Leading the field — Ernst & Young Offshore Europe 2003
Posted: 2 September 2003
Speech by Hywel Ball, National Energy Chemicals and Utilities
Partner
Good morning. My name is Hywel Ball and I am Head of Energy, Chemicals
and Utilities with Ernst & Young in the UK
Over the next few days at Offshore Europe, you will hear much about
the challenges facing the industry political, economic, technological,
and environmental. In my view, only one thing can carry us through
these challenges leadership.
I want to spend the time I have this morning looking at this, the
X factor which distinguishes good companies from great companies.
You may ask yourselves what qualifies an accountant from Ernst
& Young to talk about this issue.
The answer is that every day, we see amongst our client base the
enormous difference made to organisations by strong leadership.
Occasionally, we also see at first hand what happens when strong
leadership is absent.
We have a unique perspective. In the UK, we provide assurance and
advisory services to 55% of companies with oil and gas reserves
in the UKCS a leadership position we are very proud of.
Within Ernst & Young we have been undergoing a leadership journey
with many of our senior people and our key talent, who have stepped
back from their day-to-day roles and asked themselves "Who
am I and what effect do my actions have on others?"
And of course, we have had to show leadership in our own sector
in the past two years. The big five is now the big four, and the
shake-out which followed the collapse of a major competitor has
challenged our industry.
So what is leadership?
How does it affect the economy, the industry, the company, the
leader, and the employee?
Are some people leaders and others led?
OR do all people have leadership potential within them?
Are you born a leader or can you be taught leadership skills?
All these questions are highly relevant when it comes to looking
at the future of the Oil and Gas Industry.
There is no doubt that this industry retains a pioneering spirit.
More than any other sector, the opportunities presented by oil and
gas in the past 35 years, have attracted leaders capable of inspiring,
and delivering success.
For years, leaders in oil and gas have been breaking new ground
doing it better, doing it more cost effectively, finding new
ways to do it, and challenging convention.
But just as this industry is built on the back of leaders and pioneers,
it now runs the risk of rapid deterioration if we cannot find enough
leaders to take us forward now and into the future.
This is especially critical now the importance of strong
leadership is heightened by the mature stage that much of North
Sea production is at.
The stark reality is that more than ever, the 264,000 people who
work within the oil and gas industry in the UK depend on quality
leadership for their jobs.
So what is the difference between leadership and management?
Leadership inspires people and aligns people with an organisation.
True leadership emphasises: character not competence; emotions
not intellect; long term not short term; and people
not processes.
We believe in Ernst & Young that business excellence starts
with leadership not management.
Management is a very worthy pursuit and one essential for sustainability
of the process BUT after the leadership has created the direction
and won the hearts and minds of staff.
Leadership is the key to success.
Management is about doing things right.
Leadership is about doing the right thing.
The two are not mutually exclusive. Management is about the inanimate
we have managers of marketing, logistics, finance, administration
etc. Management is a very broad discipline and one that is about
(quite rightly) control making sure things get done.
Leadership however is about one thing and one thing only
the animate, the most expensive, most volatile and most creative
part of the business people. In fact, it is about your future,
people are the only part of the business that will move it on and
change it. After all, the only constant in the world is exactly
that change!
What we do in the oil and gas industry, like many other places,
is employ the competence and not the character of a person. We need
both; character is however the aspect we cannot train as easily
(if at all) as the skill. So we employ the "bit" we can
and almost always re-train to "our way".
And yet, what does almost every company say in its annual report
— "People are our most important resource". There
is certainly no leadership here, simply cynicism from almost all
staff — and yet companies keep doing it — saying one
thing and doing another. Trust is exiting at the first hurdle.
I am going to invite others who have experience of leadership to
come onto the stage and share their views.
We have chosen a variety of different people with different backgrounds
to give their view on leadership, ranging from Kevin Stewart. Managing
Director of Petrodata, to Olu Ogunleye, a student of entrepreneurship
at Robert Gordons University, to Ian Chisholm, Chief Executive of
Columba 1400, and finally Jamie Gilmour, tax manager at Ernst &
Young.
Hywel Ball, Ernst & Young's National Head of Energy, Chemicals
and Utilities has spent six years working for EY in Scotland. He
also has 12 years experience of working in Ernst and Young's London
and New York offices prior to transfer to Scotland. He is a member
of Ernst & Young's MNC partner group of key global account holders
Posted by Richard Price,
Editor Pipeline Magazine
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