KEY POINTS:
Good leadership, says Brian Blake, should see managers pressured by their staff.
"You need people in the organisation lighting fires. In companies these days, whilst the senior team can set the strategic direction, the real momentum in the company comes from people lower in the organisation."
For more than a decade, Blake has been DB Breweries' group managing director, overseeing a transformation that began when he took over as chief executive in 1993.
Profit then was just over $20 million, but the industry on the whole was consumed by a relentless obsession with market share, even at the expense of profit. He termed this "profitless prosperity".
This year, DB will deliver a profit of around $45 million. Its market share in beer remains the same as it was 15 years ago - 40 per cent - despite the ongoing rivalry with fellow big brewer Lion Nathan, an influx of overseas products, and competition from other alcoholic beverages such as RTDs.
Blake said his approach has been simple. An open door policy means staff can just walk into the boss' office and say what's on their minds.
"People will come in and they'll say, 'Why aren't we doing A or B or C?' The executive team's not the fountain of all knowledge ... we can set direction, sure, but we don't have all the answers."
Unassuming and genial, this is one MD that does not do the jargon. There is no talk of lovemarks, synergies or facilitation. Blake is what Lester Levy, chief executive of leadership trust Excelerator, calls a "new generation leader", one that forgoes flash and an autocratic approach for substance and a values-based approach.
"I think he's a great exemplar of an authentic leader. Somebody who is transparent, honest, has integrity, is consistent."
Levy first met him in 2005, when Blake joined the Excelerator board, and has been impressed with his leadership style ever since.
"We're beyond one person knowing everything and being able to decide everything ... Effective leadership really comes down to people who are able to engage with others to create a shared mindset, a shared language about how they move forward, and I think Brian seems to be particularly good at that."
Blake assumed the chairmanship of Excelerator's board last month, determined to maintain the momentum the charitable trust has created since its founding in 2004 by The University of Auckland Business School, in partnership with corporates and philanthropic outfits such as DB, Westpac and the Tindall Foundation.
In that time, more than 300 candidates have gone through its long-term leadership programmes, with a further 2000 through its short courses.
Blake said the need to develop New Zealand's leadership capability was pressing.
"I think there's potentially a lot of good leaders in New Zealand, but I think we need more development. We need to move away from the cookie cutter management courses to being more focused on developing leadership capability.
"Leadership links into the culture. It's about developing a culture that is very positive about understanding where the company wants to go, understands [a staff member's] individual positions, and is prepared to commit to that direction. And that's the sort of culture we're trying to develop."
He describes the DB culture as participative.
"Don't confuse that with consensus, because consensus doesn't work because you end up wheel-spinning.
"There is an opportunity for people in the company to voice their opinion, and to be involved in the development of strategy."
When DB went into the RTD market two years ago, Blake said the company had to decide between commercial interests and social responsibility obligations. Blake thought the market was "full" of products that were socially irresponsible in terms of alcohol content.
"It took us three weeks of debate until we reached a point where we felt comfortable going forward on that issue. I suppose in some companies the CEO could have just basically said, 'Look, this is a commercial opportunity, here's what we'll do, that's it'. But that's not the way we operate."
In his time at the top, DB has gone from a wine, spirits and beer company with a retailing interest, to being just a largely beer business. It has built up a lucrative merchandising business around brands such as Tui, and made the foray back into part ownership of pubs.
"Our business will always be beer, but there are a lot of activities on the fringes that can be very profitable for us. We're not going to race off and do something that we know nothing about, but we do know a lot about pubs, we do know a lot about RTDs because they're very similar to beer, we do know a lot about our branded merchandise because we've been in that area before, and we're learning very quickly about selling beer in Australia."
He remains passionate about the business, even after 25 years.
"If I lose the passion, then it's time for me move on and for someone else to step up. I'm not a great believer in people treading water at the top of organisations."
But he says he still has unfinished business.
"I see a responsibility for myself just beyond DB. I think in many ways the industry has got a lot of challenges at present. We don't want people overindulging, we don't want anti-social behaviour. I think as an industry we have a responsibility to work with governments on some of those issues."
He has been a champion of greater industry-government partnership on the issue of alcohol abuse, but disputes the notion that the industry has signed on to stave off regulation.
"It's very easy to legislate but there may be an unintended consequence."
He cites the move in Australia to introduce a special RTD tax. While alcopop sales dived, demand for full-strength spirits and two-litre bottles of Coca-Cola soared.
"It's not about the industry protecting itself. We are much closer to understanding what works in the industry than the politicians will ever be.
"When I step down, I'd like to at least put my hand on my heart and say, 'At least we've made some progress'."
BRIAN JAMES BLAKE
DB Breweries group managing director
New chairman of leadership trust Excelerator
Age: 58
Education: Kuranui College, Greytown
Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting), Victoria University Married: to Marian, with daughters Emma, 20, and Victoria, 18
Favourite tipple: Heineken, Monteith's New Zealand lager
Interests: Sports and current affairs
Career:
March 1998-present - group managing director, DB
1993-1998 - chief executive, DB
1989-1993 - general manager (central region), DB
1983-1989 - finance and administration manager (central region), DB
1977-1983 - development accountant, and later chief accountant, at container shipping firm Blueport ACT (NZ)
1972-1977 - chartered accountant, Wilkinson Wilberfoss
