Earlier this month, we sat down with Rob Webb QC and Deputy Assistant Commissioner Bas Javid to explore the relationship they built up through the London First Leadership Exchange, our peer-to-peer mentoring programme between senior police and business leaders. They demonstrate that two leaders from very different walks of life share common challenges.
Self-described as a conversation between a ​‘Nerd’ (Rob Webb) and a ​‘Man of Action’ (Bas Javid), each guest presented themselves as leaders with their respective leadership styles – Rob leads from behind, while Bas leads at the front. Leading from behind, as Rob put it, enabled him to experience and appreciate all aspects of a job and its challenges from the bottom to the top.
Rob shared an anecdote from his time with British Airways. Rob had to play the part of the airline’s ​‘crash test dummy’ whilst members of the security service repeatedly practised their mile-high hostage rescue operations. Whilst, Rob admitted, it is fun to laugh at now, at the time, it highlighted for him the importance of getting outside your comfort zone. From these moments, new relationships are born, new lessons can be taught, and opportunistic doors are often opened.
Bas shared an entirely different anecdote – what would have been a routine trip from Portugal to Brazil (courtesy of the British Royal Navy) happened to coincide with Saddam Hussain’s invasion of Kuwait. Soon, Bas found himself plunged into Operation Desert Storm. A very foreign concept for most of us, yet Bas discovered more about himself than any other situation he had found himself in. He shared how he grew as a person and leader during the six-month operation, and it changed his view of the world.
Leadership is a brand; your personal brand is defined by what people say about you once you leave the room. Rob reminded us of this, just as a former colleague and leader had taught him at British Airways; to form a good, personal brand, you must get good people, encourage them, play to their positions and skills, and always give credit to others when credit is due. We are, after all, driven by a mixture of power, task, and affiliation. Money and purpose are not drivers for everyone; as such, when building a team, a good leader ensures a good combination of motivators.
Looking back on past mistakes, Rob and Bas were asked if they could hypothetically go back in time, what would they change, and how would they have done things differently. Interestingly, both had very similar answers; work harder earlier. Bas expressed regret for not applying himself when he was at school. Bas told us that he bounced between eleven schools over eleven years. Once he applied himself to his studies and surrounded himself with the right people, he achieved a place to study at Cambridge University. He told the group to surround themselves with people who can inspire and motivate them and see the difference.
Rob replied that he had the same regret, as he didn’t apply himself at his university and wound up with a second-class degree with second honours. He stated that a continuous mistake that he has made since his mid-twenties is that he tries to inject too much energy into situations and projects. If he could leave the audience with one slither of advice, he told us to be smoother and self-confident and make sure we always rehearse and tailor our story. Even the strongest leaders are still learning, but as we learnt from Rob and Bas, there is no shame in this. Own your shortcomings, surround yourself with people who can motivate and inspire, and make sure you can lead yourself and others with confidence, authority, and determination.
91¶¶Òù London First Leadership Exchange
London First’s high-impact leadership programme exchanges expertise across policing and business. For more information, please contact Jane Cunningham.