Home: Issue 1 2008 › Cover Story › Serial CEO
Serial CEO
27/03/2008 | Channel: Business
Ashley Ward speaks to Libbie Hammond about supporting CEOs
The Chair of the European Leadership Programme, Ashley Ward, is a
highly experienced CEO who has been through the spectrum of learning
experiences including IPOs, trade sales and downsizing. His career
highlights include leading the IPO for one of LSE’s highest growth
stocks in Orchestream with a market cap of over £900m in 2000. He was
also part of the leadership team that turned around Cray/Anite Networks
and executed its sale to Cable and Wireless. Ashley has also held CEO
roles at Wharfedale, Laserline, Intelligence UK and Upaid. Ashley
describes himself as “a serial CEO – usually a hired gun brought in to
replace other CEOs. My task was to affect change and take the company
from one performance level to another – hopefully upwards!”
After 26 years of being a CEO, Ashley decided that he was ready for a new challenge and around this time Nexec Partners, an executive search firm, approached him with the ideas they had for the European Leadership Programme. The idea instantly struck a chord with Ashley. “I felt that I would like to pass on some of my experience and maybe prevent someone else from making some mistakes,” he explained. “I never had that option available when I was a CEO, and so I made every mistake possible and it was a hard way to learn. Frankly if I had chairmen who were any good then that would have helped, but I certainly had no access to a formal CEO training environment.”
The European Leadership Programme was established in early 2007 to address this lack of UK and European support infrastructure for CEOs and leaders of high growth and venture capital backed companies. “There is an incredible shortage in the UK particularly and in Europe, of serial CEOs,” said Ashley. “This meant there was a place for a programme that could help CEOs, and isn’t just about me passing on my experience, but is about sessions that enable CEOs to share their experience and benefit from the expertise of outsiders who can teach them hard skills.”
Ashley continued: “The fact is that CEOs in the venture backed world have quite a short shelf life, because of aggressive targets and over-optimistic ideas about the rate at which businesses can be developed. Historically the single remedial tool for underperformance at a portfolio company has been to replace the CEO. We feel that’s poor decision taking because you lose the CEO’s knowledge, plus when a CEO replacement happens because of poor performance the business is put back a year.
“We now think the venture capital world is beginning to take a slightly different view in that they are saying ‘the reasons we hired this guy in the first place remain valid, and what has happened is that our forecasting has not been sufficiently good. Therefore perhaps it would more valuable to surround this guy with support instead of getting rid of him.’ This is where the ELP can help and when we go to and talk to venture capitalists nowadays, everybody agrees this is a really good idea.”
He continued: “I can’t overemphasise the fact that venture capitalists’ expectations are often in the wrong place, and it’s not about CEOs being bad at their jobs, or incapable of doing what they have been hired to do, its simply about it not being feasible to meet the targets that they have been set. So we think an important part of the process is negotiation between an executive, his employers and the backers of the company, to get expectations that are ambitious but reasonable. Because if they are not, then everybody suffers.”
Once a CEO has joined the ELP, they have access to four days of training a year, and each day is made up of a series of sessions. “Before each date we interview the members about what their concerns are and we design the days to try and cover at least the primary ones,” explained Ashley. “But mostly their concerns remain the same – nobody’s talked to them, lack of support from the board, lack of currency from the non-exec directors, lack of industry knowledge from the chairman, and so on.
“In addition to this, these members are not yet serial CEOs and there are business areas, such as the latest financing tools, that they want some specific expertise in. We have a huge range of subjects that the CEO needs to know about and we try to design the day around the concerns of the members of that particular day.
“Each day usually addresses around a dozen people, and we spend the morning looking at the generic subject of leadership,” Ashley continued. “These morning sessions can include areas such as communicating with passion, or even ‘charisma’, which is something that we believe can be acquired. We will perform a lot of analysis on the subject of leadership and what we come out with is a personal checklist for each individual of the areas that he might want to work on to strengthen his leadership skills.”
