His way
By Sandy Galland
Black is black and white is white. He will become the Auckland super city mayor, or he won’t.
John Banks, everyone knows the name, the face. Knows of the force of personality, the controversies he likes to invoke. Everyone has an opinion on him. Either you love him or you don’t.
He is, after all been near the front of the political scrum for several decades – both in local and central governments. For 18 years he was an MP, held five Cabinet portfolios, has been and is currently Mayor of Auckland and was a popular and controversial talkback host. His business interests are varied and diverse, including numerous directorships on national and international companies.
He’s the first to admit his absolutism, or tendency to see things as black or white, hasn’t always been helpful, a trait that’s been both praised and openly criticised.
However, no matter what your thoughts on ‘Banksie’ as a local government leader; in business he has made his mark, achieved many of his objectives and has undeniably had many successes.
Auckland Today talks to him, not about his mayoralty aspirations, but the philosophies which have ruled his 45 year long business career. There’ve been failures, good decisions and bad; but then any business person worth a grain of salt has experienced the ups and downs of enterprise; it primes, prepares and grooms you to spot, and then take advantage of opportunities.
Before sharing Banks’ pearls of wisdom on business, a visit to Wikipedia tells us “his personality, especially during the time of his first Auckland mayoralty term, has been called that of a bully, ‘raised by Sir Robert Muldoon in the ways of the bear pit’. However, it has been commented on that his leadership style has become much less brusque and confrontative in recent times, something he himself ascribes to the ‘long, cold shower’.”
Despite this self confessed softening, his comments during the interview were well rehearsed; almost as if read from a well-practiced script. The meticulously annunciated monotone appearing to be one which had been rolled out many times before.
None-the-less, when asked what he believed to be the most important ingredient to success in industry, business or commerce, he finally began to warm to the subject… almost becoming enthusiastic.
Clearly understanding your strengths. This, and only this, is the one defining factor between being great and being average, he says.
“All of us have a defining competitive advantage. I’m a great salesman; I don’t have any other great attributes. Everyone has a defining competitive advantage. It’s clearly understanding what it is and building on it.”
Back to his monolithic perspective on life, he says he sees most things in black and white. “And it hasn’t always been helpful. I am over cautious when it comes to making pragmatic commercial judgments. This has cost me a lot of opportunities.
“I am very pedantic around detail and I am absolutely wedded to the mantra of handshake business. You live by what you stand for and against – for better or for worse.”
This ‘taking a man at his word’ is par for the course for this 64 year old. He entered business at a time when a shake was enough to cement a deal, better than many of our modern contracts ever will.
For 33 years Banks was in a business partnership with Tony White, operating taverns and restaurants across Auckland.
“Tony was a handshake business man and he taught me a lot about the principals for doing things right and doing the right thing in business. If you are motivated by challenge and you work hard, success will always follow.
“We never had an argument. We often disagreed but we never had an argument. All our deals were done on a handshake, and to this day I would have no idea if Tony took more from the business than me. We never kept a record of the money we took out. You would never find a business partner like that in modern commerce.”
Furthermore Banks agrees, while this does fly in the face of sound business practice, “it shows you how fortunate I have been”.
The four and a half decade journey through the obstacles of owning and operating businesses has not all been smooth sailing for Banks.
“I have been in business with people who have let me down badly. I have made many mistakes and have got myself into sectors of the economy that looked attractive and were disastrous – kiwifruit farming, forestry, gold bullion and the private education sector.
“Having said that, if you are going to be successful, you are going to lose money. I have learnt far more from my losses than I have from all of my victories.
“When I was very young in business, I was bullet proof and I knew everything, but now that I’m old and still in business, I clearly understand there is much more to learn.”
Banks rates choosing a business partner as more complex than choosing a life companion. “And that’s saying something. You have to put more work into a business relationship than you have to put into a marriage.”
This from a man who made only one vow to his wife on their wedding day 20 years ago, that his work would always come first.
“I made that promise because I knew the only way I was going to be able to buy a world class education for my kids, and a future of security for my family, was through hard work. There is always going to be great sacrifice.”
