Jeroen van der Veer is the CEO of Royal Dutch/ Shell.After coming to The Netherlands, we have been watching bigshots coming and meeting us in welcome or drinks sessions and that gave us (the new recruits) a feel of the importance they are giving to STI (Shell Technology India - for those who don't know about it, STI has been set up recently with a vision of 'Building the Future' [that too very fast as it seems :-P] and will be third major technology centre of the Shell Group after Rijswijk/Amsterdam in The Netherlands and Houston in USA).
But there came this bouncer – invitation for a dinner with Jereon van der Veer (just for information, J is pronounce as Y in Netherlands, so it’s pronounced as Yoron with lesser stress on ‘n’. And for the first time, we got a measure of the real seriousness with which Shell executive board is taking STI. Thinking of it, I realized that there are many people in the STI’s leadership team who had never met him before (and mind you, the experience of these people range between 20-35 years) and here we are, new born kids of the Oil Kingdom and getting an opportunity to meet with the King just in our third week.
And how can I forget the eyes of disbelief from non-STI Shell employees (yes, even bigger that :-O) – Oh, you are so lucky! And yes, the day after the dinner, when this experienced guy was giving some presentation and Jereon’s name came and he just asked, “Jereon, you know him, right? He is our CEO.” And you may understand how land escaped him when he found kids’ luck.
Another bigshot present there was Linda Cook, the CEO of the Gas & Power division, head of Shell Global Solutions and In-charge of Middle East and Asia. Just 26 years (yes, it’s just in the oil industry) and what a peak she is on. The grace in her demeanor and the sincerity in her speaking were worth observing. As they say it, as you go higher up the ladder, the way you manage your relations (other than your abilities) count a lot and this was one clear example.And what to speak of Jereon? I know it is said that top seats can’t be acquired without the effect of Power and Politics, but I think it these are “additional” to what is really there in you. His body speaks of the confidence of his experience and position. And his voice is something that always talks of depth associated with people of dominance.
Very casually, he came and shook hands with a few of us and suddenly started bombarding questions. Poor us (well many were extremely poor) - we had a long time since we prepared for campus placements and again facing the same age old question – Why Shell? Why oil industry? Well, we had to speak good and articulately and all (On a different note, I don’t find this question fitting in picture at all. I met a guy who is there in Shell for last 33 years – at some good position and when I asked him about how he came in, he told us that at that time, Shell gave house to its employees and he and her wife needed a house badly, so he joined Shell. Funny but realistic!!!).
Anyways, there he came with a bouncer and I felt it was an important one. He talked about loyalty and asked what we thought about it. I just kidded, saying that, “Seeing you, we feel like staying in Shell for life”. But I realized that the question was for set of ladies standing on his right and I really found it so horrible for them not even to reply it with a simple answer (Yes, we believe in it!), leave alone a cracker! I can say he wasn’t very happy.
We had a three-course dinner with him. I had a good chance of sitting and chatting with him but I missed it in all niceties and behavior since I already had occupied seat on a different table.
There are some things worth mentioning. He started with his speech saying it will be a 10-minute speech and he finished in 9 minutes 50 seconds. On dinner table, he talked about his experience in Shell and told how he got a jump of 3 grades within 2 years in Shell (believe me, people take 20 years for this) – really remarkable achievement. He also said that don't be too too nice to your bosses because then only they maintain their humility :-P (well, not all do!). Finally, in his speech, he talked about making a technology centre, which is INDIAN, while retaining the Shell culture. I still don’t understand how a balance can be struck – may be he said it to just make us feel good! And it did feel good :-).
Overall, it was an eventful evening, giving us a lot of inspiration and the burden of expectations Shell has from STI (yes, loads of expectations and we are the pioneer batch!). More on Shell later!
