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In our latest episode of ECI's podcast, Building Successful Businesses., we chat with Colin Tenwick about turning around dot.com failure. StepStone and what it taught him about business transformation.

Listen to Episode 2.2: 

Available on Apple Podcasts:

Transcript:

Fiona: Colin Tenwick took his first CEO role to turn around dot.com failure, StepStone. I ask him what that process of transformation taught him about business and how it impacts his approach to decision-making today.

Colin: If I go back to look at StepStone, you know, that was my first CEO gig. Probably no other person would've taken it on because reputationally the business was bankrupt, it was pretty much dead in the water. So for me, the decision to get involved in that was very much wanting to say, well, okay, what's the downside here? I spoke to a number of colleagues, I also spoke to a number of headhunters in the marketplace, and their view was, "Well, Colin, everybody thinks this business is dead. So, if you actually can turn it around, then it's going to be really quite remarkable.” And is it going to cause long-lasting… “No, it won't cause long-lasting damage." So, for me, reputation was important, and being able to forge a reputation in terms of turnaround.

Now, the thing that struck me was pace. You have got to move very, very quickly. You have to be very decisive, and you have to be in a situation where you're prepared to make a decision without having all the full information. When a business is bleeding that much and is literally on the verge of calling in the receivers, then you've got to move quickly. You have got to be able to have very quick support from a few people, financial backers, shareholders, or whatever. Very painfully that can be devastating and damaging for existing shareholders. But then what you realise, and this is the, I suppose one of the key things I take with me, is that you can do a hell of a lot in terms of restructuring a business without that business falling over. You can always do more, cut more, cut back more, and more aggressively earlier on.

Everybody says that they wish they'd done things deeper, sooner, etc. But the reality is you can actually do that to a business, and you can then start to rebuild. And the key thing then becomes do you have enough cash runway to start to execute the pivot of the restructuring. You know, we cut loose hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of employees, it was awful, I mean, absolutely awful. But it wasn't me or the shareholders' responsibility for that. It was the response of the prior owners, of prior management, who had got the business into that perspective. So you have got to have a bit of a thick skin. You've got to be clear in terms of demonstrating the vision, what you're trying to achieve, and being ultra-transparent with everybody. I think that's the other thing, people will put up with a hell of a lot if they believe that you are being open, fair, and transparent. As you know, we then built the business back, scaled the business and successfully sold it.

Fiona: It sounds like a bit of a baptism of fire as your first CEO role.

Colin: Oh, I mean, it really was. But, you know, when you look back on it, what we actually achieved there was pretty much an A to Z of restructuring and running a public company and keeping it public. But it was a classic dot.com situation. We could see, I think, you know, some parallels today with overvalued businesses, overscaled, too fat, not focused on the core things that are important, etc.

Fiona: In terms of that role as CEO, it sounds like, you know, setting vision, running at pace, very hands-on. How did you then find the transition when you went from CEO roles to chair? Because that's often very different. You're obviously one step removed. Have you developed effective strategies for becoming a good chair?

Colin: What's important, and somebody gave this a piece of advice, is if you want to be a good chairman or NED, it's absolutely critical that you've scratched the itch of being a CEO. There is nothing worse for a CEO than having a chairman that wants to be a CEO. And there's nothing worse for the board of having somebody that thinks they want to be a CEO. So, that was a very good piece of advice.

The second thing, I was very fortunate having a guy called Jan Stenberg as my chairman at StepStone. Jan was one of the most…sadly, he's no longer around, but he was one of the most experienced Scandinavian businessmen. He was CEO of SAS Airlines, he was a president of Ericsson, and a very experienced man. I worked with him for a number of years, and he was always fair, tough, and supportive to the point when he said, I wouldn't be supportive type of thing. So transparent, open, but a really, really good chairman for me to work with. I think, again, when you look back at your experiences, they are things you pick up. And then you figure out are they things I can work with? Does my personality allow me to do that? I'm not, but life is all about, I think observing and figuring out, are there techniques and things here that work for you and work for the businesses you're involved in.

