Adrie's Blog

Dare to Share

When you talk about sharing - you usually take it to mean sharing in the financial side of the organisation, a well-versed business tool in todays working culture. In particular in the anglo-saxon countries, the offering of shares/option to personnel was often a regular part of the total remuneration - but in Europe it wasn't quite as common. You usually just had employees whom you might grant a bonus for an extraordinary performance, but that was totally discretionary. When I sold my first company, Microlife, I shared the proceeds with the team that had helped me build it to the profitable organisation it became. That gesture was highly unusual at the time but I felt it needed to be made. Later on, when I built Rijnhaave, I managed that part of the process with shares - which led to a significant group of people earning substantial sums at the sale of the company to British Telecom.

However, what I want to highlight in todays blog is a different manner of sharing. I grew up in an environment where as a CEO you kept everything to yourself, specifically where it concerned confidential information. When business was down, you tried to solve it on your own. In 1992 I had built a company with about 1000 employees by doing a roll-up, which combined 10 different companies under one new umbrella, one new head quarters and under a new name. I did this without having the right financial management tools in place, so it got completely out of hand. My fellow shareholders came up with the suggestion to attract a new CFO as the then sitting one was not capable at this level and couldn't keep up with the pace. In first instance, I objected against having someone in such a key position who came through the other shareholders' ranks. But despite my initial misgiving, I agreed to meet with the person in question. I knew within 5 minutes that this guy, Davids, was an absolute gem - and he did indeed manage to help solve the crisis at hand and bring the company to new heights due to his knowledge and involvement.

Where I thought you had to keep information to yourself, he would say "We need to share this with the managers. If they cannot deal with it, they aren't truly managers and then you might as well get rid of them". This often was very true and this manner of working, took an enormous weight of my shoulders. Do involve your management team and make them privy to the situation the company is in - good or bad. If they can't handle it, let them get out - they won't be of any use to you.

Another key factor that he managed well was the fact that he would query, respectfully, the way I handle certain financial affairs. He always added "you're the boss, you decide what you think fits". Because of the respect I had for his views and skill, and his clear analysis of each situation I started to listen more and more and gain his advice upfront rather then after the fact.

My advice to you would therefore be - do attract a strong CFO who dares to query you. And build a management team with whom you can share in the financial sense but also in the many challenges that are part of every company's lifecycle.

Dare to Share.