Symbian has achieved great things since its days as an industry joint venture 'start up'. More importantly it also has huge potential in the future. It has solid foundations, great capabilities, and the enthusiasm to make a real difference in the mobile industry. As the CEO I have a fantastically varied job - working with our shareholders, who work together around the Board table while competing vigorously in the market; working with a great chairman with a strong focus on good corporate governance; and managing the daily activities and wider direction of the company.

 

In the NHS, Tertio, and Symbian there is a bedrock of independent, expert practice and it is about making sure that works towards and supports the corporate direction In other words, it's about leadership and being clear about our priorities. A 'command and control' approach to these roles would not create the right environment in which we would flourish.

 

I'd been with BT for ten years, and I'd seen it go full-circle from the early 1980's where it was more of a monolithic, Civil Service, silo-ed organisation that was averse to change, to seeing that reorganise into business units. The business units were far more effective. However, in the early 1990s changes were leading back to larger organizational blocks. So, I looked around for some different general management challenges, and serendipity occurred.

The same hospital group where my first child was born advertised for a General Manager to lead the group into quasi independent Trust status. They were fantastic when my wife had complications in the later stages of her pregnancy and we thought 'how about that as a fresh set of challenges?' So we took the plunge and moved to Scotland for five great years.

 

The decision falls into three categories - the first and most obvious is functional expertise; do and can they excel in their role? The second one is to do with more personal attributes such as energy, enthusiasm, and a desire to learn and make a difference; and the third is their ability to work within a team, ensuring this isn't a prima-donna individual who has all of the above but ends up pulling in a completely different direction to the rest of the organisation. A fact of life in any reasonably complex organisation or endeavor is that it does take a team to make a difference.

 

Yes, all companies have a distinct feel. In Symbian the culture is one of intellectual strength and curiosity, not one where things are just taken at face value; curiosity and a thirst for engagement, being able to ask questions, to contribute are all encouraged. We also see a quiet pride in delivering to our customers - moving from start-up to number one in the mobile OS software market in eight years, and seventy million phones shipped with Symbian inside is no small task! There's also a desire to keep innovating - what now?

 

Sir Terry Leahy at Tesco and Lord Browne at BP are admirable. They are often criticised as being too successful, and it's so negative! But why are they successful? It's the absolute laser-beam fixation on 'what does the customer require?', 'how do we do it?', and 'how do we break the mould - providing more choice at less cost?'

 

Both organisations have a great blend of 'start with the customer in mind', work that through a strategy, and then execute really, really well, and do it in a manner that leaves the staff feeling really motivated. If I go to my local Tesco, by and large the staff love working there. Everyone should be an apostle and evangelist for the place they work.

 

Be yourself otherwise you're in for a really miserable time - playing a role 24/7 is a tough act. One of the things which was most tested during the time at the NHS was to say 'what feels right?' when faced by a difficult decision. And in that job one could truly say that there were potential life and death consequences to some decisions. Trust your instinct even though it may be a painful decision to make.

 

2005: Appointed CEO, Symbian Software
2000: CEO, Tertio Telecoms
1998: Senior Vice President, Service Delivery, Cable & Wireless
1992: Chief Executive, Glasgow Royal Infirmary University NHS Trust
1990: Head of Business Strategy and Market Development, BT Mobile Communications, and Senior Strategist, Chairman's Office
1987: General Manager, International Operator Products, British Telecom
1986: Market Development Manager, British Telecom
1985: Group Product Manager, British Telecom
1984: Product Manager, British Telecom
1981: Commercial Manager, Consumer Products, British Telecom