Welcome to the next edition of Leadership Matters where we ask leaders around the Pacific Zone for their insights and advice about leadership matters to support our continuing journey of personal and professional development.
In this edition, we hear from Vice President Home and Distribution and Clipsal brand in Australia, Chris Kerr. Originally from New Zealand, Chris has more than 28 years of international business experience in consumer electronics, domestic appliances, and B2B electrical business sectors.
Prior to joining Schneider Electric, Chris was the Senior Director & General Manager – Philips Personal Health, Australia and New Zealand. During his 14-year stint at Phillips, Chris held leadership roles in the UK, Middle East, and Asia, with a clear strategic focus to drive marketing and sales success.
Chris believes that connected technologies are revolutionising how we use energy and influencing the way enjoy our homes and buildings. His focus is putting the consumer at the heart of this revolution and exploring the many ways electricians can help make it a reality for their customers.
Chris is also passionate about fitness and wellness, and represented New Zealand at the 2009 and the 2011 Long Distance Triathlon World Championships.
What motivates and excites you about your role at Schneider Electric?
For me it’s the opportunity with sustainability and the impact that we can have on an electric world. We know that in the next 10 years, we’ll use more electricity than we have in the last 50. This is a huge opportunity in making life easier for our partners, customers, and consumers in an increasingly decarbonising world.
What makes you most proud of your team?
Our team has done an incredible job over the last 5 years and the moments that I’m most proud of are when we’ve had to solve problems, not only for our consumers, customers, and partners but for the business as well, and we’ve managed to do so. More specifically, it’s the reaction and the speed at which the team solves those problems and brings value of which I’m most proud.
How do you see the market for Home & Distribution evolving in the next 5 years?
We have a huge opportunity for new electric home design. The new energy landscape of decentralised, empowered energy for homeowners and consumers is incredibly exciting and also a fantastic opportunity for Schneider Electric and Clipsal. Given our market share in homes, we are the ‘iOS’ for home. You’ll see this space quickly evolve beyond switches and sockets, where we can bring smart home automation and energy management together in one place for consumers to be empowered to go beyond net zero.
Describe a ‘customer first’ moment that you’ll never forget.
There is no customer moment that I don’t remember. Every customer interaction – whether it’s with a partner, an electrician, or a consumer – is an opportunity to learn, try, and solve their problems by bringing them a solution and empowering them with it.
Which of our other values resonates with you most and why?
I love the ‘Act Like Owner’ value. If we look at every decision we make through that lens, then we will make the right decisions together. It’s not just you acting like an owner, but also doing that together. Many people in Schneider are shareholders and that really gets you involved in making the right decisions for the business and, of course first and foremost, making the right decisions for our customers.
What makes someone a leader?
There are a number of different angles you can consider, but I think the most important one is being able to bring a group of people together to drive high performance. When that group is very diverse and inclusive in terms of its thinking and approach, you arrive at the right decisions together. I do not know everything, I have my strengths and I have my development points, but I know that if I bring a diverse group together then that enables our business to perform incredibly well. Leadership means a number of things, but this is how I view my role as a leader.
Who has influenced you most during your career and how?
I think that everybody you interact with influences you in some way. For me, when I get to see some outstanding qualities in others I try to learn from them and understand how they are approaching things so that I can get better. It’s really important that you are self-aware and know that there is always more to learn, just like our core value says, Learn Every Day. I would say there have been a lot of people that I know have influenced me but there are also a lot that I haven’t known about that have influenced me and watched me grow through my career.
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I received was in my mid-30s: “What got you here won’t get you there.” What that means is that your current skills and strengths have got you to a certain point in your career, but they’re not going to get you beyond that without development. You can continue to drive with your current skills and strengths, but there may be some blind spots around development points that you need to address to make progress. You need to be self-reflective and take time to sit back and get feedback from others about how you could be better and how you can help them as well. As I’ve got older, continual development and learning is something that has really resonated with me as a way to move from good to great. Learning from others is especially important because, as they say, greatness is found in the agency of others. Surround yourself with great people and it will rub off on you.