Cesium Group launches new podcast with Michael Saunders interview

Paul Haslam, MD of Cesium Group, has launched new podcast ‘Learning From Leaders’, with Coterie Holdings CEO Michael Saunders as the first guest. In the new podcast from Cesium Group, Paul Haslam, its managing director, sits down with CEOs, managing directors and senior business leaders from around the world to discuss what it means to lead in today's dynamic business landscape. Each episode delves into personal leadership journeys, lessons learned from past challenges, insights from mentors and the strategies that drive success. In the first episode, Michael Saunders reflects on leadership lessons from four decades in the drinks industry and outlines the plans for Coterie Holdings. Saunders has made a significant impact in the UK drinks industry, leaving a lasting impression on both the industry and many of the professionals working within it. Joining Bibendum in 1983, he spent 33 years scaling the business before exiting via a trade sale to Conviviality in 2016. He rejoined two years later, before moving to his current posting as CEO of Coterie Holdings, a rapid-growth, disruptive fine-wine business, in January 2024. He has also held leadership roles at key industry bodies, namely as chairman of both the Wine & Spirit Trade Association and The Drinks Trust charity.

Lessons borne from experience: Saunders’ take on leadership

Knowing where you are going and why:

Saunders dedicates significant time to a critical task leaders need to deliver against: providing absolute clarity on the direction of travel and, most importantly, getting clear on why a business or organisation is heading in a certain direction. He comments: “What we need to do is make sure we understand exactly where we are trying to get to and why, and that’s what my job is”

Building culture and empowering people:

Central to Saunders’ approach to building a highly effective culture is empowering the team: “We share a goal, we understand what we want to do with the business, but then I am a big delegator, and I don’t interfere.” His approach requires understanding one's own strengths and limitations and hiring a balanced team with complementary skills – a system which frees everyone to focus where they can excel. Giving people the ability to be themselves and bring their personality into a business, along with creating trust and an environment where people are prepared to challenge conventional thinking, is key to him.

The role of strategy:

The podcast explores the balance between a business strategy and a people strategy, as well as how to link the two. Saunders’ advice is that simplicity is key to driving effective behaviours, noting: “You often get people coming to you to say, ‘I don’t understand the strategy,’ so my answer can often be rather simplistic – like the strategy is to make some money, the strategy is to grow. And they often look at you slightly cross and I go, okay, what are you doing on both of those two things?”

Not consolidating acquired businesses:

“I feel the best way for a business to thrive,” explains Saunders, “is having its own DNA, to have its own culture, to have its own magnetism.” That is why, while Coterie Holdings has been very acquisitive in recent times, he highlights the need to balance exploring synergies with protecting what made a business successful in the first place. “They need to learn to work together, but they’re all individual businesses,” he adds.

Challenging assumptions and getting to ‘so what’:

Never one to waste time or opportunity, Saunders steers his team to uncover the true insight in their thinking. In fact, among long-term colleagues asking “So what?” – used to query whether an action or idea has been thoroughly worked through – has become something of an in-joke. “Our job is to bring out the best in people,” he explains. As he details in the podcast, his leadership methodology is to provide drive, vision and a sounding board, and then let the team get on with building a roadmap to growth.

Looking to the future:

The discussion touches on the increasing role of AI and technology within business and how leaders can and should embrace this. Saunders comments that Coterie Holdings “are adapting our working processes to harness technology so that our people can do what people are there to do, personalise it, build relationships and put real thought into how we can develop our business, I think that’s going to be a great luxury for all of us.” With Coterie Holdings wanting “an unfair share of the premium wine market”, Saunders calls out two key areas of focus to enable a business to thrive: people and relationships. Rather than get in the way, he prefers to let his teams succeed through their own styles and methods. Saunders's recurring theme is the idea of fun at work. “I have long subscribed to the view,” he says, “that if people are having fun, they are much more likely to be effective.” The podcast is now live on all major podcast platforms in both video and MP3 formats, including on Podbean here.

About Cesium group:

Cesium Group is an executive search firm specialising in the beverage and luxury goods sectors worldwide.

It partners with businesses to identify and secure exceptional leadership talent for roles that are:

1. Critical to business success, where leadership quality directly impacts organisational performance. 2. Complex in nature, requiring unique skills, experience or industry insights. 3. Challenging, involving searches where internal talent acquisition teams or recruiters have faced limitations. 4. Confidential, particularly during periods of organisational change, restructuring or growth.

Each search is tailored to ensure alignment with a business’ strategy, culture and goals.

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