1. © 2016 Leadership Champions (UK) Limited. All rights reserved. 1
Introduction:
Leadership Champions and other rail industry stakeholders have been working together over the
last few years' to develop an industry-wide strategy to increase the industry's safety and capability
to learn from operational experience, including High Reliability Organisations (HRO’s). We
questioned; what makes Leaders successful, teams thrive, or individuals achieve their ambition?
Drawing on the wisdom of an astonishing array of talented people from across the infrastructure
sector, as well as his own experience working in the Mil-Aerospace Sector, Construction and the
Rail Industry, Chris Williams-Lilley gets to the heart of what success looks like. He examines how
business change starts with individual accountability and how industry exemplars build great
teams. Here is an interview conducted with Sir John Egan (Rethinking Construction) conducted in
April 2016.
Q1. The Egan Report – A Catalyst for Change
When you look back on the Egan Report, what are you proudest of in terms of business change
and supply chain excellence accomplishments?
• If I think back to KPI’s, the most important and satisfying improvement was in safety. There
was a dramatic reduction in fatalities in the construction sector. That’s what I’m most proud of.
• With regards to the impact of ‘Rethinking Construction’, I was amazed and surprised that big
constructors didn’t understand the intent behind the initiative!
• The prime objective was to get to an ‘International Target Cost'. To grind down processes
and know the base cost to build a ‘Road, Airport, School, Hospital,' etc. Constructors were
just guessing during the bid cycle. Then if they won the work and came to build it, the actual
costs for delivery were wildly out!
• It comes down to a broad understanding of ‘Hard Edge Target Cost' modelling. You need to
replicate the build either by a process, or run off-site simulations so that every step or process
is understood and can be repeated without error on site. It’s really quite simple.
• To achieve a ‘World’s Best Cost’, you first need to grind each process down to achieve the
most optimum cost level. At BAA, Jaguar and Severn Trent Water, we was achieved by
grinding down each production process at least 2-3 times to get process improvements we
desired.

2. © 2016 Leadership Champions (UK) Limited. All rights reserved. 2
Q2. Breaking Down Silo Working
With the Egan report still on the ‘agenda', there was some ground breaking ideas put to
government, such as adopting lean and collaborative working principles. Why do you think so
many organisations still revert to silo working given the obvious benefits of partnering and
sharing BIG data? Do you feel there has to be stronger leadership in board rooms, and a
willingness to collaborate further down the supply chain?
• If senior directors or managers understand ‘hard edge’ commercial cost model, then
collaborative working to grind cost down can happen. You need to abstract the process in
simulation, then apply it in a real world context.
• Supermarkets, Airports, and Hotels (such as Premier Inn), know exactly what the ‘target price’
is to build an asset. They also know how to keep costs down and maintain profitability during
construction.
• Quality can be preserved to a high standard as you have already identified and eliminated
waste in the process, or cut out inferior working practices.
• In my view, the client is still driving the conversation. But constructors/contractors should be
able to lead client conversation. Perhaps, taking the higher ground and influence the client in
lean programme delivery, clearly demonstrates innovative ways of thinking and working.
• During the time Gordon Brown was Prime Minister, I was horrified how adrift costs were for
building Hospitals, Schools, etc. There was general intransigence towards a ‘Worlds Best
Cost’ for a Hospital! The USA and France by comparison, led the way at this time.
• Thankfully, during the construction of Heathrow T5, there was an emphasis on early structural
design (i.e., Steel Construction) and getting to a sensible price, with simulation off site
processes that resulted in a high quality, high productivity, and efficient cost modelling.
• The lesson learnt was to practice until you got it right! There was obviously an upfront
investment cost for trials, but this resulted in a trusted partnership (client / supplier) with no
surprises in terms of cost, quality, and eventual delivery.
• Another example: In the car industry, you will always have access to new technology.
Invariably, it’s all been done before. You try it out on a prototype or model first, to see it it
works - before you go into full production.

3. © 2016 Leadership Champions (UK) Limited. All rights reserved. 3
• In the old days, this probably resulted in an investment of typically 10% of the project cost.
But with modern computing power and simulation modelling, this more likely to be around 2-
5%. So why too few constructors take this approach is baffling!
Q3. Making Excellence A Habit
Back in your days at Jaguar, BAA, and Severn Trent, your leadership style was built on trust,
employee engagement, and individual accountability to meet wider business goals. If authentic
leadership and culture are crucial to successful business turnaround, what skills and experience
would you look for in your management team today and why?
• Being an excellent communicator always leads to successful outcomes. In my early years at
Jaguar, I used to take an acting coach into management meetings. I wanted to our leaders to
feel comfortable talking. Feel relaxed and confident delivering key messages.
• My leadership approach has always been to satisfy the customer. The continuous effort to
deliver higher quality and sustain performance.
• If you get the process right, then leaders can delegate the responsibility and look to the
workforce to deliver consistent results and drive efficiency. That formula helped to turn
around many of the businesses I have been involved with.
• If you can get your processes under control, you can delegate cost improvements, and deliver
on high-quality design.
• In the construction sector, you can now use 3D modelling, etc., to experiment all day long.
That should reduce upfront costs, and deliver exactly what the client is looking for – value for
money.
• Laing O’Rourke stand out as an exemplar in this area.
Q4. Responsible Business Roadmaps
Sustainability and lean procurement are often talked about in the construction sector. However,
Corporate Social Responsibility often fails to deliver real sustained value as the subject matter is
often seen as 'soft' and ‘intangible.' If there is to be a step change in ‘Responsible Business Policy'
what should modern businesses leaders do to ‘live by their words', deliver commercial success
and create mutual benefits for both its stakeholders and society? Do you have any case studies of
best practice?

