{"id":30058,"date":"2021-01-19T15:47:39","date_gmt":"2021-01-19T13:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/?p=30058"},"modified":"2021-07-27T13:03:27","modified_gmt":"2021-07-27T11:03:27","slug":"paul-bulcke-nestle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/paul-bulcke-nestle\/","title":{"rendered":"“There is no single type of leadership” – Paul Bulcke, Chair & Former CEO of Nestl\u00e9"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Nestl\u00e9<\/a> is the world\u2019s largest food and beverage company. Its chairman and former CEO, Paul Bulcke<\/a>, was an inspiring guest at EU who shared his career story, offered advice and explained Nestl\u00e9’s vision and approach captivating an audience of EU students, alumni and guests at the final Learning From Leaders conference of 2020.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Here, we have distilled pertinent insights from Paul\u2019s conversation with Peter Vanham, author of \u201cBefore I Was CEO\u201d.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Crisis Management at a Global Giant<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Nestl\u00e9 has over 2,000 brands and is present in 187 countries, so weathering the coronavirus crisis could seem an insurmountable challenge. However, over the past year, the company has managed to maintain more than 90% of its productivity. Paul Bulcke pinpointed some defining factors that shaped Nestl\u00e9\u2019s response to the crisis.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Nestl\u00e9\u2019s company structure provided an advantage while other global corporations faced significant supply chain disruptions: \u201cWe have relatively short supply chains as we are very decentralized. That is linked with our strategic conviction that freshness of produce is linked with raw materials that you produce and sell close to where the consumer is. And that has proven to be a very resilient system<\/a>.\u201d Thus, while Nestl\u00e9\u2019s decentralized structure has been criticized as an impediment to growth, it has served the company incredibly well this past year. Nestl\u00e9 was also fortunate that the global packaged food industry was not negatively impacted in the way that so many others, such as travel and hospitality, have been.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Aside from these advantages, a rapidly implemented and carefully defined approach enabled the company to adapt quickly to the new challenges to maintain high levels of productivity<\/strong>. The following three principles defined how the company responded:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

    \r\n
  1. Safety first<\/strong>. Nestl\u00e9\u2019s first actions were to secure the safety of its people. It reduced company travel, lowered physical presence wherever possible and leveled up hygiene measures in its factories.<\/li>\r\n
  2. Maintaining activity<\/strong>. With Nestl\u00e9\u2019s decentralized operations, regional teams around the world had the autonomy they needed to adapt to the local situation ensuring that they could continue to supply food to their communities.<\/li>\r\n
  3. Solidarity with the local community<\/strong>. This is a core value at Nestl\u00e9, which worked to support the survival of the community by accelerating payments and extending credit, among other measures.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

    While the measures Nestl\u00e9 had in place are specific to their business, the structure they used to shape their approach could be applied across any industry as an effective blueprint for crisis management.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

    Global Presence and a Long-Term Approach<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

    Nestl\u00e9 is more familiar with crisis management than many. It maintains a presence in several war-torn and politically turbulent countries. Other companies have withdrawn, but not Nestl\u00e9, which still operates five factories in Venezuela, for example, and remains present in Syria and Zimbabwe. Paul explained: \u201cThe lives of the people and families depend on our presence. Employing them and giving them hope for tomorrow, enabling them to send their children to school, supporting thriving local communities is key for us.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