The paradoxes of Banks’ personality and traits have arguably contributed to his long political career; possibly explaining to why he is loved or loathed.
On people, he talks of his philosophies – again they sound like they are straight from a textbook, but he practices them; always has, and steadfastly believes it is a formula which has contributed to his success.
“The difference between me and most bosses is I have never had anyone work for me.”
A bold statement few can claim. “The thousands of people who have been in our business interests over the years, have worked with me.
“I am not a manger who has people working for him. I try to practice role model leadership with people working beside and with me.
“The benefit is you empower people and get the best out of them. You encourage them to make decisions for themselves and take calculated risks, be brave and to push the boundaries.”
Treat co-workers with respect and dignity, play to their strengths, and encourage them to build their competitive advantage and reward them well, he says.
“Criticise them where it’s needed, but praise them for their good stuff, then you’ll have a good working relationship.
“I have the view there is no such thing as constructive criticism.” It’s always destructive, he explains. However, it’s a human condition, from time to time you need to deliver some criticism, but you must also be able to give praise.
“I think one of my strengths in business is I am always ready to give praise. Give praise to people who do well and it goes a long way. And then when you need to sort them out, for whatever reason, you can do it with credibility. You can get away with it.
“We have managers who are so often criticising and spend so little time praising, and then they wonder why people work for them, opposed to working with them.”
Persuasive power
He recognises his strengths lie in being able to sell… anything. “I have no doubt at all that if I wasn’t the mayor of Auckland, I could earn a couple of million a year selling real estate on the northern slopes of Remuera. No doubt at all.”
So in his view, what does it take to be a good salesperson?
“Stay with the fundamentals, do what you say you are going to do. Stay with the commitments you make and be pedantic about the detail; presentation, punctuality, never over promise, always over deliver and the best follow up call is the thank you message.
It’s not complex, he says.
“The overwhelming message I want to leave salespeople, a little like a neighbourhood tom cat, if you want to make sales you have got to make calls. A lot of salespeople do not make enough calls, don’t follow up and when they close a deal, they don’t say thank you.”
Competitive edge
Is getting the competitive advantage in today’s environment much harder than it used to be?
“I think it’s actually much easier because today, most people are more interested in lifestyle than total dedication to building a successful business. Most people want a fortune, but are not prepared to commit the time to building wealth.
“New Zealanders are tired. They don’t want to put in the very hard and long yards.” Ninety hours a week for 45 years, says Banks. Put in this and success will always follow.
“It’s a land of opportunity and right now we live in the golden age of unprecedented opportunity. If you are prepared to get up very early in the morning, work hard all day, have a competitive advantage, make something and sell something people want, deliver good value for money – you can’t go wrong.”
His career started on the streets of Auckland, living in the domain, not knowing where his next meal was to come from, having only the clothes he wore, a scratchy education, an even worse family life and scavenging bottles from sly grog joints and brothels to make an income.
It’s a past he has been happy to share, extol almost, and undoubtedly he would be a very different person if he had grown up, surrounded by wealth in one of the top end properties he later went on to sell.
Another search online and a story of his application to join the police force is found. Having waved his parents, to whom he had little exposure when growing up, goodbye as they were sentenced to long term prison sentences, the youthful Banks decided his life needed to mean so much more.
He applied to join the police force and was irrevocably told there was no place in the force for ‘offspring of shitbags.’ Twenty five years later, almost to the day, Banks became the Minister of Police in the Bolger Government.
“It was important to me that I balance the family ledger. I first stepped up to the plate of public life and civic duty in the early days of my father being in jail. I decided at age 27, when I had more money than my wildest dreams, I would commit the rest of my life to working in the community.
“And I loved politics because politics loved me. That is the government was deep in my pockets and a burden on my back. I had the view that if you want to make change you have to be part of the game.”
Banks first went to Parliament in 1981, although he was elected to public office six years previously on the Birkenhead Borough Council.
“During those 18 years in parliament, I stayed with my business interests, otherwise today I would be a pauper like many of the former MP’s. No work, no money, no prospects. There is nothing more ex than an ex-member of parliament.”
Will the same be true for ex-mayors?
