Aspiration and adrenalin are two dynamics which have driven Steve Wilson to become a respected leader in both the plastics world and the New Zealand business realm.
The managing director and majority owner of Christchurch technical plastics manufacturer Talbot Technologies has a spent more than three decades at chief executive level, leading companies to successful expansion internationally.
So what has motivated Steve to approach business as being ultimately about more than just the bach, the boat and the bottom line?
“It’s the same thing that has me wanting to ride mountain bikes as fast as I can. It’s the adrenalin,” says the 56-year-old multisport athlete and long distance bike rider. “It’s about excitement, and excitement comes with danger, risk, new territory, new challenges.
“It’s the same mindset that works in sport, and it works well in a technology-based company. Making technology work is about believing you can, believing you’re a winner, and it doesn’t matter how many reasons why something won’t work, you’re going to get it to work.”
Steve began his working life as a design engineer, but at the age of 23, was made CEO of a manufacturing engineering company. He has built up 33 years of experience as a chief executive of companies primarily in the garments and plastics industries.
A former president of Plastics New Zealand and a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business, Steve believes being a good leader is hard to define, but one of the elements is being aspirational.
“It’s about showing others how to succeed by example, and showing an attitude to people that they aspire to emulate – an attitude to problem solving and risk, and an attitude to success. Those things are infectious,” he says.
He says he is inspired by a “kaleidoscope” of people, including some of his employees at Talbot Technologies.
He had always wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, a senior manager, and ultimately become a business owner.
“I guess it was the aspirational aspect of it,” he says, “and some of it was this gut feeling that I had the skills to do it. I’m not great at getting the details right, that’s not my personality type. I know I’m good at drawing the outline, and I’m happy to leave someone else to colour in the picture.
“That’s what defines who Talbot Technologies is. What defines our success are the challenges we take on, the R&D we embark on, the people we choose to partner with in new technological developments and the partnerships we form with customers. If the guy at the helm isn’t connected with all of those, then you’re likely to go astray.
“A leader is about a broad approach, an outline, targets, goals, and strategies. A manager is about the systemisation of that, turning it into a language the team can understand, live and breathe. I’m now more a leader than a manager, and the difference is in the detail.”
Since taking ownership of Talbot Plastics, a specialist technical injection moulder, in 1994, Steve has grown the company six-fold and led it to win a multitude of awards. More than 80 percent of its product is exported.
Talbot Technologies, as it has been renamed, has built a reputation as a world leader in plastics technologies, and is currently producing the external cladding on Coca Cola’s revolutionary new Gulfstream drink dispenser. Steve continues to lead initiatives in the company’s R&D and marketing.
In the clean-up immediately after September’s Christchurch earthquake, wheelie bins in part made by Talbot Technologies were used to collect the rivers of silt that swamped the suburbs. The 480,000 bins were made for the Christchurch City Council in partnership with Australian company MGB Australia (as Sulo Talbot Ltd) and was one of the largest contracts in the Southern Hemisphere.
“It’s great to feel like we could play a role in the clean-up,” says Steve, whose business was able to continue manufacturing immediately after the quake, despite having some minor damage.
Judges’ commendation
“Steve is a confident leader who has a strong sense of responsibility towards New Zealand. He is well-known and respected within the plastics industry and is actively involved with promoting it at a senior level. Steve has dealt with adversity within his own business and responded by reinventing its approach. He is happy to share his experiences and mentor others.”
For more information contact:
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise
Anna McIntyre, phone +64 4 816 8317, email anna.mcintyre@nzte.govt.nz
