Long Read: crisis and creative leadership
11/11/2022
On Tuesday 8 November LTi Technology Solutions, with sponsors Propel Finance and Acquis Data Services, held a networking and panel discussion event labelled as “Leadership Live: Crisis Which Crisis?” The location of the Elgar Room within the Royal Albert Hall building was quite spectacular, and fittingly for an event that was principally about coping with crisis, the sixty-odd attendees had to grapple with the challenges of the rail network, which was spending the day in a mood of unhappy confusion. You know you’ve put on an inviting event when the fates conspire to keep your audience away and they battle through anyway.
The event was topped and tailed by two very different guest speakers; North Pole veteran John Burness, and England and British Lion Rugby legend Rory Underwood. Rory used to divide his time between rugby field and fighter jet cockpit before moving into consulting work. At the end of his lively presentation, he signed rugby balls for those two individuals bold enough to put themselves forward for some ball-juggling-style scrutiny - and there is no pressure quite so intense as being asked by England’s record international try scorer to demonstrate your own limited aptitude with a rugby ball, while being watched by a room full of your peers.
Stephen Haddrill, Director General of the Finance & Leasing Association, recounted a couple of daunting anecdotes from crises past, which put today’s tribulations into perspective.
Panel discussions were keenly moderated by Lindsay Town of IAA Advisory and Christian Roelofs of Finativ. Panellists included Director of the British Business Bank Bernie Skivington, MD of Compass Business Finance Mark Nelson, MD of SME Lending at Paragon Bank John Phillipou, Haydock Finance CEO John Jenkins, European head of Somerset Equipment Finance Roy Royer, Propel Finance Commercial Director Jon Maycock, and James Rudolf, Chief Commercial Officer of Acquis Insurance and Acquis Data Services. Plus, a special mention to UTB Head of Asset Finance Nathan Mollett, who stepped in as a panellist at exceptionally short notice— crisis management training at its most unforgiving.
When asked to contribute tales from their own work or personal lives that demonstrated approaches to crisis management, the panellists converged on a general lesson that you need to communicate promptly and honestly. If reporting bad news, “you have to have answers ready for the first three questions you’re going to be asked,” was one memorable tip. Or as Alabama football coach Bear Bryant once said, “In a crisis, don't hide behind anything or anybody. They're going to find you anyway.”
On which subject, the first keynote speaker John Burness shared a story from the time he needed to face down and out-intimidate the apex predator of the North Pole. It turns out there’s a time and a place for keeping calm in a crisis, but there are also times when we make better decisions under pressure, using different parts of our brain. In the leasing industry, the causes of that stress can be quite different from those affecting the decision-making process of a fighter jet pilot or a polar explorer, but across all three scenarios, being able to make a good decision quickly is more important than making that same decision calmly.
Sometimes, in short, it is OK to swear at a polar bear!
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