Gatsby Benchmarks
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LEADERS’
ROUNDTABLE
Well-known personalities from different sectors offer
their insights on effective leadership.
Dame Carolyn McCall,
CEO of ITV, on being
true to yourself
Lord Chris Holmes,
multi medal-winning
Paralympic swimmer
and life peer, on
listening to every voice
“If you are going to be the most
efficient organisation, you have to have
a horizontal view, letting every voice
be heard. We need to take some risks
from the heart, they are not careless
risks, they are considered. We need to
embrace the potential.”
Mark Wilson, group CEO of Aviva, on leading in a crisis
“During the global financial crisis, when I was at AIA, their parent company collapsed overnight.
What do you do when you have hundreds of journalists outside your front door? You get
smart people around you and work it out quickly. And you do it with small teams, in the
knowledge that you won’t get it all right, but you’ll find out soon enough. If you are a CEO who
cannot get to the detail, you are of no use. Leaders need to see around corners.
You need creativity, adaptability and agility as the world becomes faster.”
68 // LEADERSHIP
“CEOs have to believe in their own
values, you come a cropper if you
don’t. People will make judgements
about you that are wrong but you have
to ignore that and do what you believe
is right. I won’t go out and lie. If I don’t
know I will say. If I can’t answer I won’t.
And I don’t feel weaker for that.”