Taipan takes in the big picture
At Swire Pacific longevity is vital in its leaders, so 33-year veteran John Slosar's elevation to chairman may have come as little surprise
The next taipan, as the chairman of Swire Pacific is known, is a far cry from the traditional image of the autocratic British public school colonial. Drinking Nestea, a Swire beverages product, naturally, John Slosar is a deceptively laid-back American.
"You can speculate yourself," he says, enigmatically. "You're the representative of their businesses in Hong Kong. They tend not to do interviews for the job."
Selection is a rather undemocratic show of hands by the board. Eligible candidates are 30-year-plus company veterans. "After 33 years they have a pretty good idea what I can bring to the stew, as it were."
Loyalty and longevity are key. Swire likes to grow its own leaders, starting with the brightest university graduates. This creates the rock solid Swire culture. "We don't bring in outside managers at age 43 to run our companies," states Slosar.
"We certainly don't have any of the episodes you see in other companies, where some new person is brought in and gets rid of the old people: Swire would never do anything like that."
