Leadership lessons from former Westpac CEO Brian Hartzer

Recently I listened to an insightful 65 minute podcast, Enjoying the ups and overcoming the downs of being a CEO of a very public organisation where former Westpac Bank CEO, Brian Hartzer was interviewed on the podcast The Leadership Diet by host Pod O’Sullivan. Memorable points from the podcast for me included: #1 Hartzer lauding the book Made to Stick. Hartzer said the book was an essential read for leaders on how to communicate with their people. Made to Stick has six powerful ways to make your messages memorable. One point Hartzer made in relation to the book was that, ‘the value of novelty in communication is under-appreciated’. #2 How Hartzer cultivated his judgement skill. In a crisis, he would judge a situation with this process: – Sit back and think about what a certain action(s) would have on different stakeholder groups. – Determine what was the question that needed to be answered. – Field opinions from a wide range of trusted people on the matter at hand including what question needed to be answered. #3 To use a combination of humility and confidence when making decisions.

Own the Conversation

Clients I work with often ask me if there is one book I’d recommend they read on communication. I’ve recommended different books over the course of my career, including Made to Stick. After being reminded of the the worth of Made to Stick  by Hartzer, it will now be the top book recommendation for clients. I strongly recommend that you read it. You’ll discover at least one fresh idea or technique to make you a better communicator. And better communicators, make better leaders. ++++++ p.s. In the podcast Hartzer said he has learned many things from his time as CEO of Westpac. He didn’t mention any specific mistake he made. In my view, one glaring mistake Hartzer made, was how he communicated in a press conference – about the AUSTRAC scandal – during his final days as CEO of Westpac. Below is (1) my AFR analysis of Hartzer’s delivery in the 3:16 minute press conference, and (2) the clip of the conference. (1) My Australian Financial Review ‘Letter to the Editor’ about Hartzer’s performance in the press conference. (2) Here is the clip of the press conference. Hartzer’s performance in the conference is one you should, NOT emulate.

HOW does Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi PERFORM in an INTERVIEW?

Leaving aside what you think Uber, below is my analysis of the the company’s Dara Khoshrowshahi’s presentation of himself and messages, in a 2019 interview with luminary, uber (excuse the pun) interviewer David Rubenstein.

Overall, Khosrowshahi uses an Open, Middle, Close speaking delivery. He is articulate in conveying his thoughts. Like many top-level CEO communicators he is ‘light’ about himself (note the self-deprecating humour near the start) while taking his role seriously.

Rubenstein’s default style could be described as ‘playful’ – with the ability to shift to a more serious style as needed.

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The DANGER of NO Face-to-FACE meetings

‘And the third major challenge of a remote working environment identified by business leaders was the lack of observational learning.’

“I wouldn’t be chief executive of Dexus today if I didn’t have the learnings over a 30-year period. And that’s just simple things like being in meetings with people, watching how they interact and dealing with problems or how they change plans working through a development,” Mr Steinberg said.”

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Are you a ‘PRE-PACKAGED’ leader?

Recently I read a terrific article about the newly appointed CEO of The Ford Motor Company, Jim Hackett. The article was written by Jerry Useem, in a 7/3/19 Australian Financial Review, Review Magazine edition, entitled: Why Ford hired a furniture maker as CEO. 

This article is well-worth reading. A comment in it that made be pause and think was this. “If you look at business history, the winners are almost always those that get their user experience right”.

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