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May 2006
Interview: Ian Martin
“Industrialist” is no longer a particularly fashionable term- perhaps because here in the UK the service sector is so dominant. The word is reserved for a unique type of businessman; someone who cuts across many industries and feels comfortable in them all.
 Few are as experienced as Ian Martin. A career full of highlights includes leading the largest acquisition in Grand Met’s history- that of the US Pillsbury Company, including Burger King. He was chairman and CEO of Pillsbury and Chairman of Burger King worldwide from 1989-92. Other positions include the chairmanship of healthcare company SSL International, Unigate (food and distribution) and Inter-Continental Hotels. He has also founded a venture capital house, and now aged 70 has only reluctantly retired from full-time corporate life. Interregna met up with him for a chat in London.
Above all, during our interview with Ian, the same answer cropped up to several different questions. We wanted to know what made a generalist chairman succeed; what he looked for in his board or team. The answer was always the same: good judgement. Says Ian “Unfortunately it’s not something that can be spotted a-priori. But it applies to the chairman, to a board and to staff. You can’t deal with specific problems in a business by reading a book- you need to have judgement. You will make mistakes, but any member of management staff who has good judgement will bring net positives in the long run.”
The word “staff” crops up regularly in our conversation too. Ian sees the chairman as collaborative, part of a larger whole, and not just a figurehead or dictator. “A chairman needs to build positive relationships with his non-execs, CEO and other executives. That’s particularly true for non-specialists: you’ve got to learn a new business and learn it hard, because you may be in the company of people who have lived and breathed the industry for their whole lives. Part of that essential quality of judgement is picking out the inside track of a new business, identifying the trends which really affect it, and knowing which practices to keep and which to discard.” Ian also notes how often board-level performers are actually supported by a subordinate: “There’s often a symbiosis at work. Nobody works in isolation, and that’s true at chairman level too. Good chairmen use and nurture the talent around them.”
Ian has a phrase for the mixture of gravitas and benevolence required to rapidly gain traction in large organisations: “sapiential authority”. A chairman should not be a “wave-on-through traffic-cop chairman who is afraid of confrontation”, but equally should manage to avoid unnecessary confrontation because he commands respect throughout the organisation and represents authority. And that authority comes from having a track record and the ability to enthuse- “Staff at all levels welcome the authority of knowledge and experience. Enthusiasm is infectious, and a corporate culture built on belief is self-fulfilling. It’s the chairman’s job to be his own internal PR.” Ian pauses. “…And a faster gun than anybody else!”
Whilst wholesale change has not always been the reason for Ian’s many appointments, his roles have often been challenging. He has some distilled wisdom for implementing change management with minimum pain:
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“Persuade and convince”: have good reasons for the things you do, and let your experience be your guide. |
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Alienation needs to be balanced against an objective: alienation can often be avoided with decisiveness. |
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“Introduce new blood in key areas”: it’s unavoidable if you don’t want to stay in a rut. |
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Keep building relationships, even when the pressure’s off. |
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“Big companies can test almost anything in limited areas without bleeding to death”: unlike smaller players, chairmen of large organisations have the freedom and the pocket to try things out. |
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“Go for the Pareto”: overcomplexity doesn’t work. Build simple systems which satisfy 80% of the market- try for the other 20% and you’ll soon be embroiled in intricacies which waste time and money. You can’t please all the people all of the time. |
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“Employ turnkey consultants”: this is where interim managers can be worth their weight in gold. Get specific jobs done with experts who bring essential but short term skills. |
Indeed, Ian sees several roles for interim managers and consultants. “The obvious and most discussed role for interims is the special project- new markets, joint venture structuring, compliance assessment etc.” But there are other roles to be played, often centring on the interim’s independence. “They may play a peacemaking role during periods of disruption or schism. They may also serve to build relationships with the City.” Both of these are particularly key functions in publicly-quoted companies, and can smooth the share price in turbulent times. One of Ian’s marks of a good chairman is someone who “knows what they don’t know”- and interims may be ideal for filling these knowledge gaps; preventing the following occurrence which Ian remembers from his National Service days. “I’ll never forget the words of our Major, in his assessment of one of the officer cadets”, he says. “As with many under-informed chairmen, the major said ‘This cadet is magnificent in a crisis… unfortunately these crises are invariably of his own making’”
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