‘The warm & cosy part’
These morning sessions rely heavily on interaction between the CEOs in attendance, and Ashley describes this time as the ‘warm and cosy part’. “In the morning, it is slightly more about what I call ‘putting the CEOs on the couch’ and then in the afternoon we aim to address some specific subject areas.
“This can take the form of getting an expert to come and talk to us,” explained Ashley. “For example we recently looked at ‘if your company is planning an event, such as an IPO or sale, within the next two to three years, then what do you need to do today to make sure that it is going to go smoothly when the time comes’. We had an expert come in and talk about preparing companies for exit, and then we worked out a checklist of six or seven critical points that needed action.
“We have also done sessions on employment legislation in Europe and lots in the human resources area such as managing underperformers, and the importance of getting managers to hire people who are better than themselves. The days themselves are quite hard-hitting and intense, but the benefits that they bring are massive. Really, the aim is to help CEOs succeed – I think that ELP is the only training school teaching CEO survival skills in high growth companies,” Ashley confirmed.
The sharing of experience and knowledge between the members is an important part of the learning process, and Ashley emphasised this is one of the major benefits of meeting with other CEOs. “I think that peer learning is the way forward, and I am often told by attendees that to have an environment supported by a trusted confidentiality charter means they can share some pretty deep feelings about what is going on in their lives and what their concerns are. The CEOs find it incredibly comforting when they find that other people are going through the same experience, and however wet it sounds, the fact is that CEOs are lonely beasts, and they don’t trust easily as they know their job security is tenuous, and generally speaking they will talk more freely to another CEO during a confidential ELP session than they will to their venture capital backers, their non-exec directors or their chairman. This also reveals something about the construction and function of boards.”
Getting experts to share their knowledge is a key part of the ELP programme, but Ashley also raised the subject of how some more recognisable leaders are wasting their talents on TV sensationalism. “I found the Tycoon series a few months back to be cheap and egocentric,” he stated. “I don’t doubt that Peter Jones has got a huge amount of knowledge to give to entrepreneurs and business leaders and I was so saddened by someone with that capability squandering it on low quality reality TV. What’s worse is that he is already a well known name and face on Dragon’s Den where whilst apart from occasional references to his own good looks he does a reasonable job albeit in a now rather predictable way.
“We at ELP feel that the whole approach to programmes like Tycoon is wrong, in that series the contestants were simply cannon fodder for Jones’s aggrandisement, they weren’t real entrepreneurs. It would be nice to see some real help and encouragement, rather than the commercial bullying that was shown.
“Dragon’s Den is valuable however - it does show that some people can make it, but what amazes me is when contestants don’t know their numbers! I wish I could be in the wings, coaching the people before they went into the Den and faced the Dragons, these people could do with some coaching beforehand and I don’t think it’s done enough – that way maybe the ‘entrepreneurs’ would be able to present their business without hyperventilating their way towards the dreaded ‘I’m out’ ”. The bullying, aggressive approach illustrated by Peter Jones led Ashley onto speak about what in fact makes a good leader. “I think that one of the differentiators is humility, but it has to be combined with confidence,” he said. “And one of the most important traits is the way in which you listen. We all know the business leader who says ‘my door is always open’ – this doesn’t necessarily mean they will listen if you walk through it. We think that it is incredibly important to really listen to issues, to challenge people to think for themselves and to make decisions, and also to empower people - if you can run an environment where people are not frightened and are allowed to make mistakes, and they are coached and led, then that is a good definition of what makes a good leader.”
He added: “I also think that good leaders are thoughtful people, they consider a lot of variables and they have active brains that just don’t just accept the world but analyse and question everything. I would add that good leaders make themselves available, are responsive and are also nice!”
Raising their own game
The aim of the ELP is to help members think about leadership and constantly raise their own game. “We compare it to a tennis academy, so if you are good you can get better,” explained Ashley. “What we do is take talented people and help them get access to all the knowledge and support that they ought to have. You wouldn’t expect any top athlete to be at the peak of his game or at a competitive level without coaching, and that is what we do.”