Fiona: Colin Tenwick there, discussing the art of the possible when it comes to business transformation, as well as the strategies to being a good chair. In our next episode, we discuss taking tech companies overseas and how to build a successful digital marketplace.

Listen to the next episode here:

Mental wellness is high on the agenda for company leaders these days, thanks to a new culture of openness in discussing mental health. Ensuring all team members are supported, and fostering a culture to ensure happiness and wellbeing, can take up a lot of C-suite time and attention, and rightly so. But who looks after the leaders? With Mental Health Awareness Week from 15-21 May, we talked to some of our portfolio management teams to gain their tips on how C-Suite Execs can avoid burn out.

Joanna Swash is Group CEO of Moneypenny, a global leader in outsourced communications. Joanna had a meteoric rise since she was recruited as Moneypenny’s first salesperson in 2005, and today she manages a business that has grown to employ more than 1,200 people, and that has become a leader in telephone answering, live chat and outsourced communications across the UK and the US. Achieving this success has not been without some challenges for Joanna, who has also observed the pressures felt by leaders of many of Moneypenny’s 21,000 businesses clients in the UK and US, which range from large corporates and Magic Circle law firms to estate agents, vets and small businesses and everything in between.

Joanna comments: "Everyone expects business leaders to be invincible, and in this country, there can still be the belief that if you are in charge, you need to maintain a stiff upper lip and get on with it and that stress is surely part of the deal? However, we all need to remember that business leaders can also suffer from the same anxieties experienced across all levels, if not more so, as they carry a weight of responsibility. And this is on top of the usual business worries about making a profit, hitting growth targets, managing headcounts and more, so I think business leaders also need to take the time to think about their own mental wellbeing and to nurture it like looking after a plant – watering little and often."

Naz Dossa, CEO of Peoplesafe, the world’s largest provider of personal safety technology, started his career in banking and has held numerous leadership positions across the Telecoms and IT sectors. He comments: "As the saying goes, ‘it can be lonely at the top’, so when faced with the pressures of the role, there isn’t always someone to share those experiences with. That’s why it’s essential to have a good Chair and senior team around you, where you can have open conversations about the challenges facing the business. Connecting with the team beyond work is also important, as it makes it easier to be open and recognise in each other the symptoms of burnout and talk openly about that. As well as this, one of the main tips is to make sure that there is always time in the week to fully switch off and be away from work. For me, having a hobby or two that helps to destress has been key to that."

Here are a series of tips from the leaders ECI spoke to on managing stress and avoiding burnout:

• If I were to write a letter to my 20-something self I would say: ‘Be bold and be kind to yourself.    Remember that if you work at Ferrari pace, then you should also have Ferrari brakes - know when to stop and when to have some fun.'
• Admit when you need help. No one is perfect, and no one knows everything. It is not a weakness it is a strength to be able to admit this. There is no space for the ego leader and your mental wellbeing will suffer if you try to be one.
• Don’t be ‘always on’. We talk a lot about availability and making sure businesses are open when clients need them, but when you think of senior leaders, there is value in being unavailable too. You need to ring-fence time for quiet head down working that is so important to productivity and to achieving a feeling of accomplishment and control. Also, it’s a good idea to simply ‘switch off’ devices for 15 minutes each day.
• No individual is an island. Self-belief is a choice, and with it, anything is possible. Believe and trust yourself. People generally want you to succeed. Be realistic but optimistic, surround yourself with a great team and lean on them when you need to.
• Create your own path. Burnout happens when you feel you are out of control, with no choices available to change things.  There are always choices, and it can help to share decisions when you feel you can’t see the wood for the trees.
• Independent support can be hugely helpful too, so pour out your worries to a friend or a non-exec you can trust, over a pint or a glass of wine in the pub, or during a dog walk.  They are bound to have a different, and even an unexpected, perspective on things.
• Take a break. On a day-to-day level I’m a big advocate of the power of walking – just a 10-minute walk outside in the fresh air gives me renewed energy to come back and face a difficult brief or something tricky.
• Bury your pride. It’s really important to keep talking and not internalise problems, as this is the key to managing mental health.  Try to spot any problems and deal with them before they escalate, and don’t be afraid to seek professional help if you need it.

