The High Five Series with Michael Scheepers

1. The Catalyst: Tell us about a moment that sparked a step change in your business or career. What happened, and why did it prove to be a turning point?

While in recent years my career has focused on commercial and leadership roles in the home and interiors sector, I actually started out in the marketing department of an engineering company.

In my early years I wasn’t the type of person who had a clear idea of what I wanted to do. During my studies, I had the opportunity to undertake an internship in Italy with Cavotec, the global engineering leader. At the end of the placement, they offered me a role in the Marketing department. Following a reverse merger, Cavotec became listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange and needed an Investor Relations Director. Although I had no background in IR, my track record and the trust I had built with the Board gave me the opportunity to step into the role. At the time there were a lot of reasons to say no to the role, but by being prepared to ‘just say YES’ and grab an opportunity, a really exciting pathway opened up for me. It was a huge amount of work, I didn’t always get everything right, but that principle became an important catalyst for progression.

That mindset stayed with me. Just before I joined Le Creuset as Communications Director, an opportunity arose to also take on the role of interim Managing Director for Italy. Once again, ‘just saying YES’ took me outside my comfort zone and, crucially, gave me the opportunity to move from communications into a commercial role. That shift has shaped the direction of my career ever since.

I would add that I have been incredibly lucky with the people I have worked with. One of the most consistent lessons I learned about leadership came first from my father, who ran businesses of his own and served as Managing Director of others, and was reinforced by some of the principal senior leaders I worked with at Cavotec and Le Creuset. The lesson was simple: trust good people. Give them the space to grow, the freedom to make decisions and the accountability that comes with it. Over time, I’ve come to make that principle very much my own. Trust doesn’t mean stepping away; it means being clear about expectations, giving people genuine ownership and being there when they need you. More often than not, people rise to the responsibility you place in them.

2. The Friction Point: What was the toughest obstacle you have had to overcome in your career when trying to grow a business, brand or team. How did you overcome it?

It’s a classic obstacle but it has to be imposter syndrome. I’ve been lucky enough to have supportive and inspiring mentors at various stages of my career, but taking on bigger roles and responsibilities can still bring moments of imposter syndrome.  I think if you are not careful this can really hold you back. My way of dealing with that has been to prepare well, work hard and learn to trust my own judgement, particularly when there isn’t a clear answer. That has helped me build resilience and the confidence to make decisions, take accountability and keep moving forward even when I don’t have all the answers.

3. The Pivot: Growth often requires change – tell us about a time when you had to pivot your strategy or culture to keep the momentum going. What prompted the pivot and what happened next?

Over the years and in various different roles I’ve been focussed on the task of driving cultural change in order to establish and build growth momentum. At the start of these journeys, so often you realise that people have learnt to behave in a certain way in an organisation to fit in with an established culture and that’s not necessarily a true reflection of their own individual strengths. Indeed a great talent is often being masked.

In these situations, I think the challenge is how you identify these people and start building the right principles around leadership, transparency and trust. Most importantly, if you get that right at the senior level it will permeate across the entire team.

As senior leaders, I think we owe it to our younger selves to create the kind of workplace we would have wanted to join: one where people are trusted, heard and given the space to grow.

4. The Hard Lesson:  Tell us about a decision that didn't go to plan. What did you learn, and how did it change the way you lead or grow the business or team?

For me, one of the biggest learning curves came when I started managing people. Managing big teams is a huge responsibility which should never be taken lightly. I think when you manage people you really start to understand the kind of leader you are, could be, and, crucially, don’t want to be. For me the hard lesson came when I first had to make restructuring decisions earlier on in my career. I learnt quickly that even when a restructuring decision is necessary, you need the emotional maturity to understand the impact it has on those affected. It’s a huge moment in the lives of those being affected. You are upending families, incomes, mortgages, potentially even impacting self-esteem. I quickly learned to give this process the utmost respect it deserves. Handle it in the right way and there is a good chance that when you meet that person again, you will have a relationship based on mutual respect and may even work together again in the future.

5. The Golden Rule: Looking back over your career, what principle has consistently guided the biggest growth decisions you've made?

For me it’s the importance of team. All that you invest in team culture generally comes back to benefit you in some way. Sometimes it’s not always obvious and you might not be the immediate beneficiary – the next person they work for could be. But I’m a great believer that if you invest in people, you will always reap the rewards.

After all, the best moments in business are the ones you achieve together. As my current Chairman always says, ‘It’s very lonely drinking champagne at the bar alone! What’s the fun in that?’