Sujata Agrawal

The time spent working in his father’s pub to earn pocket money helped Jim Leng to learn the virtues of thrift and persistence early in life. He also discovered a love for challenges and a spirit that never says die

Jim Leng spent some time in his early years working in his father’s pub. It was there, he says, that he discovered a respect and passion for people and for enjoying being with all manner of folks: a talent that he has honed to perfection as chairman of Corus, a company recently acquired by Tata Steel.

At 61, Jim Leng is a charming young man. In India to attend the Founder’s Day celebrations at Jamshedpur, held on March 3, Leng is relaxed and seems completely at home. He wears his age and accomplishments lightly as he sits across the table in the Tata Suite at the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower in Mumbai to reminisce about his life and times.

The last 18 months have been more than eventful for Leng as he sought to find the right ‘suitor’ for Corus. He says that the ‘best man’ won and he could not be happier with the outcome. “Corus is a company that has tremendous skills but needed to improve its competitiveness and global reach. The world is becoming global and we could not just stay as a European player, no matter how big we were. In 2005 we started looking for a partner with whom we could have the best business and people fit. The people component, the chemistry of people, should never be underestimated,” he says.

He found the perfect match in Tata Steel. Leng has immense regard and respect for Mr Tata and Mr Muthuraman, both of whom he first met in 2005 at Bombay House. After a year of intense discussion Leng and Philippe Varin, CEO of Corus, were convinced that the Tata Group was the best fit for their company.

A tenacious spirit
“The skill and tenacity that Tata showed in buying Corus is a characteristic that I recognise and admire,” says Leng with a smile.

Leng grew up in the industrial heart-belt of North East England, which used to be a centre for steel, mining and shipping industries but fell on hard times after World War II. “It was a challenging and tough life but people from that part of England are resilient,” says Leng.

Leng’s father used to work at the naval shipyard until an accident forced him to leave. He started a pub and that was where young Leng spent his formative years. He remembers it as a wonderful place to meet and interact with people. “You had to have a sense of humour and it gave me a good grounding for interactions in my future business life,” he says. Hard work and a life without luxury made Leng a tenacious and determined youth.

His love for people has been evident all through his career. “The challenge of persuading people to be a part of the company’s vision and plans, the challenge in working with them to achieve the goals, is what excites me,” he says.

Leng’s years in business have taught him a basic rule: the purpose of business is not to put others out of business but to make lives better. He believes that successful businesses can make lives better and that when you build a company it is essential that you build teams.

Leng compares team play in business to playing squash, a sport he played with some distinction. “Squash is a very fast and competitive game played in a confined space. It’s rare for good players to collide or hit each other during a game; often their movement seems to be synchronised. It should be the same when you work closely with your colleagues. You never get in each other’s way, and you cover each other.”

The road less travelled
“My life has always been dominated by events,” says Leng. Sport was a very important part of school and early life; Leng started playing badminton under the influence of Mr Miller, a teacher who had a passion for the sport, and was soon playing for Durham, his county of birth.

It was on a badminton court that he met his wife Carole, who, he admits, was probably a better badminton player than he was. Sport taught him to manage his competitiveness. “You develop an attitude and spirit. It’s not about being aggressive, it’s about being determined and not letting go.” Leng is currently on the advisory board of the British Olympic Association.

His philosophy has been to get on with life and play the cards as they are dealt, and if that means taking the less travelled road, so be it. “I have no regrets in missing university and have looked at it as a challenge rather than a handicap. It made me work harder, read more and learn more. My varied jobs at a very early point in my career taught me much; they were my university.”

He was working for a packaging company, John Waddington, as their youngest managing director, when he was approached to join another industrial group. It was a tough decision to make. “I was nearly 40 and it seemed a good time to pause and reflect.”

But never one to resist a challenge, Leng took on the job as managing director of a floor coverings company within Low & Bonar. Six years later he was appointed CEO of the whole group and moved to Scotland where he still has a home.

In 1995 he was offered the opportunity to run a large international chemical company — Laporte Chemicals, headquartered in London. His first reaction was ‘No’ as he was reluctant to leave the company that he had helped build. “But I was intrigued by the challenge and thought it was probably the last job I would take, as the CEO of a public company. I was nearly 50,” says Leng. The first six months were tough but Leng re-engineered the company, built a new team and a very successful business. His stint with Corus was next and now Leng is getting ready to begin a new life yet again — with the Tata Group! “I’ve found that if you have the appetite for challenge, age is only a number,” he says with a smile.

A fine balance
Is it possible to be both a good business leader and a good human being? Absolutely, says Leng. “As a business leader you are always being tested; balancing the needs of different stakeholders can be challenging. Being responsible to shareholders is also demanding. At times you have to give a message, which may be difficult and unpleasant, but people deserve to know the facts.”

He admits that it’s tougher being a leader today because it means being in the public glare 24/7. “The challenge is to retain your principles, and keep a balance and perspective; a sense of humour is also essential. That’s what separates the true leaders from the ‘also leaders’.”

His advice to business leaders in a changing world is: “If your business has global competition you have no choice but to be global yourself. You can try to keep the tide back by building a barrier but after a while the tide will sweep over it. It’s somewhat easier to identify a problem but often incredibly difficult to engineer a solution.”

Leng believes in doing things with passion — whether it is running a business, playing a sport or community service. A few years ago, at a charity dinner he learnt about an organisation called DebRA, which works for people who are born with a genetic skin blistering condition
epidermolysis bullosa (EB). Since it affects only a small part of the population, awareness is low and resources are scarce. Leng decided to join hands with DebRA and he now chairs their advisory board. They are working to create a global research fund in the search for a cure for EB and he would like to set up a centre in India too.

For Leng it’s about finding a balance, which he admits he is still searching for, and will probably never find. He enjoys working hard and in his little free time prefers to meet friends or watch sports.

Life is never dull when you are Jim Leng.

Uploaded on June 6, 2007