Ashley himself admitted that the discussions in the sessions had been teaching him as much as the members. “You know it is interesting, I wouldn’t have thought I had a huge amount to learn. But I think that one of the definitions of wisdom is realising the enormity of your own ignorance, and in fact, the sessions have really taught me a lot. So far I am the only person who has been on every ELP session and I reckon my own game, were I a business leader right now, is pretty much at its peak.”
He concluded: “Of course, I am using this knowledge during my day-job as a partner at Nexec – I’m thoroughly enjoying not being a CEO but its also great to help other people do the job better.”
After 26 years of being a CEO, Ashley decided that he was ready for a new challenge and around this time Nexec Partners, an executive search firm, approached him with the ideas they had for the European Leadership Programme. The idea instantly struck a chord with Ashley. “I felt that I would like to pass on some of my experience and maybe prevent someone else from making some mistakes,” he explained. “I never had that option available when I was a CEO, and so I made every mistake possible and it was a hard way to learn. Frankly if I had chairmen who were any good then that would have helped, but I certainly had no access to a formal CEO training environment.”
The European Leadership Programme was established in early 2007 to address this lack of UK and European support infrastructure for CEOs and leaders of high growth and venture capital backed companies. “There is an incredible shortage in the UK particularly and in Europe, of serial CEOs,” said Ashley. “This meant there was a place for a programme that could help CEOs, and isn’t just about me passing on my experience, but is about sessions that enable CEOs to share their experience and benefit from the expertise of outsiders who can teach them hard skills.”
Ashley continued: “The fact is that CEOs in the venture backed world have quite a short shelf life, because of aggressive targets and over-optimistic ideas about the rate at which businesses can be developed. Historically the single remedial tool for underperformance at a portfolio company has been to replace the CEO. We feel that’s poor decision taking because you lose the CEO’s knowledge, plus when a CEO replacement happens because of poor performance the business is put back a year.
“We now think the venture capital world is beginning to take a slightly different view in that they are saying ‘the reasons we hired this guy in the first place remain valid, and what has happened is that our forecasting has not been sufficiently good. Therefore perhaps it would more valuable to surround this guy with support instead of getting rid of him.’ This is where the ELP can help and when we go to and talk to venture capitalists nowadays, everybody agrees this is a really good idea.”
He continued: “I can’t overemphasise the fact that venture capitalists’ expectations are often in the wrong place, and it’s not about CEOs being bad at their jobs, or incapable of doing what they have been hired to do, its simply about it not being feasible to meet the targets that they have been set. So we think an important part of the process is negotiation between an executive, his employers and the backers of the company, to get expectations that are ambitious but reasonable. Because if they are not, then everybody suffers.”
Once a CEO has joined the ELP, they have access to four days of training a year, and each day is made up of a series of sessions. “Before each date we interview the members about what their concerns are and we design the days to try and cover at least the primary ones,” explained Ashley. “But mostly their concerns remain the same – nobody’s talked to them, lack of support from the board, lack of currency from the non-exec directors, lack of industry knowledge from the chairman, and so on.
“In addition to this, these members are not yet serial CEOs and there are business areas, such as the latest financing tools, that they want some specific expertise in. We have a huge range of subjects that the CEO needs to know about and we try to design the day around the concerns of the members of that particular day.
“Each day usually addresses around a dozen people, and we spend the morning looking at the generic subject of leadership,” Ashley continued. “These morning sessions can include areas such as communicating with passion, or even ‘charisma’, which is something that we believe can be acquired. We will perform a lot of analysis on the subject of leadership and what we come out with is a personal checklist for each individual of the areas that he might want to work on to strengthen his leadership skills.”
‘The warm & cosy part’
These morning sessions rely heavily on interaction between the CEOs in attendance, and Ashley describes this time as the ‘warm and cosy part’. “In the morning, it is slightly more about what I call ‘putting the CEOs on the couch’ and then in the afternoon we aim to address some specific subject areas.
“This can take the form of getting an expert to come and talk to us,” explained Ashley. “For example we recently looked at ‘if your company is planning an event, such as an IPO or sale, within the next two to three years, then what do you need to do today to make sure that it is going to go smoothly when the time comes’. We had an expert come in and talk about preparing companies for exit, and then we worked out a checklist of six or seven critical points that needed action.
