The New Secrets of CEOs by Steve Tappin & Andrew Cave

Author:Steve Tappin & Andrew Cave
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Quercus
Published: 2010-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Sir Martin on being a corporate entrepreneur

“If you start something in a room with two people and you have now got 100,000 people, you’re much more emotionally involved with it. We started this business with two people in one room. Moving it from there to whatever demanded a set of characteristics, qualities, attributes, strengths, and then to move it again in another five years demanded another set.

“It’s different for me because I started this business. It’s the closest a man can come to having a baby. It tends to be very different because it’s like the famous Liverpool quote: Football is not a matter of life or death, it’s more important than that. WPP is not a matter of life or death: it’s more important.

“When we win business, I’m delighted; when we lose, I’m physically and mentally upset. That’s the founder’s difficulty. We started 25 years ago and built it brick by brick.

“Entrepreneurialism means taking risks, so our industry is not entrepreneurial. People in it mean independence when they talk about entrepreneurialism. They mean taking risks with the company’s money, not betting their houses. So there are not many true entrepreneurs. There are people who are good at starting things and people who are good at running things, but rarely do you find the same characteristics in the same person.

“It’s hard to find someone who’s entrepreneurial and managerial. I have been called a trumped-up beancounter many times. We started like a beginner, but we wanted to be a big banana. You had to do it by acquisition. Clearly, the most powerful thing to a shareholder is not to grow by acquisition – it’s the top line. What’s the variable? What drives success? Well, having the best people round your business, getting the strategy right, getting the people right, and then dealing with all the communities.”

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