    The combination of a values\u2019-driven approach with well-defined criteria govern Nestl\u00e9\u2019s presence in a country. These include:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      \r\n
    1. Safety of people.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n
    2. Ownership of intellectual property and assets.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n
    3. Ability to achieve the quality of working conditions and products that enable the company to live up to its own standards.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      Paul explained this approach as stubbornness mixed with conviction. \u201cTypical,\u201d he said of the Swiss character. \u201cIt is simple to formulate; it is harder to live up to. But that\u2019s what we have to do,\u201d he stated. \u201cWe are a strong believer in our strategic direction, our purpose, and we always have the long-term in mind. We see through the troubles of the short-term.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      High Trees Catch More Wind<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      Nestl\u00e9 is no stranger to controversy. One of the perceptive questions asked by EU students picked up on an aphorism used by Paul Bulcke in relation to the criticism the company receives: high trees catch more wind.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      Paul explained that, as a sizable company with a presence all over the world, Nestl\u00e9 is exposed to considerable scrutiny. While there is a general awareness of the challenges facing our planet, particularly regarding climate change and plastic packaging, most people do not have a nuanced understanding of the difficulties implicit in transitioning to a way of operating that can help to mitigate, and even solve, these problems.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      It\u2019s very easy to recognize the correlation between a company that sells bottled water and increased plastic waste around the world, but much more complex to grasp the improvements that are being made \u2013 such as a lighter weight bottle which causes less waste \u2013 and the unfortunate truth that there are communities that rely on bottled water for a safe drinking supply. For this reason, companies like Nestl\u00e9 are exposed to criticism from all corners of global society. It is necessary to understand the measures the company is taking, and the ambitious goals it has in place to reduce its negative impact on our planet.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      \u201cWe do quite a lot of work and we take our responsibility seriously,\u201d Paul said, \u201cThe key is to communicate, be transparent, be humble \u2013 we cannot do it all in one day.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      As an example, Paul spoke about the complex problem of child labor in the production of cocoa. This is an issue that Nestl\u00e9 has been monitoring for the past 10 years at the plantations in Ghana and the Ivory Coast that the company indirectly works with. Out of 18,000 children they identified as performing work that could be considered dangerous, they have worked with local authorities and NGOs to remove 10,000. The challenge remains to change the local culture that perpetuates child labor as a way of life. \u201cThis should not be used as an argument not to get those 8,000 children out\u201d, Paul explained, \u201cBut we have to be understanding and work with them to make this change\u201d. \u201cIt\u00b4s a tough journey, but a rewarding one.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      The company stays in these countries because they want to support change on the frontline. Paul explained: \u201cIt is only by being there, being visible, by doing things that you may be criticized, but that\u2019s not a reason why you shouldn\u2019t do things.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      \"Paul<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      Strategy to Build a Better Future<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      Nestl\u00e9 has extensive plans in place to address global challenges facing society today. Perhaps the most ambitious is to be carbon neutral by 2050 in line with the U.N.\u2019s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This ambition was announced in 2019. In the year that followed, the company worked on putting together a plan for how they will achieve this \u2013 a plan that was revealed<\/a> in December 2020.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      It is a comprehensive roadmap that includes significant financial investment and goes beyond Nestle\u2019s own walls, which is where most of the company\u2019s total greenhouse gas emissions occur. Thus, the company\u2019s approach looks across the entire supply chain, not only in factories but also upstream to suppliers such as farmers, and \u201cdownstream\u201d towards supermarkets and consumers<\/strong>. Paul acknowledged that this is important from a brand point of view as well as in terms of maintaining company values and contributing positively to the world: \u201cThat is also what, over time, consumers are going to value\u201d. Which is why Nestl\u00e9 has started other initiatives, such as increasing its portfolio of vegetarian protein products to support a transition to a reduced-meat lifestyle.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      Paul emphasized that Nestl\u00e9\u2019s approach is centered around action, measurements and reports: \u201cThis is not greenwashing; this is not PR; this is 300,000 people at Nestl\u00e9 committing to this\u201d. The company\u2019s policy is to align their objectives with quality of life for their consumers: \u201cOur commitment is to maintain safe, healthy, quality food brought to the consumer in a very efficient way.\u201d Paul also emphasized that values are central to Nestl\u00e9\u2019s approach: \u201cWhat we do is by conviction, not by convenience.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      The Key to a Fulfilling Career<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      Long-term thinking and optimism seem to characterize both the philosophy at Nestl\u00e9 and Paul Bulcke\u2019s personal approach to life and work. Given Paul has been working with the company for more than 40 years, it is perhaps unsurprising to find such a close accordance in values between the two. And in fact, Paul explained that this is the reason he has been able to stay with Nestl\u00e9 for so many years: \u201cI could live my own principles at the company because they are the same as mine,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      Paul provided invaluable advice for anyone building their career: \u201cYou have to be able to be yourself, and if you cannot be yourself because the values are not there, then you have to move on. However, if you only move on to keep stepping up, then you are going to be anxious permanently. That is not a very good quality of life.