanding of responsible business. And adding a Generation Y perspective, as Cambridge University Alumni Advisory Board (on which I serve) has done, can be a powerful antidote to age-related groupthink in an era when the world is getting younger.

Alongside Starbucks and Cambridge, Havas, one of the world’s leading global advertising, communications and digital groups, have led the way in empowering Generation Y. Together with David Jones, Kate Robertson (Havas Worldwide’s UK Group Chairman), founded One Young World, an annual summit that brings together 1500 Gen Y leaders from 190 countries which CNN dubbed the “junior Davos”. Last year, Kate Robertson also appointed me to her Board, working with six market-leading UK group companies. And harnessing the skills and talents of Gen Y is a trend that’s already being noticed at the highest levels: the Financial Times and Telefonica are hosting a series of Millennial Leadership Summits (I spoke at the London Summit earlier this month), whilst the World Economic Forum (famous for its annual Davos summit) has set up a task force to examine new leadership models. The UK’s Institute of Directors has seen its young directors forum grow in prominence, whilst younger directors are increasingly found working at board level in schools (school governors), charities (like school breakfast club charity, Magic Breakfast), local government (a Kent council elected a 22-year-old Conservative as its youngest councillor last year) and of course SMEs and start-ups, especially in the technology sector (like new “click and collect” pioneer StreetHub).

Peter Cave-Gibbs, one of London’s leading headhunters, sums it up by saying, “Age is just a number in business now. At Board level, Chairmen are looking for outstanding leaders who can help them succeed in today’s global marketplace. Gen Y business talent is highly educated, multi-lingual, and comfortable with change and technology. This generation will change the way business is done forever.”

This article was first published in the business section of the Huffington Post on 27 June 2013.

One Young World: Nurturing Next Generation Leadership

When the Next Generation Vision was launched last year by 21 young business leaders, and backed by TheCityUK and London Mayor Boris Johnson, our industry sent out the most powerful signal yet that we believe in the power of Generation Y to shape the future and the lead the change in our sector. Our vision calls on the financial and professional services sector to remain successful, competitive and innovative over the coming 10-15 years, whilst becoming more sustainable, transparent, and a part of society not apart from it, so that every individual, every business and the nation as a whole can prosper. We know that vision is within our grasp. But we also know that it will only become a reality if a new generation of leaders emerges with us, nurtured by those who’ve already succeeded and ambitious for change.

And it’s organisations like One Young World, a summit for young global leaders modelled on the Davos World Economic Forum, that will help us nurture that next generation of leaders, both within our industry and in others. In mid-October, over four days in Pittsburgh, 1,300 young leaders from business, government and civil society from 190 countries – including from TheCityUK members like Barclays, Clifford Chance, PwC, KPMG, Alliance Trust, RBS/Coutts, Aviva, Allianz, ING and Credit Suisse – discussed the big issues facing the world from sustainable business to empowering women leaders. Established global figures from President Bill Clinton and former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to Nobel Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey were on hand to counsel us. Like TheCityUK, all of them passionately believe that change and innovation in the future will be powered by Generation Y, and that for business to do well it must also do good.

Bill Clinton opened the third One Young World Summit in inspiring style by setting out what he thought were the three biggest challenges facing our generation of young global leaders – global inequality, global instability, and the unsustainability of the Western growth model – but re-stated his belief that it was in our generation’s power to overcome them. Fresh from his standing ovation at last year’s Summit, OYW Counsellor and recently-appointed global CEO of TheCityUK member Barclays, Antony Jenkins, followed up a day later with perhaps the most simple but powerful example of how our industry truly does believe in the power of young people to lead. Speaking on the fringes of the Summit before later chairing a panel session on ethical business, Jenkins told us how the busiest Barclays counter branch in the entire UK – located in Stratford, east London, near the London 2012 Olympic Stadium – is managed by a 23-year-old woman who joined Barclays straight from school and worked her way up the from the shop floor to the manager’s office. Barclays trusted her to lead because it believed what young people rise to the challenge when given responsibility.

During the panel session itself Jenkins chaired an impressive line-up on ethical business that included former Observer editor Will Hutton, the Dragon’s Den’s Doug Richard and senior figures from Siemens and Shell. Jenkins announced that his ambition was to move Barclays beyond its recent challenges, and make it the “go to” bank by giving it a “defining purpose” and putting ethical behaviour at the heart of its business. And mirroring the NGV’s own view that trust and integrity must the foundation for our industry’s success, Jenkins said “businesses that operate in an ethical way will ultimately be more successful” as he set out his plan to develop a “balanced scorecard” for Barclays to measure social return not just financial success.

Throughout the Summit, there were other examples too of established leaders nurturing the next generation – and of emerging leaders grasping their opportunity to shine:

• As a member of both One Young World’s Advisory Board and Cambridge University’s Alumni Advisory Board, I was delighted to welcome Mohammed Razai to Pittsburgh. Mohammed is  a 26-year-old former Afghan refugee who arrived in Britain aged 15 speaking no English and is now a Cambridge medical student. Mohammed was nominated to attend the Summit by no less a figure than Cambridge’s Vice Chancellor, who recognised the Mohammed’s leadership potential. Mohammed’s story shows us all that even those who have faced war and persecution can blossom into leaders when nurtured, mentored and inspired.

