|
 Harriet Green won the Stevie Award
for Best Executive in EMEA in the 2007 Stevie Awards for Women
In Business.
What book are you currently
reading?
I love reading and often have more
than one book on the go at a time. I am currently reading A
Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century by Barbara Tuchman.
What was the last movie you saw and would you
recommend it?
The
Lives of Others,  a German film that won the 2006 Academy Award
for Best Foreign Language Film, and I would recommend
it to everyone—it's so powerful.
What is your favourite
sport/hobby?
I do Yoga every day wherever I
am in the world. As well as giving me physical exercise, it
affords me the time to stop and do something completely
different, something for me. I passionately believe that we
all need to make time to do something for ourselves every day,
it's so important for our own state of being. I can do Yoga
anywhere—my office, home, hotel—and have even done it in the
aisle of a plane on a long-haul flight. I've practiced Yoga
now for twelve years and it's very important to me. In
addition, I love to read and can loose myself in my
imagination and a great book. I have a huge book collection,
and as I have moved around the world to live and work my book
collection has always travelled with me.
Who is your favourite historical
figure?
Napoleon or Queen Elizabeth I.
Who is your favourite living
person?
I'm going to upset someone whoever I
say, but right now it's our teenage daughter who has just
shown what sheer hard work and commitment can do by achieving
straight A grades in her important school exam retakes. After
not doing so well, she has changed her approach, bounced back,
worked hard, and is determined to get great grades. I'm very
proud of her.
If you could choose another profession what
would it be?
A successful actress.
What do you think is the worst habit to have at work?
I don’t like laziness, lack of communication, internal politics, or game playing. Lateness annoys me, as does an inability to recognise a good idea because “it wasn’t invented here.” Most of all I hate any form of unfairness or failure to show respect to others. I believe that people should be limited only by their own ability and commitment and not by race, colour, creed, sex, sexuality, age, or physical ability. I cannot tolerate any behaviour to the contrary at work or anywhere else.
What qualities do you most value in your business associates?
Intellect, honesty, courage, creativity, flawless execution, meeting commitments and deadlines…and maybe most of all a sense of humour—it goes a long way in business.
Is there anything you’d like to improve in your own work practice?
Not feeling that I must digest absolutely everything I am sent via email and therefore getting more time to think.
As someone at the top of your profession what keeps you inspired to hit the ground running in the morning?
My personal drive to learn more, be better, and constantly raise the bar of my performance so that if I ever meet my father again (he died when I was 14½ years old) he’d be proud of me and the way I’d lived my life: that he’d feel I was a good person who’d made the most of myself, my education, and my opportunities; and always treated others well.
What do you consider your greatest achievement in business?
That talented individuals want to come and work for me whenever I set up a new venture or start to lead a new business. It’s the biggest complement someone can pay you as a leader.
What advice or useful tip would you give someone just starting out in business?
- Seize every opportunity, even if the advantages are not immediately obvious.
- Don’t take yourself too seriously or believe your own publicity.
- You can learn from everyone in the organization irrespective of their position.
About Harriet Green:
Harriet Green became CEO of Premier Farnell plc in April 2006 and began a process of strategic review involving employees from right across the world, at all levels. The result was the strategy the group is now pursuing to target electronic design engineers globally. Harriet is very much a global executive with extensive business leadership experience. She is a passionate advocate of the power of the web which remains central to her strategy for profitable growth. She has simplified the organisational structure, and is personally leading a focus on innovation across Premier Farnell’s nine businesses, touching all 4,100 employees.
Prior to joining the group, Harriet spent twelve years with Arrow Electronics, latterly as Corporate VP and Operating President of Arrow Asia Pacific (2002 – 2006). Whilst at Arrow she also ran Arrow businesses across Europe, Africa, USA, and Asia, driving a period of global strategic renewal and growth. Harriet also worked as Head of Worldwide Marketing at Arrow where she pioneered a wide range of global programmes encompassing communications, branding, and investor communications.
Harriet remains focussed on her professional development and has attended CEO and leadership courses at Harvard Business School, Ashridge, and Aspen. She has been part of the Global Leader for Tomorrow programme (part of World Economic Forum); is a founder and Board member of the Peace Works Foundation and One Voice movement initiated to unite the moderates in Israel and Palestine; and an International YPO (Young Presidents Organization) and IOD member. Harriet is a graduate of London University and has lived and worked in Europe, USA, and Asia. She is now based in London.
About Premier Farnell
Premier Farnell plc (LSE:PFL) is a leading high service, multi-channel distributor of electronic products and specialist services supporting millions of engineers and purchasing professionals throughout Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific. It goes to market with a differentiated value proposition, world-class marketing, and access to over a million items from 3,000 of the world’s leading manufacturers. The company had group sales of GBP 823.1m in 2006 and 4,100 employees globally.
While global in scope, Premier Farnell recognizes the individual needs of each market and has continued to internationalize its model accordingly, trading locally under different brand names. Its primary electronics businesses trade as Farnell in the UK, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand; Newark in the US, Canada, and Mexico; and Premier Electronics in China. In Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Brazil the operation is known as Farnell Newark. For more information visit the website at http://www.premierfarnell.com. |
Have you noticed any improvement recently
in the information that your financial advisor has been
providing on wealth management? Are you getting more updates
on how to improve the handling of your funds? And is your
advisor also providing more relevant information on your
favorite sports, hobbies, and interests outside the financial
sphere?