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      Knowing when to find a new job<\/a> and how to identify the right opportunities are key to a fulfilling career. As other respected leaders have informed audiences at EU\u2019s Learning From Leaders conferences, working for a company which shares your values is essential<\/strong>. But Paul also added, \u201cYou have to watch out not to be too intense in your career mindset<\/a> and enjoy the journey.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      Characteristics of a Great Leader<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      As the former CEO and current chair of Nestl\u00e9<\/a>, Paul Bulcke has our trust when it comes to leadership advice. Throughout his conversation with Peter Vanham, Paul shared advice to support the audience of students, alumni and guests in their career aspirations.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      \u201cThere is no single type of leadership,\u201d Paul said. \u201cHow someone leads will be personal to them. It will be shaped by the company and by the role they are in.\u201d However, there are common factors which all leaders and aspiring leaders can apply to improve their leadership.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      It is important to maintain a \u201cdimension of contextual thinking,\u201d he said. \u201cDon\u2019t think you have all the answers \u2013 you don\u2019t need all the answers. You just need to have trust in the people around you.\u201d Building a capable team that you can trust is essential to being able to lead effectively<\/strong>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      You have to have detachment; \u201cyou have to be able to observe yourself,\u201d Paul advised. Taking the time to step back and assess your own actions, opportunities and challenges will enable you to grow into an effective and reflective leader, and to continually develop your own capabilities.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      Attitude is also key to being a great leader: \u201cDon\u2019t be bossy. Leadership is not a position; leadership is dynamics, it\u2019s action, it\u2019s motivation and it\u2019s energy\u201d. What\u2019s more, \u201ca good leader is someone who can inspire somebody or a community and inspire means purpose. We don\u2019t have all the answers, but we inspire.\u201d Having a purpose and vision that can energize those around you is an essential aspect of leadership.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      Prepare for A Career at The Top<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      At EU Business School students are exposed to ideas, insights and advice from business leaders at the top, preparing them to accelerate their own career. To find out more about how EU\u2019s pragmatic and experiential approach could enable you to achieve your goals, explore our wide-range of programs<\/a>, from BA to MBA level.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      \"eu<\/a><\/figure>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Nestl\u00e9 is the world\u2019s largest food and beverage company. Its chairman and former CEO, Paul Bulcke, was an inspiring guest at EU who shared his career story, offered advice and explained Nestl\u00e9’s vision and approach captivating an audience of EU students, alumni and guests at the final Learning From Leaders conference of 2020. Here, we have distilled pertinent insights from Paul\u2019s conversation with Peter Vanham, author of \u201cBefore I Was CEO\u201d. Crisis Management at a Global Giant Nestl\u00e9 has over 2,000 brands and is present in 187 countries, so weathering the coronavirus crisis could seem an insurmountable challenge. However, over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30063,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1773,1777,1769],"tags":[4406,4405,630,658],"class_list":["post-30058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eu-business-school-community","category-eu-business-school-guest-speakers","category-learning-from-leaders","tag-crisis-communication","tag-crisis-management","tag-leadership","tag-learning-from-leaders","post--single"],"yoast_head":"\r\n'There is no single type of leadership' - Paul Bulcke, Chairman of Nestl\u00e9<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We invited Nestl\u00e9's chairman and former CEO, Paul Bulcke, at EU who shared his career story, offered advice and explained Nestl\u00e9's vision and approach.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/paul-bulcke-nestle\/\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"EU Business School\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/paul-bulcke-nestle\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"EU Blog\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"EU Community\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/category\/eu-business-school-community\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Learning From Leaders\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/category\/eu-business-school-community\/learning-from-leaders\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"“There is no single type of leadership” – Paul Bulcke, Chair & Former CEO of Nestl\u00e9\"}]}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"'There is no single type of leadership' - Paul Bulcke, Chairman of Nestl\u00e9","description":"We invited Nestl\u00e9's chairman and former CEO, Paul Bulcke, at EU who shared his career story, offered advice and explained Nestl\u00e9's vision and approach.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/paul-bulcke-nestle\/","author":"EU Business School","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/paul-bulcke-nestle\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"EU Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"EU Community","item":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/category\/eu-business-school-community\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Learning From Leaders","item":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/category\/eu-business-school-community\/learning-from-leaders\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"“There is no single type of leadership” – Paul Bulcke, Chair & Former CEO of Nestl\u00e9"}]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30058"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32081,"href":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30058\/revisions\/32081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}