Stolthaven Terminals President, Guy Bessant, was interviewed recently for the European Petrochemical Association's (EPCA) Leadership Reimagined series.
Guy, who is Chair of the EPCA's Supply Chain Program Committee, discusses the leadership skills needed for the future of work, attracting and empowering diverse talents, and the challenges posed by the drive for increased sustainability as well as the solutions the industry can offer.
In terms of his own journey, Guy highlights the importance of strong role models and mentors who can not only help develop your career but also your emotional intelligence. He says he is surprised that, until recently, there hasn't been more of a focus on empathy in the workplace.
"If you look at what happened during Covid, the impact on employees – burn-out, stress, all of these emotional levers – if you weren't a leader with emotional intelligence, it was very difficult to lead people at that time."
Attracting and empowering diverse talent is also a focus for Guy and, while there is work to do, he is pleased that Stolthaven Terminals is moving in a positive direction: "Here in the Rotterdam office, we have 25 people from more than ten nationalities. That brings diversity and you can see that in the way we interact. But it can't be the minority that makes the change – it has to be the majority – and, as the leader of the organisation, it does start with me and the messaging and the signals that I send."
Guy is attending the EPCA’s 56th annual meeting, EPCA56, on Thursday, October 6. He will take part in a panel discussion, Thrive in uncertainty: redesigning the resilient net-zero supply chain, during which Deloitte will share the findings on a wide ranging and insightful supply chain survey. We will share highlights from this session after the event.