NESsT is on track to double its portfolio by the end of this year so that 50 social enterprises can access the financing and business advisory services needed to consolidate and grow their social and environmental impact.
To support the organization with scaling its operations, NESsT’s Board of Directors appointed Lord Mervyn Davies as Chair.
Biography
Lord Davies is a Partner and the Chairman of Corsair Capital, a private equity firm specialising in financial services. He is also the Chairman of LetterOne, the Chairman of the Lawn Tennis Association, the Chairman of Intermediate Capital Group, Interim Chairman of Glyndebourne Productions Ltd, an Adviser to Teneo and he is also the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Sri Lanka.
He was Minister for Trade, Investment, Small Business and Infrastructure from January 2009 until May 2010. Prior to that, Lord Davies was Chairman and previously CEO, and served on the Board of Standard Chartered for over 12 years.
He was awarded a CBE for his services to the financial sector and the community in Hong Kong in June 2002 where he served as a member of the HK Exchange fund for seven years. Lord Davies is a JP in Hong Kong, and he is an Honorary Distinguished Professor at Cardiff Business School.
Lord Davies is married with two children and is a fluent Welsh speaker.
Nathalie Figueroa
Development & Communications Manager at NESsT
The Interview
As part of his tenure as Board Chair, Lord Davies is leading the recruitment of several new members, including Nathalie Figueroa who will join as Secretary of the Corporation.
In this interview, Lord Davies and Nathalie discuss his leadership style, why he chose to partner with NESsT and his overall vision on the role of NESsT in the rise of impact investing globally.
Nathalie Figueroa (NF): How would you define the three phases of your career?
Lord Mervyn Davies (LMD): The first chapter was crawling up the ladder, trying to get to the top and finding a hard edge. It is tough, and you have to make sacrifices. My family went through this process with me, of 3 or 4 careers. I have always valued family as much as I do my career.
Fast-forward to my third chapter, I want to give something back. In this chapter, I started working more in private equity and I have invested in 60 companies and led all sorts of artistic institutions. I also joined the board of World Rugby and Wimbledon. In this phase of my life, I am trying to use my knowledge, intuition, and skills to do many different things.
NF: You are involved in a wide range of initiatives, from the arts, to sports, to finance and foreign policy. What are the qualities you look for once you decide that there is a fit with the people that you work with?
LMD: It is really a combination of emotional intelligence, an ability to get things done with people, and positive energy. It’s tough out there. So knowing what you’re good at is very important. Self-awareness is the starting point for leaders. The more you talk about your mistakes the more you learn. Great CEOs and great leaders don’t talk about success all the time, they talk about how we can improve certain things.
When you look at the top athletes you see how much they practice. I don’t think it's much different in business.
NF: Why were you drawn to NESsT?
LMD: We can support entrepreneurs in underprivileged areas to make a massive difference. Isn’t that incredibly rewarding, for our supporters and for our team? If I can use my experience and contacts to help us make that difference then that’s great, that is why I am here.
NF: What are the different opportunities in the impact investing sector given all of these digital and societal changes? What are the challenges that NESsT needs to address in order to not miss these opportunities?
LMD: Barriers to entry for entrepreneurship have come down, and now is one of the most exciting times to start a business. For NESsT, we have to showcase role models, people who have done it well, to motivate others.
What is very clear to me as the new Chairman is that we are a hidden gem — we are in the right place at the right time. We are a genuine and authentic social impact organization, brilliantly driven by our co-CEOs. My chairmanship is about creating a clearer vision of the future.
I don't think there is any shortage of entrepreneurs or social entrepreneurs around the world. We just need to tap into them.
NF: How do you envision the board coming together? What are your hopes for the group?
Mervyn: Every board is a team, and every board needs diversity of thinking and background. In the old days young people would look up the “stairs” to see what wisdom there was. Now the older generations are looking down, to the youth making their way up these “stairs” and asking them what’s going on.
As Chair, I’m keen to increase the ethnic diversity and gender balance of the Board. We need a mix of ages and backgrounds — that was also the motivation with recruiting [Nathalie] because [she] can offer [her] unique input inspired by her personal background and comprehensive understanding of NESsT.
The reason we picked Natasha Buchler is that she is highly intelligent and experienced with running her own social enterprise. Every board member will be asked to contribute their intellect and their money.
NF: Can you tell us about your leadership style and what you look for in leaders?
LMD: The one thing that is most important, irrespective of your background or age, is that you never stop learning. I have a voracious appetite for life and also for learning. My attitude is that the more you prepare, the more opportunities exist. To be successful in business or in any walk of life, you have to start with knowing yourself, knowing what you are good at, and knowing what your areas of development are.
In an age of fast change and extraordinary digital revolution, you need to be flexible in your thinking, you need to be willing to talk about mistakes. Success comes with openness, fairness, and learning from your mistakes.
The people that you work with have to have a certain amount of IQ, however IQ on its own is useless if they have no EQ (emotional intelligence). If they don’t have energy to pair their IQ with EQ, they have no chance at success. Emotional intelligence allows us to get things done with more people and to bring the positive energy to carry us through the lows. It’s tough out there.
NF: Speaking of lows, how have you managed failures and mistakes in your career?
LMD: You have got to be tough and determined. Everyone will have highs and lows. I have had so many lows, but it's all about how you handle the lows and what you learn from them that allows you to reach success. I normally do a lookback to think about what I would have done differently.
Through my lows I learned about the value of teamwork. My team of trustees, they stayed with me through thick and thin. They never flinched.
When things don’t go well, it really pays to have done everything carefully and diligently. There are no shortcuts in business. It doesn't matter if you are running a tiny business on your own with two employees or if you are running a multinational: never cut corners.
NF: Do you have any advice for a scaling social enterprise?
LMD: I have always believed in positive leaders because positive people inspire following. For entrepreneurs who are just starting their journey, I would say first to look at themselves. Sample the team to get a sense of the different skills that make up the team. And when you are assembling teams, you want different skills on your team.
Teams have a clear sense of purpose and vision. They are not about big plans but about execution. I encourage entrepreneurs to really think about what they are bringing to the party, and what else they need in a team. Make sure you value the team and manage cash well. Businesses don't go bankrupt because of profit, they go bankrupt because they haven't managed cash well.
A great lesson in business is to underpromise and overdeliver. It is important to communicate, with your team and with your clients, to think outside the box, and have bold ambition.
NF: You have shared so much about the importance of community building. What do you think is the vision that inspires the NESsT community and what do you hope to champion forward as chair of the board?
LMD: We have already achieved a great deal at NESsT but we are only at the beginning, not the end of the journey. What I would like to do is to help make the vision even bigger, to help with the execution around that over the next 5-10 years.
We are in the middle of one of the most exciting periods of innovation in history. Every industry is changing beyond comprehension. It is a great and exciting time, but you have got to adapt and change. This is the era where if you aren’t doing something about climate change, about inequality, or about helping people, whether you are an individual or an entity, then you are going to be left behind.
We have got to do more on these issues, and NESsT can play a critical role in that.