Xinfu
We are the world's first global CEO confidants.
We are working with top CEOs from around the world to build a new generation of businesses that win in the right way. Our ambition is to work with a small number of ambitious global clients to generate extraordinary returns for their owners and create exceptional environments where talented people can fulfil themselves.
We are the CEO's confidant on the whole CEO agenda including business and personal leadership.
What sets us apart?
- Leading global CEO practitioners: multi-year proprietary research into the CEO types and systems – and doing our day job.
- Formula 1 approach, not a guru model. Much more impactful than 1:1 “guru” coaching; we create a 7:1 team around the CEO/board.
- World-renowned experts in specialist fields including entrepreneurs, strategists, neuroscientists, psychologists and team experts.
- We consistently create transformational and reset experiences for top teams.
- Always create freshly baked answers: not formulaic.
How do we work as confidants in practice?
“We challenge, support and develop the CEO behind the scenes. We bring them practical options, share the approaches of the best global CEOs and work with them to find the right answer for their business. They can implement that answer directly themselves, virally or through change programmes.
If needed, we can step in with the Xinfu team to shift the mindset, thinking and performance of the board or key teams, or help the CEO strengthen business performance, growth or talent systems.”
What we believe: a letter from Steve Tappin, CEO
I work with over a dozen FTSE100 CEOs and Chinese leaders day to day and have spent the last 4 years interviewing 300 top CEOs around the world for my books. The reality I see is:
- 2/3s of Western CEOs are struggling. Their rigid professional management couldn’t adapt fast enough to the crisis and they are often the biggest constraint on profitable growth in today’s low growth environment.
- Globally, most CEOs face burning out. Of 150 CEOs interviewed for “The Secrets of CEOs”, only 5 felt they were happy and fresh; in China, 19 CEOs/top executives have passed away unexpectedly in 2 years.
- The top 1/3 of CEOs lead in 1 of 6 ways, each with its own business system. But the risk is they tend to over rely on themselves and key lieutenants which can cause problems when they leave, as Tesco may be finding today.
- BRIC CEOs have bigger ambitions, multi-decade dreams, deep personal commitment and huge domestic markets but they have not created systems to scale their businesses...yet.
- Most CEOs spend 80%+ of their time in the day to day, pressurising their teams for the next quarter’s numbers, short changing innovation and talent and not providing enough personal leadership
- Current “mission, vision, values” systems do not typically capture the imagination, loyalty and passion of employees – across 1500 companies, 90% are really the same!
- CEOs don’t give sufficient priority to get the best talent and find it difficult to performance manage dissenters and to inspire groups. Most don’t understand the real damage of carrying people at the top or compromising in the middle.
- CEOs admire Steve Jobs but they do not pioneer themselves: where are their industries’ iPods, iPads and iTunes?
Today, there is not an established way of leading a global corporation. If CEOs want to build sustainable value, they need one.
I believe the elements of a new way in any company include:
- Strong business performance systems in which people take initiative and responsibility so CEOs get involved only by exception.
- Learning from Chinese CEOs, bigger ambitions and a shared cause in the top team.
- Tougher performance standards, demand the best people top to bottom and be relentless in shifting engagement from 30-50% to 70-90%.
- Unite and inspire all the people and drive a much faster pace and problem solving by working in fellowship with top team.
- Make innovation a “must”: constantly evolve v2.0 of the business (Darwin) and identify themes for potential breakthroughs (Einstein).
- CEO is accountable for delivering results today, building significant sustainable future value and providing the leadership to integrate it all together.
- CEO takes responsibility for living a happy life and being at his/her best.
The challenge is bringing these elements to life in a corporation.
Working every day with the best Western and Eastern CEOs, we believe we can now help any capable CEO to use these elements to create a new way that delivers sustainable outperformance in their business.
Recent speaking feedback
"Steve did a keynote for us on Day 1 of the prestigious Leaders in London forum alongside Jack Welsh, Gary Hamel and Daniel Goleman. He shared his unique experiences of working with some of the top CEOs in the world and gave very practical guidance with both passion and impact."Colette Leong-Son, Director, Leaders in
London
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Latest from Xinfu
CEO pay: value for money? BBC Business Daily get Steve’s take on the furore
As the controversy over Stephen Hestor’s pay at RBS continued to rage, Justin Rowlatt turned to Steve for an independent perspective on CEO’s remuneration.
You can listen to Steve explain the difference between rewarding great CEOs for sustainable value creation with overpaying for average or poor performance here:
The full interview is at 09.00 –...
26 January 2012