• Celebrity chef and youth leadership mentor (via his Fifteen franchise) Jamie Oliver spoke to me on a Pittsburgh rooftop as we had our photo taken together for a Vanity Fair supplement on young leaders. I spoke to Jamie about his leadership journey from his parents Essex pub to winning a TED Prize, and about my work as President & Trustee of Magic Breakfast, the UK’s leading school breakfast club charity which feeds hungry children. Later that week, I also appeared on a Google hangout webcast with some of Jamie’s young Food Revolution ambassadors, who are leading the global campaign for nutrition and health.

• NASA astronaut Ron Garan amazed us all with his talk on why young leaders must take the “orbital perspective” when solving problems and working with others. Complete with simply amazing video footage Ron told us that from his viewpoint orbiting the earth from the International Space Station he could truly see the “bigger picture”. For young leaders, he said, seeing the bigger picture, having the widest vision, and not becoming transfixed by microdetail, was the key to success. Throughout the Next Generation Vision we have followed Ron’s advice: we set out what we see are the bold, Big Steps needed make our industry a part of society, not apart from society.

• British Prime Minister David Cameron talked about his time as a young leader in politics (of the Conservative Party) and his solutions to some of the challenges facing young people such as unemployment after the global economic crisis, whilst Conservative advisor Shaun Bailey remarked sagely that established leaders must work with emerging leaders because in the most successful environments “there are no junior people, only junior ideas”.

Kofi Annan closed the Summit by saying “changing the world starts in own community”. The NGV’s ambition is only slightly less vaulting: our ambition is to change our industry and our society for the better. We are looking forward to working with future leaders across the sector, and with policymakers, civil society, and all our stakeholders. Our Vision is only the start of our campaign for more open, transparent leadership and more sustainable business going forward. We know we can’t change things on our own. We need the help of all our colleagues across the sector, including the industry’s established and senior leaders.

So, help us turn our vision into reality. Join the conversation and tell us what you think on our website, Facebook and Twitter. Spread the word, in your workplaces, networks and communities. And above all, help us create a new generation of ambassadors for our vision by asking your colleagues to live the values we have set out. Established leaders can do much to nurture future leaders, but ultimately it’s up to us to demonstrate we can do great things. The Next Generation Vision is our generation’s statement of ambition, a blueprint for change – and our call to action. Now it’s over to you. What will you do to turn our vision into reality in your community?

An abridged version of this article was first published on TheCityUK blog on 31 October 2012

LondonLovesBusiness: London’s exporters sell snow to eskimos

Alan Mak explains how London’s business leaders are exporting their products, ideas and ambitions around the world

The headline isn’t as mad as it might seem.

As Boris Johnson (who else?) rightly said in April, business for London’s entrepreneurs is booming as they export “tea to China, cake to France, and TV aerials to Korea”.

And it’s these exports that are helping the UK’s economic recovery – while proudly flying the flag for London PLC.

Because London’s exporters don’t only sell their wares to the world – from cycle racks to online courses – they also spread the capital’s culture and change the way the world does business.

Let me explain. When times were tough in the past, Conservative Party chairman Norman Tebbitt famously advised people to “get on yer bike!” to find success.

Now, Lewisham-based architect Anthony Lau has done just that (kind of).

Lau’s company, Cyclehoop, designs and manufactures trendy cycle racks and bike sheds, combining innovative London design with solid British manufacturing prowess. Founded just four years ago, Cyclehoop exports 15 products to 10 countries worldwide, including Ireland, Demark, Sweden, Spain and America.

The company recently supplied 6000 bike racks for the 2012 Olympics, with Lau telling UKTI how the buzz helped raise the profile of London’s exporters – “home-grown British products are really impressing international buyers” he said.

Not to be outdone, Hounslow-based Brompton Bicyles, old hands at the export game (currently exporting to 33 countries), is doubling its staff in America as exports there grow and opened its first store in China this month.

But today’s London-based exporters are more likely to get on a plane than a bike.

It is the fast-growing BRIC economies, especially China, and the emerging “Next 11” countries such as Mexico and South Korea that are key to export growth, (read editor Charles Orton-Jones’ piece on emerging markets for more information on this).

Yet as recently as November 2010 Britain was exporting more to Ireland than the BRICs and other emerging economies.

What changed?

Many London exporters like Clerkenwell-based architects John Thompson & Partners (JTP) went global. JTP specialises in sustainable development, and since opening a small office in Shanghai in 2009, have won 20 project tenders. China now accounts for 20% of its turnover.

Similarly, Whizz Education, a digital agency producing online maths courses for children from its Paddington HQ, won this year’sQueen’s Award for Enterprise for increasing overseas sales by 160%, with most growth coming in Asia, the Middle East and America (read Shruti Tripathi’s top exporters article for more information).