“We have also done sessions on employment legislation in Europe and lots in the human resources area such as managing underperformers, and the importance of getting managers to hire people who are better than themselves. The days themselves are quite hard-hitting and intense, but the benefits that they bring are massive. Really, the aim is to help CEOs succeed – I think that ELP is the only training school teaching CEO survival skills in high growth companies,” Ashley confirmed.
The sharing of experience and knowledge between the members is an important part of the learning process, and Ashley emphasised this is one of the major benefits of meeting with other CEOs. “I think that peer learning is the way forward, and I am often told by attendees that to have an environment supported by a trusted confidentiality charter means they can share some pretty deep feelings about what is going on in their lives and what their concerns are. The CEOs find it incredibly comforting when they find that other people are going through the same experience, and however wet it sounds, the fact is that CEOs are lonely beasts, and they don’t trust easily as they know their job security is tenuous, and generally speaking they will talk more freely to another CEO during a confidential ELP session than they will to their venture capital backers, their non-exec directors or their chairman. This also reveals something about the construction and function of boards.”
Getting experts to share their knowledge is a key part of the ELP programme, but Ashley also raised the subject of how some more recognisable leaders are wasting their talents on TV sensationalism. “I found the Tycoon series a few months back to be cheap and egocentric,” he stated. “I don’t doubt that Peter Jones has got a huge amount of knowledge to give to entrepreneurs and business leaders and I was so saddened by someone with that capability squandering it on low quality reality TV. What’s worse is that he is already a well known name and face on Dragon’s Den where whilst apart from occasional references to his own good looks he does a reasonable job albeit in a now rather predictable way.
“We at ELP feel that the whole approach to programmes like Tycoon is wrong, in that series the contestants were simply cannon fodder for Jones’s aggrandisement, they weren’t real entrepreneurs. It would be nice to see some real help and encouragement, rather than the commercial bullying that was shown.
“Dragon’s Den is valuable however - it does show that some people can make it, but what amazes me is when contestants don’t know their numbers! I wish I could be in the wings, coaching the people before they went into the Den and faced the Dragons, these people could do with some coaching beforehand and I don’t think it’s done enough – that way maybe the ‘entrepreneurs’ would be able to present their business without hyperventilating their way towards the dreaded ‘I’m out’ ”. The bullying, aggressive approach illustrated by Peter Jones led Ashley onto speak about what in fact makes a good leader. “I think that one of the differentiators is humility, but it has to be combined with confidence,” he said. “And one of the most important traits is the way in which you listen. We all know the business leader who says ‘my door is always open’ – this doesn’t necessarily mean they will listen if you walk through it. We think that it is incredibly important to really listen to issues, to challenge people to think for themselves and to make decisions, and also to empower people - if you can run an environment where people are not frightened and are allowed to make mistakes, and they are coached and led, then that is a good definition of what makes a good leader.”
He added: “I also think that good leaders are thoughtful people, they consider a lot of variables and they have active brains that just don’t just accept the world but analyse and question everything. I would add that good leaders make themselves available, are responsive and are also nice!”
Raising their own game
The aim of the ELP is to help members think about leadership and constantly raise their own game. “We compare it to a tennis academy, so if you are good you can get better,” explained Ashley. “What we do is take talented people and help them get access to all the knowledge and support that they ought to have. You wouldn’t expect any top athlete to be at the peak of his game or at a competitive level without coaching, and that is what we do.”
Ashley himself admitted that the discussions in the sessions had been teaching him as much as the members. “You know it is interesting, I wouldn’t have thought I had a huge amount to learn. But I think that one of the definitions of wisdom is realising the enormity of your own ignorance, and in fact, the sessions have really taught me a lot. So far I am the only person who has been on every ELP session and I reckon my own game, were I a business leader right now, is pretty much at its peak.”
He concluded: “Of course, I am using this knowledge during my day-job as a partner at Nexec – I’m thoroughly enjoying not being a CEO but its also great to help other people do the job better.”
