Call to follow the leader

Allan Freeth states, "Good management is being able to correctly judge when to push change and when not to push. Intellect counts for a lot, but so does the intuitive process."

He says TelstraClear suffered an identity crisis following years of wrangling with New Zealand's regulated telecommunications environment, and from its traditional image as a "knight in shining armour" for ISPs, businesses and smaller telcos. While it will maintain its pressure on the Commerce Commission and others, Freeth says TelstraClear is not a social service and won't be used to show that there is true competition in the telecommunications marketplace.

He hopes government lobbying will cease to be a main perception of TelstraClear.

"Our staff was fighting too many battles on too many fronts. They want to be part of something new, challenging, growing and different," says Freeth.

A four month review delivered "good data" on the business, says Freeth, and led to TelstraClear's September announcement that it would downsize staff numbers, cease to provide customer choice in some market areas, and concentrate on technologically and geographically proven areas of profitability. The decision was made reluctantly but is in the long term interests of customers and shareholders of TelstraClear, says Freeth.

He says the strategic changes TelstraClear now faces requires more than a gentle tweak and requires the buy-in of key staff; it cannot be managed through a 'top down' management approach. While TelstraClear will create redundancies as a result of the new direction, Freeth says when there is trust between a company and its staff, and the company is perceived to treat people well in times of personal crisis, illness or redundancy; it is possible to maintain a strong employment brand while restructuring.

"Also, the concept of employment in one organisation for life is no longer commonly held. Employees factor this into their psychology and into their assessment of an employment brand," says Freeth.

Personable, confident and people-smart, the Nelson-born Freeth, 45, is no stranger to leadership, people management or change strategy. A science and business graduate with a PhD in population genetics and a MBA from the University of Canterbury, Freeth was formerly general manager executive office for TrustBank where he was responsible for strategic and operational reviews of the banking group. He helped lead the initial public offering and then the sale process of Trustbank to Westpac in 1996, and worked his way up through the agricultural supply and service company Wrightson to become managing director in 2000. Earlier this year, Wrightson was taken over by Rural Property Investments and Freeth left the company. Already a member of the TelstraClear advisory board, he was offered the chief executive position following the departure of former CEO and Australian Rosemary Howard.

Freeth reckons his appointment sends two key messages to the New Zealand business community - first, that the Australian-owned TelstraClear that has come of age and a New Zealander can lead it; second, some strategies tried during that coming of age have been successful and some have not, making restructure and refocus inevitable. Significant business change tends to be evolutionary, and to some extent driven by external market forces, says Freeth.

"This change is about creating an identity, a sense of strategic direction and focus. We have identified a number of gaps in TelstraClear's culture and business operations and need to establish who we are, where we are going, and what we are trying to be."

Although he had no former experience working for a telecommunications company, Freeth says the prospect of leading TelstraClear was attractive because the industry is intellectually stimulating, strategically complex, dynamic and people based. While the industry jargon was initially confusing and some telecommunications gurus "forget telecommunications is not world peace", Freeth says he learned quickly by asking "a lot of dumb questions" and finds the technology and regulatory elements of the sector fascinating. And he loves a challenge.

"I particularly liked the thought of leading TelstraClear because it was caught in a box. I thought this is either going to be really hard or be over really quickly."

He says while some companies freeze to prevent change, this destroys value and growth. But while major changes are sometimes better received than minor changes, all change, whether it is the CEO suddenly appearing in the cafeteria or a major restructure, has the potential to be disruptive. People get "changed out" and a balance is necessary, admits Freeth.

"All the past mistakes I have made and learned from have been around the degree of pressure placed around making change happen. You have to keep people on the edge of change but also give them stability," says Freeth.

As a people manager, he has clear ideas on what works and what doesn't, and says there is a noticeable difference around the average age of staff in an organisation and how they expect to be managed.

"I expect loyalty to be reflected back. I can say to people - with unreasonable demands - okay, resign then, I can also say maybe we can do something, eventually there is a Judgment Day on both sides," says Freeth.

He lists his leadership strengths as compassion, strategic ability, physical robustness and a strong sense of culture, and says to achieve what he needs to, it helps that TelstraClear has only one major shareholder. This compares favourably with publicly owned companies and those without a stable shareholder base, says Freeth.

"It's important for investment and I don't have to keep looking over my shoulder for where the next corporate raider is coming from."

"Too many family problems are caused by overwork. While I expect high levels of performance and commitment from my staff, I also expect them to have a life," says Freeth.

He is a fan of Eisenhower and Churchill, and inspired by former US president Harry Truman, whom he describes as an under-rated, pragmatic and commonsense leader. The Dalai Lama is admirable for his approach to leadership and compassion, and Ernest Shackleton for his endurance, says Freeth.

He is also fascinated by the role of woman leaders and the career issues they face. He admires Dame Sylvia Cartwright, Eleanor Roseveldt, and yes, Telecom's Theresa Gattung.

"No leader is Peter Perfect, [but] she's doing a good job," says Freeth.

That generosity is telling, and portrays Freeth, probably correctly, as a confident, non-defensive player who doesn't waste time on issues that don't make money or build internal culture for his organisation. While he may not get his wish for future legal and competitive wrangles in the telecommunications sector to be conducted away from the public eye, under his leadership New Zealanders are at least likely to gain a better understanding of what TelstraClear can do for them.