David Ewing, Managing Partner at ECI Partners, comments: “When you’re operating in a fast-paced environment, as so many C-suite are, it can be very easy to put your mental health on the backburner while you tackle the day-to-day. Investing in your well-being is valuable time spent, whether it’s talking openly about stress with those around you or ensuring you have something which helps you to switch off. As your business evolves, you will need to develop new tactics as it scales to ensure you not only grow with your business, but that you enjoy the journey and take your colleagues with you.”

CSL, the leading European provider of critical IoT connectivity, has been selected to work alongside Vodafone to deliver managed IoT services that will underpin the rollout of connectivity for the fourth National Lottery Licence. The new 10-year licence was awarded to Allwyn UK and will become effective from February 2024.

The initial 12-month period will see CSL deploying both fixed and mobile-managed IoT connectivity services to provide retailers with the solutions they need to grow their own businesses and support Allwyn UK to reinvigorate the UK National Lottery so that it can continue to raise funds for good causes.

CSL manages c.3 million IoT endpoints for business and mission critical applications across Europe and has over 25 years of experience in providing reliable and secure connectivity solutions. Its dedicated project team will work alongside Vodafone throughout the planning, delivery, and in-life phases, throughout the full term of this nationwide project.  

In our latest episode of ECI's podcast, Building Successful Businesses., we chat with Colin Tenwick ex-CEO of Stepstone and Bookatable, to discuss what he learned working through different eras of tech, and the importance of not recruiting a board in your own image.

Listen to Episode 2.1: 

Available on Apple Podcasts:

Transcript:

Fiona: Welcome to ECI's podcast, Building Successful Businesses where we chat to business leaders about the building blocks of their success, and the lessons they've learned on the way. I'm Fiona Moore, and today I'm welcomed by Colin Tenwick, a prolific chair, and non-exec, notably working with ECI at Auction Technology Group, which followed a career including CEO roles at the likes of StepStone and Bookatable. Colin, welcome! There are so many more companies I could have named, but I think it would've taken the whole podcast.

Colin: Well thanks for that, hopefully not, but yes, thanks for that. When you've had as many years in tech as I have, at the end of the day, I suppose, you're going to have a few companies under your belt.

Fiona: If we go right back to the start of that career, prior to your CEO roles, what was your first ever job, and what did you learn from it?

Colin: My first ever job, I was with IBM as a graduate. I joined IBM down in Havant in Portsmouth, where they manufactured mainframes. I was working with them in engineering procurement. I did a degree in business, but I was in engineering procurement as a graduate trainee, and very, very rapidly realised that I wanted to go into the more commercial side.

That wasn't going to happen with IBM. They really did want me to stay with them. So, I moved to a bureau, one of the very first computer bureaus in the City of London in Berkeley Square, servicing the advertising industry. Really, you know, what we've seen with today's SaaS environments is that almost the whole thing has come full circle. In those days, however, all the expense in IT was the hardware, and you gave the software away, and now it's the other way around. So, it’s interesting.

Fiona: And what did that background teach you about tech?

Colin: I've been very fortunate to have worked through many, many different phases of technology, very much the leading edge throughout the last 25-30 years. There are some key things. Some of the key things you see are, you know, the customer is absolutely critical. Having really, really smart people around you and being able to dream the possible and sometimes deliver it. But back in those early days, again, very bright, smart, can-do international-focused people who were really at the forefront of bringing some technology to the UK at that time. It was a US company that was then coming to the UK.

Fiona: That sense of the customer being absolutely critical, it's something we hear a lot from experienced CEOs. That's something they've definitely taken to heart and is normally why their businesses are so successful. When you think about your journey from that role to then becoming a CEO, was that something you already knew? Did you find the transition very easy, or was that something you had to learn?

