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Standing on the shoulders of giants

Governance | 21 Aug 2012

It can be difficult for the 'newbie' stepping into the shoes of another in the workplace. For none more so than those who become CEO after a founder steps down. But not for Richard Spratt, who shares his lessons on a successful change over.

Sir Isaac Newton was not being original when he said “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants”. For our generation the phrase is perhaps nothing more than the title of the fourth studio album of the Gallagher brothers – they of Oasis fame of course and not their namesakes who feature in Paul Abbott's critically acclaimed, offbeat drama about the rollercoaster lives and loves of the dysfunctional Gallagher clan in TV series Shameless.

The point of the phrase is I suppose that none of us – not even Sir Isaac Newton – are original thinkers. There is indeed nothing new under the sun; we merely take hold of the baton passed to us by those who have gone before, when it comes to the accumulation of wisdom and knowledge.

I have long been fascinated by the difference in character and temperament of pioneers and settlers. The former are the go-getters, the indefatigable who have an idea, a vision and nothing or nobody is going to stop them achieving their goal. They will make enormous personal sacrifices and often unintentionally inflict suffering on others – all in pursuit of their objective, because for them, the end is invariably justified by the means. These are the giants who found nations, corporations, churches, movements if you will.
However Pioneers do not often make very good settlers. They struggle with the mediocrity of everyday life; with the routine of managing a project when all the battles are won, when all the victories have been celebrated. For them, sorting out the payroll, sitting down with the auditors, keeping an eye on the budget is pure unmitigated purgatory.

It is to their credit that some Pioneers know this about themselves and bring in the Settler CEO to cement and shore-up the foundations of what they have achieved. History is full of great men who achieved their legacy because of those that followed. If it is true that there is a great woman behind every great man, then it is true that there is also a consolidator who follows every pioneer.

Having worked in the rather cautious world of corporate banking – although with scandals making the news headlines everyday concerning rate fixing and money laundering one could be forgiven for questioning whether banking is in fact cautious –I came as a Settler to the Not for Profit Sector. It was a great privilege to be asked to lead Fields of Life, a Christian cross-border international development charity with projects across East Africa, but as with many wonderful opportunities, it carried great responsibilities.

There was never any question of being overshadowed by the charity’s charismatic pioneering founder Trevor Stevenson - for he had gone back to pastoring an Anglican church in Dublin - but there was the opportunity to perch, metaphorically speaking, on his shoulders as I learned very quickly to take calculated risks, give people the benefit of the doubt and generally build upon his spirit of entrepreneurship. He has been the perfect mentor and I cannot even begin to imagine how hard it must be for those second generation leaders who are hindered by the pioneers who just won’t let go. Like overbearing parents who will not let their children grow- up, such as these end up smothering the project they birthed. Not so Trevor.

As with many things in life, timing is everything. I was asked to take up the reigns of the charity at a time when we were ready to make some important strategic changes in direction. Some disappointments on the ground in Africa made us realise that we needed more robust monitoring systems in place and I enjoyed the full support of the board in introducing changes that would lead to better governance, accountability and impact reporting.

The truth is that I was fortunate to follow a Pioneer who has the unique ability to stay involved as chairman and founder, but who also understands that his role has changed too. Whereas he was very much hands on – working the land at the charity’s first farm nearly twenty years ago – he has with natural ease adapted to being hands-off. 

It is this that marks a man or woman out as being secure in their own skin, confident in what they have already achieved, and happy and willing to let go to the generation that follows. As a man of faith, Trevor Stevenson would say that Fields of Life was never his in the first place – just a calling from God – and as such he has no right or desire to cling on to it.

It is my ambition to emulate that when my time comes to pass on the baton.