4. © 2016 Leadership Champions (UK) Limited. All rights reserved. 4
• My first job at Jaguar (and every other company I have been associated with), was to develop
a clear Mission Statement. Then define the management process. Then create a useful set of
‘do’s and don’ts.
• Then, I would gather together my top one-hundred managers, who would be the custodians
of that mission statement / document.
• Every one of the team would then understand the direction, focus, and desired results. If there
were a change needed, however small, we would decide the best course of action – together!
• I have to say; the British are not too good at this. Japan and the USA seem to be able to
establish this approach almost without thinking, and some of the best advocates of this
method, enjoy the benefits time and time again.
Q5. The Future of Manufacturing
With the motor industry seen to have adopted a modern approach to 'supply chain'
management, there is often a desire to look at the automotive sector for solutions to supplier
relationship issues. Innovation and marketing in the car industry are also far more agile and
responsive. With the advent of electric/hybrid vehicles, 3D printing, and Virtual Reality, why do
you think the construction sector is slow to adopt new technologies (e.g. Robots in Construction,
BIM, Lean Construction)?
• I am surprised the construction industry has not jumped with both feet into lean construction,
especially using BIM and VR. On a one-off project, it makes complete sense!
• Again, looking at T5, we (BAA) ascertained we could build the roadway much cheaper than
the Highways Agency. And we did just that! Savings were in the ‘double digit’ area.
• There is so much more constructors can do in this area.
Q6. Making History
As a casual observation, there was unconscious bias to unleash the full talent potential in Jaguar
for better productivity. This helped to drive culture and improved behaviours for better
outcomes. What lessons can we learn from your time in Coventry? And finally, which Heritage
Jaguar would you have in your garage; the limited run lightweight E-Type or the ultra-exclusive
XKSS model?

5. © 2016 Leadership Champions (UK) Limited. All rights reserved. 5
• What a great question. Personally, the vision I had when I joined Jaguar was to return that
business to profitability. Remember, I had already done the same thing with British Leyland
and created Unipart, which was a complete success!
• My favourite car of the era was undoubtedly the Jaguar XJS. When I joined back in 1980, the
model had ceased to be in production. When I left some ten years later, sales of the XJS were
in excess of 10,000 cars per annum, and became one of the most loved models in the history
of the company.
• I knew that collaborative working could be the key to a successful rescue attempt. I also knew
if I had the support of the Unions, we could convene the workforce and work ever more
closely on change management. Grinding production processes until we had a ‘worlds best
cost model’ for car production.
• Looking back, we did not have the resources to develop an entirely new car. But what we did
have was the XJ6. A facelift model by Pininfarina in 1978, gave us our first building block to
rebuild the fortunes of the company. If it were not for that particular product, we might never
have seen the likes of the XJ220 (another Pininfarina design in 1992) or enjoy the fabulous
reinvention of Jaguar Land Rover, which is still a big part of my life.
• Given the choice of the ‘heritage lightweight E-Type or the ultra-exclusive XKSS’ car, I would
not take either! I would go for a convertible XJS…in British Racing Green.
End.
Leadership Champions (UK) Limited
“Leading the development and implementation of organisational effectiveness,
with a focus on leadership, talent management, change management, workforce
safety and cultural transformation.”

6. © 2016 Leadership Champions (UK) Limited. All rights reserved. 6
About Leadership Champions (UK) Limited
Leadership Champions are facilitating industry change in the rail and wider infrastructure supply
chain making it seem smaller, more connected and otherwise better. Chris Williams-Lilley’s
reputation is built on accelerating sales growth and profitability through closer alignment of core
activities in collaboration, innovation, and sustainability.
People buy me to enhance; knowledge transfer, capture planning, and risk management through
'bespoke' customer/opportunity road mapping.
Chris has 20+ years’ experience working with clients and suppliers in the Mil-Aerospace,
Transport, Construction, and Utility sectors.
Contact: 07768 849 961, or Skype chris.williams-lilley
Email: chris@leadership-champions.com
TESTIMONIALS
“Chris Williams-Lilley brings a refreshing blend of intellect and insight to his facilitation that makes
him an effective facilitator, adept at securing engagement and distilling the key issues of the day."
Commercial Projects Director
Network Rail
Creativity is essential in our pursuit of innovation, and your deep-dive workshop offered the best
combination of ‘creativity’ and ‘capture planning’ helping us identify key skills and ideas to
accelerate over the next 12 months.
Commercial Manager
PERA Technology Limited