Nestlé's Paul Bulcke on Staying the Course

Paul Bulcke became chief executive of Nestlé SA in April 2008. An inauspicious time to take over the world's largest food company. Deborah Ball reports on an interview with Bulcke. In the short (2:35 min) video embeded below, he reflects on being authentic, developing a culture of competitive intensity and making people feel they have ownership.

He says, “If your strategy is right, stick to the strategy. Maintain your inspiration which is long term, but do act short term.” Here is a brief excerpt from the article:

WSJ: What is the worst piece of management advice you've received on how to deal with a downturn?

Mr. Bulcke: The worst thing would be to start to react to short-term pressures and jeopardizing your long-term view. That's selling your soul because it loosens up your long-term inspiration and the discipline of your organization. That is a very dangerous place to be.

WSJ: How do you motivate people?

Mr. Bulcke: You talk about things. In spite of thinking that this is a huge company, we have many ways of connecting, and even more now than ever before. My team transmits this and the multiplying effect is tremendous. I go to almost all of the training courses that we hold at a center near here—I've been 20-25 times—where I talk about things. When you're consistently talking about these same things, you feel the traction and feel the company move quite rapidly in that direction.

Bulcke adds, “We are a long-term company. We are not going to do what I sometimes call "Hoopla" management, and do something damaging. We will be responsible.”

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