Former Olympic Rower Rob Scott on How to Perform Under Pressure in a Leadership Role.

Performance under pressure? Just another day at the office for the former Olympic rower and graduate of the Macquarie Business School.

Create the best leadership team and success will follow

2017-present

CEO, Wesfarmers

“Since we demerged with Coles [in 2018] it’s freed us up to focus on new growth opportunities. Our core objective is for the business to deliver satisfactory returns to shareholders in the long term so ultimately my success as CEO isn’t determined by what’s happening this year or next year. It’ll be determined by what happens over the long term. We often think about five or 10 years. That’s why we’re so focused on making sure that we have the right leadership team in place, that we’re allocating our capital in areas that’ll create growth in the future and staying true to the values that are such an important part of our business. They’re the things I care about. I’m not so concerned with my personal legacy but I am focused on Wesfarmers’ legacy and its ability to continue to deliver value. I can’t possibly be across everything so I spend an enormous amount of time ensuring we make the right choices about who’s running our businesses and maintaining the quality, values and capability of our leadership team. If I get that right then, more often than not, they’ll make the right decisions when they need to.”

Take time out to spend with family

2017

Deputy CEO, Wesfarmers

“I learnt an enormous amount from Richard [Goyder, then CEO of Wesfarmers]. The demands on a CEO of a big organisation are enormous and I discovered how disciplined you need to be in managing your diary and making sure you focus on the issues that matter most to the business. What I think Richard always did well was to remember the importance of family and health and making sure you take time out to invest in that part of your life. If you’ve got a constructive relationship with your family, you’ll often make better business decisions. He never made me feel guilty about taking time to spend with my family. Some leaders want you to be visible 24/7 and I think that creates the wrong culture – you’re not being judged by outcome; you’re being judged by how often or how late you work.”

Look global, not local

2013-2014

Finance director, Coles

“It was an interesting move from running a division to being CFO of a division but there was no shortage of challenges. Coles is an incredibly dynamic trading business where you can track your performance on a daily, if not hourly, basis and I really enjoyed that. And because it’s a business that virtually every person in Australia engages with – and has an opinion about – it was a great learning experience to operate and lead a business at a scale that was so dynamic and intertwined with the broader community and economy. The team at Coles was very internationally connected so their concept of what ‘good’ looks like was not only based on what was happening locally; it was very much an international perspective of what good looks like in retail globally. That was important.”

Your reputation is everything

2007-2013

Managing director and CEO, Wesfarmers Insurance

“This was probably the period of greatest challenge I’ve had in my career. Australia and New Zealand had a number of high-profile catastrophes, notably the Christchurch earthquake [in 2011] and a number of major cyclones, bushfires and hail storms. It was a very demanding time. Some of the most important times in business are when the financial results are at their worst. When everything’s going right, it’s pretty easy but often businesses are tested reputationally when difficult things happen. Some of the basic principles I’ve learnt include the importance of openness, making sure the bad news travels as fast as the good news does, facing issues in an objective way, with high levels of integrity, and making decisions for the long term, not the short term.”

Business can help government

1997-2004

Investment banker, Deutsche Bank

“I worked with Kerry Schott and she was a fantastic mentor. She led the privatisation and government advisory part of the bank and a vast amount of privatisation work went on in Australia through the 1990s. I learnt a lot about the interaction between business and government and that gave me vital skills. People in government aren’t necessarily experts – and nor should they be – so often the role of business is to help government understand the nuances of industry and business and how some of the big problems can be solved. There’s an important education role I think you have in business. During COVID, we’ve seen some great examples of business stepping up to solve some of the really difficult problems that the community faced in the pandemic.”

Don’t forget the simple truths

1995-1996

Consultant, EY

“I had some very supportive employers who gave me a degree of flexibility to fit in my rowing training and international competition and I’m really grateful for that. Ernst & Young was a fantastic training ground – it gave me great exposure to so many commercial opportunities and reinforced my love of business and problem-solving. One of the most important issues for the sustainability of businesses is that they’re profitable and generate cash flow – and sometimes people forget that simple fact. As a consultant, I also had the opportunity to observe the distinct cultures of different organisations. The cultures that were non-political, commercially focused and had open communication generally performed a lot more strongly.”

Focus on what you can control

1996

Rower, Australian Olympic team

“It was the 1996 Olympics [in Atlanta, Georgia, at which Scott won a silver medal] and we had a bomb scare. At 4.30am, we were woken by police and told to evacuate. My partner [David Weightman] had already packed our bags so we just got up and grabbed them. We were focused on the job at hand, which was the Olympic final, so it didn’t rattle us. When you’re faced with uncertainty and complexity, you just focus on what you can do and that served us well. What was fantastic about being an elite athlete was that you’re surrounded by like-minded people who are genuinely trying to do something special on the world stage. Every day you wake up in the morning trying to be the best in the world. You’re not always successful but it’s a very addictive pursuit.”