LORD JOHN BROWNE

A few months ago I was approached by The Money Programme to present a Friday night special on the ignominious fall of Lord John Browne. They wanted a balanced report on what actually happened to the celebrated industrialist and to uncover the truth behind the headlines.

The feeling in the press was that BP was already distancing itself from their former leader; in came Tony Hayward and already there was more media warmth, a softer line on the Texas City refinery disaster and a friendlier approach. A new sheriff was very much in town and the BP bandwagon rolled on with every indication that its reputation as a world player remain intact and was arguably growing.

But what about Lord John Browne, the dethroned Sun King?

Browne had always been a hero of mine; the genius at spotting mergers and acquisitions at the right price at the right time and the man that had single handedly transformed BP into an international giant.

And yet no leader is good at everything. There are always areas of weakness.

Lord Browne’s Achilles heel was that having grown BP beyond all recognition, he simply didn’t have the empathy or connection with his people to spearhead the hugely challenging integration between the different cultures that now came under his stewardship.

If the unimaginably successful first 8 or 9 years of his tenure had been about growth, the troubled last 3 years were all about integration.

It was a disaster.

Truly inspired leaders have humility; a trait that endears them to everyone that follows them. Take Mandela, who had the support of both sides of a then deeply divided South Africa. Both blacks and whites worshipped him.

Browne instead acted up to his nickname of the Sun King, with the board of directors little more than his courtiers. He was too revered and too idolised by everyone and everything around.

It has been said time and again but when people are not stopped and questioned it becomes a dangerous and arrogant game. It happened to Margaret Thatcher. It happened to Tony Blair. It is a very British trait to put success stories on a pedestal until they are deposed.

And then the shackles are off and the mighty fall hard. Perhaps a little too hard.

All truly great leaders know their strengths and know their weaknesses and surround themselves with people that can compensate for the faults.

That’s the theory at least; in reality you have to make sure you listen to those people. When I spent time talking to BP employees it was clear that Browne was seen as aloof and isolated and was simply too far removed from the decision makers at ground level.

Any leadership failure comes down to being disconnected. If it is being disconnected from the board of directors then you can get away with it for a short time. Being disconnected from the workforce and people will quickly catch on that there is something wrong. Being disconnected from the customers kills the business.

Just look at M&S before its turnaround. Or even look at Virgin Media.

Branson has always been incredibly careful with the Virgin brand but he simply didn’t listen to the masses that told him NTL was renowned for appalling customer service. Turning them into Virgin Media was a bold move by the master of branding.

But even putting the Virgin name to NTL has not covered up the cracks. Now Virgin itself is tarnished and all because Branson has become disconnected from the very people that buy his products.

Everyone needs a critical friend and a supportive challenger. We used to call them Non-Executive directors whilst the US calls them Independent Directors.

It might just be that Lord John Browne’s biggest mistake was that he had simply forgotten to use his sounding boards.

If you are in a leadership position, ask yourself a question before it is too late.

Who is providing the tough but necessary feedback?