HSBC CEO Elhedery’s 4-Step Plan for Dismantling a Bureaucracy

Hi, everyone. Most big companies have a special talent for turning simple decisions into a painful experience of committees, subcommittees, and meeting after meeting, diluting accountability and momentum at every step. What can be done about it? On the second episode of my new “Leaders with Francine Lacqua” podcast, I sat down with HSBC’s Georges Elhedery, whose strategy for lifting performance is all about balancing control with agility.

With roots in Asia, headquarters in London and operations stretching across continents, HSBC Holdings Plc is one of the largest banks in the world, and one of the most complex to run. But it’s getting heavily streamlined under Chief Executive Officer Georges Elhedery, who has both deep and broad experience with the vastness of the place.