Mitie: The CEO who flipped the org chart on its head

Phil Bentley leads the Mitie Group, which employs around 90,000 people in a range of roles covering services, such as public security and facilities management.

For example, it provides in-store security for high street retailers like Co-op, Lidl, Boots and Sainsbury’s. Its biggest client is the Ministry of Defence.

But while many refer to Mitie as “an outsourcing giant”, Bentley prefers to say “we're experts, not outsourcers”.

Phil Bentley is Sir Richard Harpin’s latest guest on the Business Leader podcast. Bentley joined BP in the 1980s, spent five years with drinks company Diageo, before going on to lead British Gas from 2007.

While leading its retail operation, he almost became Harpin’s boss when British Gas attempted to buy HomeServe. Harpin admits he played up the size of HomeServe at the time, including the number of vans it had, to ward off his suitor! (He held out and would go on to sell HomeServe for £4.1bn).

"I only wish that you had become my boss,” joked Harpin, admitting he looked up to Bentley as a “role model” leader. The former arch-rivals have since become good friends.

A key responsibility for any CEO is hiring, shaping the executive team and setting the tone of workplace culture, explains Bentley. When hiring, Bentley reflects that he has made many mistakes around people selection and management, as it is one of the hardest areas to get right.

He has come to realise that psychometric testing is a good way to “provide colour around strengths and weaknesses” during hiring and that, in general, he is looking for people with “low ego, high impact”.

Phil Bentley advocates for a leadership philosophy he calls "inverting the triangle" when considering the role of a CEO. While traditional organisational charts place the CEO at the top, Bentley argues that the CEO should actually be at the bottom of the triangle.

“The people who count the most at the top of the inverted triangle are those closest to the customer,” he explains. “So you’ve got to be able to reach into those people closest to the customer. If you lose touch with the customer, you’ll be of no good to anybody.

"Take care of your people who are closest to the customer. Your people will give you their best if you show them that you care for them.”

His other piece of leadership advice comes from the world of football: “It's like a centre forward is there to score goals. A CEO is there to make decisions. It's not to be a safe pair of hands. So you have got to take risks.”