Lagesse

On a regular basis, CTI's Leadership Centre invites this country's leaders to address its students and
staff and share with them both their insights and lessons learnt over the years. On 4 October, it was
the turn of Arnaud Lagesse, CEO of GML Together, a Group recently ranked as No. 1 of Mauritius' Top
100 Companies.
A major economic player in the Indian Ocean and the 2010 leader of the "Top 100" Mauritian
companies, GML Together is a group that requires no introduction with its 300 subsidiaries and
associated companies, some of which include IBL, Phoenix Beverages, MSM, Naade, Robert Le Maire
Group, AfrAsia Bank, FUEL, AXYS Group, and many more. The Group employs about 10 000 staff and
in 2010, had turnover of MUR 18 billion (about 456 million Euros) with operational profits of MUR
1,1 billion NPAT.
"Arnaud Lagesse himself," indicated Professor Eric Charoux as he introduced CTI's guest to the 60strong audience, "has a Master's degree in Management from Aix Marseille University which he
obtained in 1991. More importantly, and this is the very reason we asked him to come and talk to
us today, he is one of the very few Mauritian CEOs to have followed prestigious Executive
Development Programmes at two of the world's best business schools: INSEAD in France and
Harvard in the United States. As we face change on an unprecedented scale, the insights and
lessons gathered at these places and during his career to date will, I am sure, be of great interest
to all of us here on this island."
During a presentation lasting over an hour, the CEO of GML Together shared with us what could be
termed the six lessons of leadership - lessons he peppered with actual examples of how such
lessons have been implemented practically over the years at GML.
Here's a summary:
Lesson 1: See yourself as an entrepreneur focused on the big picture
"There are many styles of leadership," indicated Arnaud Lagesse, "but I would rather define myself
as an entrepreneur rather than the typical MBA-type of person." As such we should attempt to
undertake and by undertake, Mr Lagesse means the ability to challenge, take risk, innovate, and
make it happen despite the many obstacles that will come our way - in short to act as an
entrepreneur.
He offers the following tips to an entrepreneur getting started:
Small. Start small, keep it simple and run with one idea at a time
Homework. Do your homework or market research, like finding the best location for a
business, identifying gaps in the market place, knowing your starting, running and breakeven costs, and finding out about your competition
Best people. Find and employ the best people available, never hesitating to hire smarter
people than yourself for these are the very people who can make you even more successful
entrepreneurs
Set objectives. Always ensure that you survive. Look for sanity (profitability) and not
vanity (biggest turnover). Next, set specific goals in terms of what is it that you set out to
accomplish
Tough at the beginning. Just remember: early days in a company can be pretty tough!
Lesson 2: Grow your business
Once launched, a business has to be nurtured and grown. Here as well, Arnaud Lagesse has much to
offer in terms of practical advice.
On measuring performance. Always ask yourself how do I compare with others? Use both
qualitative and quantitative measures. Don't put up with mediocrity: If people aren't
performing, the sooner you get rid of them, the better. One should not be tolerant of
incompetence through ignorance, indecisiveness, or weakness
Opportunities. Be on the lookout for the right opportunities. By thinking laterally, you can
see how, from the first idea, you can grow additional business and think about synergies
Networking. Develop your contacts - no one can be successful in a vacuum. You need to
establish an extensive network (bankers, lawyers, politicians, customers, journalists, etc)
Original. Do not try and perform a 'me too' task. Find the 'hole' and fill it. There are
thousands of examples of 'holes' being filled at an early stage that are now proven
worldwide successes
Intuition. Trust your intuition and make the most of your lucky breaks. In business,
decisions based on gut feelings are often superior to those based on analytical reasoning
Working hard. Luck is being in the right place at the right time, but the harder you work,
the luckier you get!
Ambition. Reach for the sky - the ambition to succeed should be closely linked to the
pursuit of excellence. Don't be afraid - at some point in time - to take on the big boys
Selling. Learn to sell or persuade people to see and accept your point of view. CEOs are
more and more the salespersons of their company

Lesson 3: Become a leader
To grow one's business, one has above all to behave like a leader. Arnaud Lagesse has many tips to
offer here - it is clear that this is a topic about which he feels strongly.
Opportunities. Always use the opportunity to behave like a leader
Listening. Learn to listen, make sure you understand and trust your team. Keep in touch
with the 'ground' staff
Acknowledge. Always recognize the work achieved and be courteous
Example. Lead by example, staying humble and having a sense of humour

Lesson 4: Overcoming challenges
On change. Change is constant and everywhere, argues Arnaud Lagesse. Deal with it or
your business will die. Any leader has to face and overcome challenges. We need to
embrace change as a way of life
Making mistakes. Don't be afraid to fail, it's one of the ways you learn to do things right.
You miss 100% of the shots you never take. The key is to recognize a failure and move on
On reinventing oneself. Be prepared for anything: As change is constant, never forget to

reassess yourself, your organization, market, sourcing, priorities, products and benchmarks
On time management. Use your time wisely - time is limited and time is money. Try to
keep your meetings short and to the point and don't get 'under water' with paper work or
emails. Do the things you do best and leave the rest for others
On handling a crisis. Always be positive and never panic. Stay cool under pressure.
Determine what your priorities are, keep focus on them and act quickly but with great
care. Have confidence in your people and make sure they are in line with your needs to
weather the storm

Lesson 5: Enjoy your work
One should enjoy one's work, advises Arnaud Lagesse. If we don't, we will not find the time and
energy needed to make it a success. We need to work hard and play hard - to always pursue our
favourite sport/hobby with the same passion and energy that we put in running our business.
Lesson 6: Do not drop out of university!
According to Arnaud Lagesse, one should always strive to seek continuous learning opportunities in
life as education is at the heart of self-actualization. As such, he places much value on a university
education and the exposure it can provide. "My own experiences at these prestigious institutions
have been outstanding," he mentioned. "Simply meeting so many high-level experts and
practitioners opens one's eyes and brains as one shares their competencies, theories, approaches
and know-how. One is able to reflect upon one's past experiences, renew one's inspiration and
enthusiasm, and plan actions for one's self- improvement."

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On a regular basis, CTI's Leadership Centre invites this country's leaders to address its students and

more and more the salespersons of their company

Opportunities. Always use the opportunity to behave like a leader

Acknowledge. Always recognize the work achieved and be courteous

Example. Lead by example, staying humble and having a sense of humour

On reinventing oneself. Be prepared for anything: As change is constant, never forget to

weather the storm

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