At the time of writing the last preparations were being made for the funeral of Nelson Mandela. In the prior week eulogies from world leaders and humble supporters singled out one particular attribute of this great man – the capacity for forgiveness. Clearly Nelson Mandela’s magnanimity towards former persecutors was instrumental in enabling South Africa to move on. A year ago, reflecting the season of goodwill, Fidelio suggested forgiving the bankers. Typically the response to Overture is constructive and friendly. Interesting to note that our call for forgiveness prompted hostile feedback, albeit from a small number of readers!
Once again the festive season is upon us and represents a good opportunity to revisit origins and values. We are frequently asked about the name Fidelio and are therefore dedicating an Overture to the provenance.
In 2009 a name was needed for a new consultancy, skilled in finance and communications, which believed passionately that business has a critical role in delivering value for shareholders and stakeholders. Particularly since the financial crisis of 2008 steering a commercially viable path through the often conflicting demands of shareholders and stakeholders has required a distinctive level of leadership. The newly fledged consultancy ensured that clients had the leadership skills and structures to deal with this complexity.
With its focus on Board Development and Executive Search the new consultancy needed a name. As parents of new businesses have done over the decades, we considered using our own names, using a name that set out exactly what we did or finding a name that captured the essence of what we do for our clients.
Sitting in St Luke’s quite lovely parish church in Chelsea, with my mind not focussed on the sermon, I explored names of integrity and trust. The banking system had nearly collapsed and it was clear to me that trust in business was already at a low point that could well get lower. On that basis, Fidelity is a great name but was clearly already spoken for.
Inspired by my Anglican setting, I played with concepts of faith, trust and ethics, thereby alighting on Fidelio. From the Latin origin of faith, it is a good name for morally challenging times.
Wer ein solches Weib errungen, stimmt in unsren Jubel ein. Nie wird es zu hoch besungen, Retterin des Gatten zu sein.
(Who calls a faithful wife, his own, Join in our song of joy! Never be it praised too highly, Your husband’s saviour to become.)
– Ludwig van Beethoven, Fidelio – 2. Akt 8. Szene
And importantly Fidelio is also a great opera – indeed Beethoven’s only opera. The association with Beethoven’s musical genius both in this opera and beyond is clearly aspirational and desirable for a new consultancy with large ambition. The geographic association is also rich. From the outset, Fidelio the consultancy, has had two home markets of Germany and the UK. My long work experience with German companies, living in Germany and contributing in German at Board level has become part of Fidelio’s heritage.
With one further step we arrive at Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”, the European anthem. Possibly an association too far, but highly appealing for a consultancy such as Fidelio. Our work is characterised by a strong conviction that Europe can play an important economic as well as cultural role on the world stage and that the UK would do well to build influence in Europe rather than burn bridges.
But before leaving Fidelio the opera, a word to the plot for this too resonates: a determined woman bravely taking on the evil tyrant through wit and ingenuity; Leonore’s success in liberating her wrongly-imprisoned husband, thereby contributing to the overthrow of the corrupt governor, Don Pizarro. The opera celebrates what women can achieve and has a radical disruptive quality, which we also embrace. The status quo deserves challenge!
Diversity is indeed a high priority for Fidelio in both our Board Development, as well as our Search offering. Fidelio staunchly maintains that companies with diverse representation at Board and Executive level are better positioned to deliver value for shareholders and stakeholders.
Thus we are pleased to support the work of the 30% Club in increasing the percentage of women on FTSE Boards and also proud of our own track record in placing women into demanding Executive roles.
Fidelio understands diversity extends beyond gender. Nonetheless, my experience as the most senior woman globally in Europe’s largest car company from 2000-2007 created a keen interest in the progress of women, including in industries that have long been the domain of men. Thus we were delighted with this week’s news that General Motors, one of the world’s largest automotive companies, has selected Mary Barra as the next CEO. Mary is a GM-lifer and has held heavyweight, mainstream roles within GM latterly as EVP, Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain. With GM on an upward trajectory, this appointment could well represent an enormous step forward for women, diversity, stakeholders and critically shareholders in what has traditionally been a very conservative industry.
In a nutshell, all of the above is why we found the name Fidelio to be so apt for a consultancy like ours. Our day to day work of Executive Search and developing leadership teams that create value for shareholders and stakeholders is obviously well served by the name Fidelio and its associations.
Forgiveness starts here. Forgiveness liberates the soul. It removes fear. That is why it is such a powerful weapon.
– Nelson Mandela, Invictus (2009)
It’s been a momentous week for re-visiting core values with the funeral of Nelson Mandela, the appointment of Mary Barra as CEO of General Motors and still more recently Inga Beale as the first female CEO of Lloyd’s of London.
We trust you’ve enjoyed sharing some of our core values and we take this opportunity to wish you a very happy and peaceful Christmas and a successful New Year.
About Fidelio
Fidelio is a Board Development and Executive Search consultancy. Based in London we work internationally.
We build and develop Boards and Executive teams that increase the valuation of your business.
We do this through our deep understanding of stakeholders, shareholders and valuation.
And we focus on the following functions: finance, communications, strategy and governance.
Finally we deliver our services through Evaluation, Development and Executive Search.
Please contact us with comments or for more information on Fidelio Partners at info@fideliopartners.com