#54 Mike Bennetts: The CEO Advice I Needed To Hear | Ex-CEO, Z Energy
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What insights does Mike Bennetts share about leadership in tough times?
Imagine sitting down with a top CEO for an hour and asking him questions that are going to help you. It's tough out there at the moment. So I use this opportunity to sit down with Mike Bennett, who was Z Energy CEO for 13 years. He's now a top business coach. And I ask him so many questions about business. I think there's a future written for everybody, every individual, every team, every company, every country. And I think leaders intervene in what would otherwise be predictable. It's not even about being a founder. If you're just someone working within a business, how to better look after yourself. He used an analogy, just doing my job. If I just worry about doing my job and not being worried about what everyone else is doing, it's going to be a lot better for me and for the business.
I never talk about balance because balance implies one in, one out. I talk about harmony. It's not always about working harder. It's about looking after yourself, getting enough rest. The problems are always going to be there. So you're better equipped to face them if you're looking after yourself. When you're at school, when you want to get better grades, what do you get told? Work harder. Yeah, right. And then we bring that into our adult lives, into business. And sometimes working harder is not the right thing to do. I really encourage you to watch this because you will learn so much. So don't forget to like, comment, share and subscribe. Mike Bennett's enjoying. This podcast is made by the amazing team at Fanaticals.
They put up with me, so they're pretty epic. Just before we get into this episode, I have a little request.
How can leaders prioritize employee well-being during economic uncertainty?
If this podcast has helped you or someone you know over these episodes, we need your help too. Head down to the link below and shout us a coffee. Whether it's once a month or just a one-off coffee, it all helps. These stories are very important and they're not the type of stories that attract sponsorship. It's hard. It is hard to keep these going, but we must. So if you can help us, please do. Click the link below and shout us a coffee. Enjoy the episode. Mike Bennett, thank you so much for joining me, bro. Fuel boss to climate change champion. How does that work? So you were the boss, the founding CEO of Z Energy, right? Yes. So in 2010, New Zealand Super and Infratil bought the assets off Shell in New Zealand, and they asked me to be the chief executive, 1st of April, April Fool's Day, 2010.
So I came in to do that. I didn't really want to at one level do that. I'd spent all of my working career prior to that working for BP, mostly globally. And I swore I didn't want to go into the oil and gas business again, but this seemed to be quite a unique opportunity. And part of it, my commitment to climate change or doing something about the impacts of those fossil fuels on climate change was the reason why I took that job in the first place. Do people call you a hypocrite being the fuel boss and then having that side too? How did that work? Yes, some people would, and I totally understand it and I can fully appreciate it because I felt somewhat hypocritical myself. But I worked on what I call context, right?
So my world, particularly the world of leadership coaching I do today, is that people's thoughts, feelings, behaviours and actions are entirely consistent with how things show up for them. So when I first turned up with the company, we were a large company. We were selling about 30% of New Zealand's transport fuels. We were right in the middle of the problem. We had no money to do anything about investing in climate change because we were a low-margin business. Return on capital was pretty poor, which is really why Infertile and New Zealand Super got such a good deal. So there was a context that said anything you do here is going to be hypocritical. And so to offset that, we created a context within which we ultimately said we can move from being in the middle of the problem to being at the heart of the solution.
So that first context basically said to you, there is nothing to do here.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What insights does Mike Bennetts share about leadership in tough times?
0:00–1:31
2
How can leaders prioritize employee well-being during economic uncertainty?
1:31–4:18
3
What role does AI play in modern business according to Mike Bennetts?
4:18–9:03
4
How can small businesses leverage AI for growth?
9:03–14:24
5
What advice does Mike provide for small business owners facing challenges?
14:24–19:37
6
How should businesses balance profit and community impact?
19:37–26:29
7
What strategies can leaders implement to address social issues?
26:29–34:35
8
What personal experiences shape Mike Bennetts' leadership philosophy?
34:35–44:07
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from Unfiltered with Dave Letele
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