The BFA leadership play-hut, hut
1 min read
The man in charge at Britain's Best Factory didn't study at Harvard. He has no long list of post-nominals. In fact Rob Love, a time-served apprentice, doesn't hold a single A-level. Yet, by being out there on the factory floor, Love boasts a doctorate in that most decisive business skill of all: engaging your people.
Love gets it because he's walked a mile in the machine operator's moccasins. He's seen heads drop as some myopic manager pulls rank over people who live and breathe the process. He's heard the groans of colleagues desperate for some deeper purpose than a daily beating over rising defects.
That's why, when Love made manager, he had the courage to go and see his employees. No rose tinting, no escort from HR, just a mano a mano discussion about what motivates them to do the job and how he and his leadership team could help.
Love also made time to explain the vision for City Technology, Portsmouth. Targeted improvements in sensor build quality driven by team-led, lineside improvements. Succeed and we all have a bright future. Are you in or out?
The Churchillian rhetoric was backed by crystal clear behavioural standards. Old hierarchies abandoned. Specific roles and responsibilities, treating one another with respect and always seeking to ask why we can, not why we cannot.
Finally, Love and his team did that most fiendishly difficult thing for any manager: they stepped back. Ego compels us to play the quarterback role: dictate the plays and throw the Hail Mary that wins your team the Superbowl. In reality, true leadership is about coaching others up to spot the killer pass. It's a hallmark of City's success that frontline employees are empowered and trained to make crucial operational calls.
You'll find the same story among our other BFA finalists (see the BFA brochure inside this issue). Outstanding engagement built on clear strategy, passion, a code of ethics, leading indicators and a little humility from the head honchos. Of course, there were plenty of bumps and bruises on the journey. But being a leader is a contact sport. So get your game face on and get out on that shopfloor.