Colin: I think there was increasingly for me a recognition that I had a number of senior roles with US-based software businesses, which were very fast growth, very aggressive, very ambitious, running European operations, opening up new markets. But at the end of the day, you were a glorified sales and marketing director. So, whatever the title was, General Manager Europe or whatever, the reality is a lot of the things that you do as a CEO, which is actually all parts of the journey, including product, finance, HR, etc. All those other key parts really were missing in those roles. So, I reached the position where it was a case of, if you want to make the step to being a CEO, you've actually got to step off this particular train, which was incredibly successful, and from a job satisfaction perspective, incredibly interesting. And instead, start putting into practice a lot of the things that perhaps you thought you wanted to do if you had influence over, and the ability to look at the much broader sense that the CEO should do.

Fiona: And was that an easy transition, I suppose, when you know what you're doing, and you've got quite a clear remit to suddenly then sort of like you say, having ownership over products, but also people. Was that something you found quite straightforward?

Colin: I think the thing I found straightforward was that you know, don't think that you can be the expert in everything because you're not. So, then it comes down to how do you encourage, work with, attract the very, very best talent, you know, the best finance director, the best chief people officer, the best head of technology that you possibly can. And your job increasingly becomes then the orchestrator, the conductor. How can you bring value to these people? So, and the other thing which I see too many times actually now as I've been chairman now for another year, don't be afraid to recruit people who are vastly different to yourself. Because the reality is not everybody can be in the same image, have the same skillsets, or indeed the same sort of habits that you do. In fact, the last thing you want is a bench where everybody's exactly the same. So, what you've got to do is you've really got to be quite open to recognising that the job here is about attracting the best skillsets for those individuals, and they will have different motivations and different requirements

Fiona: It can be quite a difficult process there because I think lots of people recognise the importance of that diversity of thought, especially around the board table. But our natural inclination is if someone sounds like us, they've got a similar way of approaching business to us, we go, that's great. They seem fantastic. Is that something that you've had to deliberately switch in your mind to try and actually not find people who work and operate just like you?

Colin: I think initially that was the case. I don't think now, but it is definitely an issue that I think first-time CEOs, and senior execs in roles, need to be very, very conscious of. And actually, the worst people are the sales and marketing people because they always seem to recruit in their image. So, it's quite interesting that you do, I think, have to make sure that you understand what is that you're trying to do. Understand what the skillsets that you need are. Don't lose that intuitive feel because that intuitive feel is absolutely critical, but you should also have the checks and balances in place.

Fiona: I wonder why you think sales and marketing people are more likely to hire in their own image?

Colin: I've always found salespeople just love being sold to.

Fiona: Yeah.

Colin: They don't have a great sort of cynical view in them in which they should do. So, yeah, it's an interesting one.

Fiona: And obviously starting out in sales, quite a lot of I guess a big part of the growth in tech businesses is that sales side. Do you think that's changing? Do you think life's getting harder or easier for tech businesses now when it comes to selling?

Colin: I think the routes to market today are vastly different to the ones which were in place let's say 30-35 years ago. In those days it was pretty much Route 101. You know, you recruited salespeople, they carried a bag, they carried a quota, and if you were lucky marketing-generated leads for them to work on and there were sort of events to go to, etc. And don't get me wrong, that still plays a very important role, but it was pretty much the only route. Then we started to see the emergence really of channels, value-added resellers, and value-added distributors. So, that brought a whole new game, and a whole new set of responsibilities, and requires for a company to actually work with the channel, and so, we saw that evolve. Then we've seen how direct-to-consumer marketplaces have evolved.

So, the channels open to businesses today are so vastly different that it's important that the commercial side of the organisation understands what is the right one for them at the right time, and understanding what the various trade-offs are because they're all trade-offs. And depending on the size of business, you know, those trade-offs can be critical. If you get the trade-off wrong, then it's going to stumble your growth, and you lose market share. So, it's a much more complex environment today. That said and done, successful businesses today that I think have got that clarity and that real core focus can be extraordinarily successful very quickly.

Fiona: Really interesting to hear Colin Tenwick there discussing his own varied route to tech CEO, especially the importance of diversity and talent and skillsets in order to be successful. In the next episode, we discuss turning around a .com failure and the importance of scratching the itch of a CEO role.

Listen to the next episode here: