A: I cannot really say I had a mentor in the usual sense of the word. I did, however, early in my career, work for somebody (Thys Roux, a group finance director at Richemont) who taught me about the importance of treating people around you with respect and dignity — regardless of who they are or the seniority of their role. I believe it had a major impact on my career.

Q: Which businessman or woman do you admire most?

A: Dr Anton Rupert, the now retired 89-year-old South African industrialist and philanthropist (and founder of the Rembrandt Group). He is a phenomenally interesting man and I would say that in South Africa today he must be in the top three most respected businessmen over the past 50 years.

Q: Do you read books on management? If so, which one has influenced you the most?

A: Rarely. All too often the author is either some business guru on an ego trip or an academic who is too theoretical.

Q: What is the most important business event, good or bad, to occur in your working life?

A: My involvement with the establishment of Richemont as a Swiss public company in 1988, essentially through a spin-off from the South African Rembrandt Group. The project not only presented us with unusual technical challenges, but — as, effectively, the first major South African company obtaining a foreign listing — it was acclaimed as a bold and adventurous move.

Q: Which is more important: what you know or who you know, and why?

A: Early in your career is it undoubtedly what you know. Who you know becomes more important as your career progresses. People expect a chairman who also knows other people, who can provide access to a bigger network for us as corporations. So my job has changed.

Q: What does leadership mean to you?

A: Leadership is about knowing where you want to go and then taking people with you. It is interesting. I feel that if you treat people with respect, they really treat you with respect and it creates a relationship of mutual respect and trust. And once you are there, provided you and your people are convinced that essentially the direction you want to go is the right direction, the people come along.

My style is personality-style leadership. I would like to say I am generally open-minded, One of the biggest mistakes people can make is to dig themselves into a position and keep on digging. I don’t believe in that at all. It is important to be flexible and if colleagues convince you that you are wrong, you are wrong. I don’t think it’s a big deal. In the process, you need to be prepared to listen to other people and genuinely listen — which comes back to the way you view people.

Q: If you could change one thing about the business, financial or commercial environment, what would it be?

A: I would want to reduce the regulatory burden on society. People seem increasingly unwilling to take responsibility for their own actions. Although there now appears to be general agreement about the need to reduce regulation, I predict we will fail because of the perceived need for politicians to protect people from themselves.

Q: Does money motivate you?

A: No, but I accept that pay is an important signal of how much you are valued by a company. If money motivated me, without being funny, I wouldn’t be chairman of a public company today, but [money] is part of the scorecard.

Q: What gadget/piece of technology can you not do without?

A: My mobile phone. It is not glued to my ear, but it is the easiest way for people to get hold of me. I have been entertaining getting a BlackBerry for some time and I am continuing to entertain that idea and I will probably take it on shortly. But I will say that in the technical field I am never a trend-setter.

Q: How do you relax? What are your hobbies?

A: Reading [about] current affairs, and the odd game of golf. I am not a golf fanatic, but I enjoy the game. My handicap? Now that’s not on!

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