[attach id=251266 size="medium"]A news stand bears the portrait of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in Sydney: the truth is – and Thatcher proved it – that there isn’t much difference in running a shop in Grantham, a business, a group of companies or even a country. Photo: Reuters[/attach]
Had Margaret Thatcher been a business leader she would have been one of the best and most successful CEOs of her generation. Her recent demise and the subsequent press and media coverage, inspired this article.
I admired the Iron Lady a lot. As a young lad studying in England (1984-1995), from boarding school to University, I was fascinated by her leadership and premiership. I particularly identified with her philosophy that “…you first sort out what you believe in… you then apply it [and] …you don’t compromise on things that matter”. I’ve probably lived my life like so because of her.
Thatcher was the daughter of a shopkeeper and belonged to the lower middle class at a time when class defined British society. She ran the country as prime minister (1979-1990) by applying the sensible lessons that her beloved father taught her.
I am referring to the belief that sheer hard work is the only way of achieving success, that frugal economics isn’t just common sense but an absolute necessity, and the self-belief that to get anything done or achieved in life you have to be a ‘sticker’, hence her famous quote “…you may have to fight a battle more than once to win it”.
The truth is – and Thatcher proved it – that there isn’t much difference in running a shop in Grantham, a business, a group of companies or even a country. The principles of good leadership and sound decision-making are ultimately all the same.
I have often wondered how Thatcher would have fared in the business world. My passion is business management, yet one of my biggest role models is a British politician. I wholeheartedly think that she would have been an even better business leader than politician. Her personality traits and strengths are more suited to ruthless world of business. She was, after all, hugely unappreciated and misunderstood as a politician.
With this in mind, were she a business leader, she would have had a no-nonsense approach, instilled a hard work ethic in her co-workers, and led by example. The problem, today, with some business leaders is that they are not willing to roll up their sleeves and get stuck in, preferring to sit in their director’s office barking out orders to their subordinates from a distance, expecting others to make the sacrifice or extra effort.
Thatcher was essentially a self-driven individual, who knew the meaning of hard work and sacrifice. Her words “pennies do not come from heaven, they have to be earned here on earth” says it all. I could see her being the first one in the office and the last one out.
As a business leader, she would have pursued her business strategy with unwavering determination. She would have rid the business she led of all the periphery and non-core business products and services to concentrate the firm’s limited resources on core business and maximise her chance to be the best in one or two things only. This requires clarity of thought, market understanding and lots of self-belief. Her (now) famous quote, “if you set out to be liked you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing”, are testament to this.
She would also have been extremely focused and resolute in a Steve Jobs kind of way. When you believe in your product, your strategy, your people, you don’t just give up at the first hurdle, the first failure or the first bit of opposition. No, you carry on regardless, without compromising, and with great self-belief and determination until you either fail – and try again – or you succeed.
She proved this in 1979 when she became the first woman prime minister, with her dealings with the unions and the European Economic Community (as it was known in her time) during the Falklands war, the Cold War, throughout her then courageous policy of liberalisation and privatisation, her non-negotiable stance on terrorism.
Her words “I’m extraordinarily patient provided I get my own way in the end” inspire me to imagine her as a business woman who would have given Steve Jobs or Jack Welch (notoriously tough business leaders of their time) a real run for their money.
In the final analysis, the essence of (business) leadership is: the leader’s personality and their philosophy on life. Margaret Thatcher came to power with clarity of thought, purpose and intention.
In 1984, she is quoted to have said: “I came to office with one deliberate intent: to change Britain from a dependent to a self-reliant society – from a give-it-to-me to a do-it-yourself nation. A get-up-and-go, instead of a sit-back-and-wait-for-it Britain”.
If only all our business leaders had the same level of clarity and sureness when they take control of their company.
Thatcher to my mind is 100 per cent pure leadership – the sort of leadership we need in business.
Kevin-James Fenech is director-consultant at Fenci Consulting Ltd.