And what’s the secret of success? London’s exporters boil it down to three things.

Firstly, get help from the experts like UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), the government’s overseas export arm. Dragon’s Den star Theo Paphitis famously described UKTI as “the UK’s best kept secret” and they are a great starting point for market knowledge and contacts alongside country-specific trade bodies like the China-Britain Business Council or UK-India Business Council.

Secondly, do the legwork on the ground, like JTP partner Joanna Allen did: spending two weeks visiting China’s major cities talking to property developers, government officials, architects and engineers enabled JTP to “pinpoint exactly whereabouts in China our services would be most appropriately targeted.”

Thirdly, find a local partner. Burberry’s partnership with Hong Kong-based Kwok Hang Holdings led to rapid growth in mainland China, and the luxury brand now has 57 shops in 30 Chinese cities. Burberry was so impressed with their partner that they bought them out.

But the world isn’t just interested in London’s goods and services.

Increasingly, it is also fascinated by how Londoners do business. Take Chinese businesses. On the margins of this year’s high-level EU-China Business Summit which I attended in Brussels last month, senior figures from Chinese multinationals, state-owned enterprises and SMEs alike, were keen to follow the example of London’s exporters. They wanted to move up the value chain, moving from mass production focused on a domestic market (albeit a huge one!), to high-value branded goods like Bromptons that they can sell to the world.

During the Olympics, when I met the China Entrepreneur Club delegation of China’s top high-growth companies, they too were full of questions about how concepts like flexible working, work-life balance, employee share schemes and embedding Britain’s start-up culture inside big organisations could improve productivity back home.

They admired and wanted to replicate the energy, ambition and ingenuity of London’s exporters like Cyclehoop, and other innovative British brands such as Dyson. Put simply; London’s best exports are now not just what we make, build and design – it’s our ideas, working practices and global outlook too.

Another stat often quoted by Boris is that £1 in every £5 earned by Londoners subsidises the rest of Britain.

This won’t surprise those of us who were present in Davos this year when Boris unveiled a large ice sculpture of London Bridge to celebrate the London Olympics. Our Mayor repeated his joke-stat about tea to China, cake to France etc, but showed off the chutzpah and inventiveness that has brought London’s exporters such success when he added that “London now exports frozen water to Switzerland. It’s Château Thames, the finest vintage.”

It surely won’t be long then before we Londoners are exporting snow to the eskimos.

Alan Mak is a member of Guardian/Courvoisier Future 500, the 48 Group Club Board, and TheCityUK/CBBC China Advisory Committee. He is President & Trustee of Magic Breakfast and co-author of theNext Generation Vision for Financial Services. 

This article was first published on LondonLovesBusiness on 3 October 2012.

 

Growing our economy BRIC by BRIC

The fantastic London Olympics didn’t just reaffirm Britain’s place as a global forum for sport. They also cemented our position as the world’s leading business hub. And it’s by continuing to perform that role – in particular by welcoming inward investment from the fast-growing BRIC (and Next 11) economies – that British job-creation, domestic recovery, and economic growth can be accelerated.

 

The UK is currently Europe’s leading destination for BRIC investment, just ahead of Germany. Thames Water, Jaguar Land Rover, Pringle, the Evening Standard and Chelsea FC are just some of the beneficiaries of BRIC investment. But we need to work hard to maintain – and enhance – our lead, as we did during the Olympics when the pop-up “British Business Embassy” at Lancaster House hosted 4,000 global business leaders and brokered £14bn worth of deals for UK businesses, including £6bn of inward investment. That success showed why Britain is already well resourced to be the world’s BRIC capital: a top-tier financial and professional services sector, centred on the world’s greatest international city; high quality manufacturing hubs; vibrant creative and digital industries; our time zone, English language, rule of law, and centuries-old trading reputation.  

But Britain must do even more. We need to make the bold domestic reforms that will give us a truly open and agile economy for the global marketplace. Immigration policies and smarter visa rules that make it easier for highly-skilled BRIC professionals to make Britain their home. Massive infrastructure investment, and new airports for the South East to better connect us to each other and the fast-growth economies. Less red tape and lower taxes on the SMEs and entrepreneurs who are our keenest exporters and job-creators. Education reforms that put STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths) and modern languages at the heart of a new curriculum to compete. Britain must be an Opportunity Society.

The BRICs are already making Britain the place where they invest and do business, study, visit, live and shop. Their growth will fuel our growth: Goldman Sachs predicts that the BRICs will be as big as the G7 economies by 2032. It’s only be reforming at home that we can build the architecture that empowers Britain’s businesses and entrepreneurs to strengthen the BRIC relationships that are key to our economic recovery and future growth

Alan Mak is a member of TheCityUK/China Britain Business Council China Advisory Group

This article was first published in the 2012 edition of the Reform Journal, a collection of pieces from thought leaders released to coincide with the 2012 UK political party conference season.