Goodbye to BT's Steady Hand, Ben Verwaayen

Posted by: Jennifer L. Schenker on April 08

Ben Verwaayen, one of the best managers to run not just one, but two telecommunications companies in Europe, is stepping down from his post as chief executive of BT Group in June.

I have known Verwaayen since 1989, when I interviewed him only 10 months into his job as CEO of the Dutch national phone operator, then called Royal PTT Netherlands and now known as KPN. When Verwaayen was first recruited to be the CEO of the Dutch phone company his response was “no way.” At that point in his career, he had spent 11 years at ITT Corp. and another at Alcatel. “I had a picture of what a phone company was, and never in my life did I imagine working for one,” he said at the time.

In the end, though, he couldn’t resist the challenge, first turning around the Dutch carrier and then rescuing Britain’s BT.

When Verwaayen took the top job at Royal PTT, he wasn't welcomed by all of his 29,000 employees, who had been stripped of their civil service status and were being asked to follow the lead of an outsider who made it clear that he was going to shake things up. But many came to admire him, including this skeptical reporter.

Verwaayen is a straight shooter. He works hard and has never, ever stood on ceremony. He is one of the few European CEOs I have met in 23 years who would return an e-mail personally, within just a few hours. He didn't need handlers and spin doctors, and he understood early on how important it was for Europe's former monopolies to embrace competition. That might sound obvious, but at the time he was running the Dutch phone company his peers, such as the then-CEO of France Telecom, Marcel Roulet, used the expression "too much competition kills competition" as an excuse for blocking progress and maintaining their high-priced, monopoly services.

Verwaayen eventually left the Dutch phone company to work for Lucent as a senior executive. It wasn't long before he was recruited to take over BT. When he arrived in 2002, the former state-owned telco was a mess. It was $20 billion in debt and was a stuffy, bureaucratic company that had been forced to sell off its wireless unit--likely its biggest potential growth engine--to avoid bankruptcy. The new CEO got to work trimming debt and launching new programs. But typically, he did it without bravado.

Insiders tell how Verwaayen was mystified that he never ran into anyone when taking the elevator from the parking garage to his office. Then someone broke the news: it was because the elevator was for the CEO's use only. Verwaayen put an end to that the same day and also democratized the executive dining room. He streamlined the company and gave it a vision, helping BT not only to enter the modern age but also to bring broadband to Britain and make the leap to a network built on Internet Protocol technology.

To be sure, BT still has its challenges, evidenced by a recent revenue slump. But let's give credit where it is due: KPN and BT would not be where they are today if it weren't for Verwaayen.

By leaving now he shows that his vision isn't limited only to telecommunications. Verwaayen also has always been remarkably insightful about his own abilities and limitations. "There is a shelf life for good and effective leadership," he said in a recent Bloomberg Television interview. "If you stay too long the decision won't be your own."

Bravo Ben for getting your timing right once again. I wish you well.