Ian Cheshire: Lessons for the Next Generation of Retail Leaders

Retail Leadership Forum

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Retail Week

Ian Cheshire: Lessons for the next generation of retail leaders

25 October 2012

By Jennifer Creevy

The next generation of global retail leaders met in London yesterday at the Retail Leadership Forum, hosted by OC&C Strategy Consultants, Korn/Ferry International and Goldman Sachs.

Around 35 delegates listened to speakers such as Morrisons boss Dalton Philips and Sainsbury’s chairman David Tyler and took part in workshops designed to groom them for the top.

Speaker Ian Cheshire, group chief executive of Kingfisher, gave delegates his advice on leadership:

Cheshire told delegates that the next generation of retail chief executives should be open, flexible and have a genuine interest in how to move the business forward. Potential leaders should also be able to work in networks and be able to keep up with the speed of movement – and to move without all the answers. “Perfect is the enemy of the good,” said Cheshire. “By the time you have reached perfection the consumer has moved on.”

Cheshire said retail is becoming ever more complex with multichannel, and international growth, and the professionalism of competition is heightening. He said the UK needs to send its potential retail leaders to other parts of the globe as part of their training, much like that of the FMCG world, as “the world is a small place now”.

Cheshire said retail leaders in the next five to ten years will need three key attributes:

1) Genuine depth on multichannel

The growth in the internet, particularly mobile internet, is creating “very rapid rates of change”, said Cheshire, and “only those with a true understanding of multichannel can become a leader”.

2) Requirement for authenticity and values

Cheshire said: “The arrival of the internet has created a level of transparency not seen before.” He said customers, employees and shareholders are “socially wired” and conversations are happening and “it will only get worse”. He said for this reason there is a real requirement for authenticity and values. “You have to be socially responsible and make sure your business is robust and works for your customers and supply chain,” he said.

3) Keep close attention to managing teams and people

“It isn’t about the chief executive,” said Cheshire. “You need to create teams, create frameworks and constantly develop and refresh those structures.”