According to Scott Power, a platform like the Executive of the Year Awards is just as important for the recipient as it is for the business community at large.
“Acknowledging and celebrating outstanding achievements in leadership lifts and inspires everyone to new heights,” he tells The CEO Magazine. “It provides visibility into innovation and excellence, from which we all learn.”
As the CEO of the family-owned business his father Mick Power AM started, the BMD Group, Power’s approach to leadership is founded on his personal value system and the three pillars that underpin BMD: people, process and performance. He believes that events such as the Executive of the Year Awards also bring a majority of these elements to attention.
“It shines a spotlight on the recipient’s organization, the work of its people, its purpose, its reputation – elements that are undeniably important to all of us in achieving our goals,” he says.
A new approach to leadership
An exceptional leader who stands out not just for his achievements, but for the values he upholds, Power states that his leadership is about providing a strong direction for the business, while creating an environment where people can thrive.
He stepped into the role of CEO in 2020, ready to run a company that was created by his father more than four decades ago. With businesses across the world seeking new approaches to work on a daily basis during the time, Power, too, was on a mission to ensure the smooth running of critical infrastructure projects at BMD while making sure that the employees kept their jobs.
“If there is one thing the COVID-19 pandemic era taught us, it is how to be responsive and adaptive in the short-term,” he acknowledges.
“It shines a spotlight on the recipient’s organization, the work of its people, its purpose, its reputation.”
As his background and training as an engineer provided him with the analytical skills to identify opportunities and respond quickly to possibilities, he made calculated decisions that were well within the risk profile of his business.
However, ask him how he balanced the need for strategic long-term planning while seizing immediate opportunities in a changing business landscape and he unequivocally responds, “I have a lifetime of learning from my father, Mick Power AM, and the many mentors that I’ve learned from over the years. They have all taught me life lessons in business.”
Power’s strategic direction as well as an overall diversification strategy continue to support the business’s growth into the future.
“We work within multiple facets of our industry – from urban development and transport to water and wastewater, building, engineering, design and a lot more,” he says. “It is our vast scope of capabilities that has enabled the rapid growth of the business in recent years and will continue our upward trajectory in the years to come.”
Overseas expansion offers opportunities
This year, under the leadership of Power, BMD has made strides in its global expansion plan through the acquisition of United Kingdom-based consultancy, tusp. The venture is set to provide international career growth opportunities to its people, helping them broaden their experience and gain a better understanding of working on different challenges and finding unique solutions to problems.
“It has been a 44-year journey of hard work, determination and persistence.”
“As we grow, we continue to remain committed to what has always set us apart, which is our loyalty to our people, our clients and partners, and the communities in which we operate,” Power says.
As head of the country’s largest privately owned civil contractor, Power shares that BMD’s success has been born out of opportunity and the strategies that ensure sustainable growth. A testament to that, this year, Power’s business achieved more than A$2 billion in revenue for the first time, with its infrastructure business BMD Constructions also exceeding A$1 billion.
“Our success has not come over night. It has been a 44-year journey of hard work, determination and persistence and over the coming years, I am excited to see this continued growth and these opportunities deliver meaningful contributions to the Group’s performance,” he says.
