The potential impact we can have is profound

Time and time again it has been proven that business leaders learn best from people just like them. That’s what Nigel Whitehead is hoping to help more be able to do.

There is an interesting snippet on the CV of Nigel Whitehead CBE that explains why – among many other reasons – he decided to spearhead the creation of the Be the Business Fellows programme. Whilst he was leading BAE Systems’ UK defence operation, it says, the portfolio of businesses he oversaw had a turnover of over £7.5bn, 30,000 employees and 7,000 UK-based suppliers, of which 2,500 are SMEs.

Quite simply, there can’t be many people in the UK with more experience of working with small and medium-sized businesses. Couple this with his exemplary track record of business turn-around, business transformation and rationalisation of large, complex businesses, and it’s little surprise that Nigel has assumed a very particular role within the fellowship.

His mission is to bring in additional, well-connected captains of industry to add ever-more strings to the Be the Business bow. Nigel is the Fellows programme headhunter.

“I’m on the lookout for people who are able to identify with the needs of business, especially during these challenging times,” he explained. “Somebody who perhaps has specific sector knowledge or who is able to use their network in specific regions, and also people who have a grasp of some of the cross-cutting themes that are very important, such as leadership development, supply chain capability, and the adoption of both top-end research and digital technology to enhance business performance.”

One essential attribute, he added, is a “slightly fearless element” – a willingness to roll up their sleeves and help British businesses find game-changing solutions in a timely fashion.

If this all sounds like Nigel is quietly assembling a powerful “force”, that’s probably not too wide of the mark. Highly experienced in the defence and security sectors, Nigel is also vastly experienced at running large teams and getting things done.

“Business improvement all starts with the leaders,” he said. “Their perception of what the business can do, their willingness to take steps to grow it and adopt new methods and also their competitive spirit – these define the future for their businesses.”

UK business has under-emphasized the importance of developing its leaders, Nigel says. We have also been slow at adopting digital technology when compared to our international counterparts (Denmark in particular). “In some cases, the averages are about ten years behind what other European countries are doing with their businesses,” commented Nigel. “There’s a big opportunity there.”

This is the rallying cry of a man who remains determined to make a difference as he transitions into retirement – over the next 16 months Nigel will wrap up the career that saw him start as a production engineering apprentice at Rolls-Royce and which most recently saw him overseeing three operations groups within BAE Systems. He plans on spending roughly half of this exit period helping Be the Business.

“The potential impact we can have is profound,” he emphasised. “I’ve found that business leaders will learn more from people like themselves, and what we’ve seen from the work we’ve done in Be the Business is that when networks are formed and business leaders can see how other businesses do things, they’re able to make their own decisions much more rapidly and with greater confidence.”

Nigel was appointed director of external relations at BAE Systems in January 2020. In this role he has responsibility for coordinating the BAE Systems relationship with the UK government crown representative. His previous roles in BAE Systems include chief technology officer (2018-2020) and group managing director of the UK defence businesses (2008-2017). Among the many high-profile projects he has been involved in are the Eurofighter Typhoon, Nimrod MRA4 and F-35 aircraft, and also the Astute nuclear submarine. In addition Nigel chairs a number of industry-wide groups progressing skills, e-business, and industry/government interface matters. 

Quick-fire questions

Who is your business inspiration?

It sounds terrible, but I do not idolise or put on a pedestal any of the recognised business celebrities. In fact, when you meet them and work with them the public personas created around some of these people doesn’t actually match the reality.

I’ve worked with a number of people who I have huge respect for, but my mental model is that every leader is a flawed leader – every leader is incomplete, and therefore what I tend to do is admire the predominant strengths of individual leaders and I am inspired to try and emulate those strengths. 

Do you have a personal productivity tip?

Yes, be organised. So you have to grip your self organisation. You then grip the organisation of the team. And then you grip a task – and it has to be in that order.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

Someone I really respected told me early on in my career to not be so defensive. They said, “We’re giving you tips and hints about what you can do to improve, and you tell us why you’ve done what you’ve done in quite a defensive way. You can drop that, you’re bigger than that. Take on board what people are telling you and you’ll find that you’ll go a lot further.” And boy, was he right. With so many great experienced people around me, my willingness to accept and ask for their advice made a big difference to my career.

If you’d gone down a completely different career path, what would you like to have been?

Probably a physics teacher. I like the subject and I like the whole idea of working with people to develop their skills and build their enthusiasm – and because I have a passion for the subject matter, I’m certain that would come across and it would be a virtuous circle.