Mike Flewitt, former CEO of McLaren Automotive and now a consultant and board chairman, says he has never considered himself the best at anything but has achieved results by harnessing the talents of others. He tells Lynda Ennis, Co-founder and CEO of Ennis & Co Group, that leadership is essentially about people.
You’ve had a remarkable career, from early engineering and operations roles through to becoming CEO of McLaren Automotive, and now chairing boards and advising businesses across automotive, aerospace and technology. Can you walk us through your career journey?
Looking back, it feels like a long story, but at the time it didn’t. I was fortunate to enjoy almost everything I did. I began as a production operator at Ford in Liverpool, building Escorts. After a year, I joined a three-year training programme to become a foreman or engineer, rotating through different roles while studying engineering. I eventually returned as a foreman and worked my way up to managing the entire body shop, with about 1,000 people producing more than 1,000 cars a day.
That period was formative because it was all about managing people. As an operator, I controlled quality and speed myself; as a foreman, I could only influence others. That’s what leadership is about – achieving results through the efforts and abilities of others. It taught me to lead through direction, motivation and coaching. I’ve never thought I was the best at anything, but I’ve always aimed to get the best from my team.
I later joined Rolls-Royce and Bentley as Production Director – a very different environment with low-volume, highly skilled teams working in wood, trim, chrome and assembly. After Volkswagen acquired Bentley, I moved to Sweden as Managing Director of a Volvo subsidiary, which was my first general management role. The culture there was less hierarchical and more autonomous, which tested and developed my leadership style.
Ironically, Ford then acquired Volvo, bringing me back as European Quality Director in Cologne. I later ran a Turkish subsidiary producing commercial vehicles and managing an engineering centre, where the team delivered strong results even through the 2008 financial crisis. I then moved into a corporate role overseeing manufacturing across Europe, including joint ventures in Russia and Turkey.
In 2012, Ron Dennis approached me to become CEO of McLaren Automotive, which had launched just a year earlier. Initially, I said no, because I was running 23 factories producing nearly 9,000 cars a day, but the opportunity was too exciting to turn down. Competing with Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche, McLaren’s focus was technology and creating the best driver-focused cars. Between 2012 and 2019, the business grew strongly, and we steered it through Covid to ensure survival.
I ‘retired’ in 2021 but soon took on new opportunities. I recently became Chairman of Bonhams Cars, I’m also Chairman of Ricor Automotive. I advise several companies through my consultancy, including Halcyon (EV conversion) and Longbow (lightweight EV sports cars). Across it all, the constant theme has been people and teams. I may not be the best at any one thing, but I can achieve outstanding results with the right people around me.
Looking back over your career, what has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a leader? How has that experience shaped the way you lead today?
Covid was a shattering experience. It was all about learning how to manage a team and a business to survive when you had no idea where things were going. I’ve always been someone who likes to talk to people, so one of the first things we did was put in place a weekly call with everyone. We did it religiously every Monday morning. I was very honest about what we knew and what we didn’t, explaining decisions around safety, work practices and, when necessary, redundancies. I always tried to make the rationale clear – why it felt like the right decision for the business. My view has always been that if you’re not prepared to explain your actions, you’re probably not doing the right thing. Not everyone will agree, but people need to understand the reasoning behind decisions.
During that period, we navigated a rollercoaster: closing the factory, stopping production, restarting under restrictions, borrowing money to survive and eventually bringing in new investors to pay down debt. It was a huge test of resilience and leadership. By the time I left in 2021, the company was solvent and running again. There was still a lot of ground to recover, but I felt we had survived. I’ve met many people since who were affected by redundancies, and they understood why certain decisions were made. That is all you can really ask for in those circumstances.
That experience, and others like it, definitely shaped how my leadership style evolved. You can’t avoid challenges as a leader; you have to be robust enough to manage them. The key lessons were about transparency, communication and showing people that you’ve thought things through. It reinforced for me that leadership isn’t about doing everything yourself. It’s about guiding your team through uncertainty and making reasoned decisions while maintaining trust and accountability.
Today, you chair Bonhams Cars, advise innovative companies and run your own consultancy. How different is leading as a CEO compared to guiding as a chairman or adviser?
As an adviser, you do have the luxury of making choices. When I retired at the end of 2021, I was comfortable knowing I could survive and didn’t have to work for a living. That meant I could focus on the choices I really wanted to make – working with people I like and respect and taking on projects where I believed I could make a difference. Going into areas that had been challenged and seeing real change was incredibly satisfying. I’ve never been drawn to situations where things grow by only one or two per cent a year. What excites me is making a meaningful difference alongside people I enjoy working with. Those have been my guiding principles in deciding what to take on.
When I was first approached to be a non-exec, I was surprised to learn that the role meant sitting and making suggestions rather than doing the work yourself. If I saw something that needed doing, I wanted to go and do it. I had to adjust my style, which was a learning curve, but it taught me the value of good governance and ensuring things are done properly in the right way. You still need to guide, influence and care about results, but it’s about how you achieve them rather than doing it yourself. It’s a different way of leading. It’s one step removed from execution, but it’s equally rewarding.
You’ve worked in established automotive manufacturers as well as in pioneering fields such as electric vehicles and aerospace. Are there any differences in terms of how you lead across these environments? Do you have to adapt your style?
I don’t fundamentally believe there should be a difference in leadership. You often see differences, but usually it’s because different people are attracted to different businesses, or the nature of the business demands a different leadership style. Some businesses are more commercially competitive than others, and that naturally influences the approach. To me, leadership is always about people – managing behaviours, skills, talents and the team as a whole. Management is where differences really emerge.
When I moved to aerospace, for example, the technologies – composite structures, high-voltage batteries, motors – were similar to automotive but the application and the certification process was much more complex. Aircraft require incredibly stringent processes, and project cycles are very long. Initially, it doesn’t feel like it has the pace and rigour of automotive, and yet the fundamentals of leading a team are the same.
Automotive, by contrast, has always been intensely competitive. Over my career, I’ve seen competition from UK, Japanese, Korean, and now Chinese manufacturers. People come in with highly competitive technology, often at lower cost, and it forces the business to adapt or risk failure. That relentless competitiveness, combined with legislation, tariffs and technological change, makes automotive one of the toughest sectors to lead in.
Across all these environments, the core principles of leadership remain constant: understanding people, motivating them, aligning them to a shared purpose and guiding them through challenges. What changes is how you apply those principles to the pace, complexity and competitive pressures of the business.
Reflecting on your career, what have been some of the biggest lessons in your own personal growth and development? How has that ongoing process of learning influenced the way you lead?
This might sound clichéd, but I’ve always believed that you’re constantly learning – whether that’s about technology, about people or about cultures. My career has been a continual journey of learning: high-volume and low-volume manufacturing, luxury and mainstream cars, different countries and markets. You have to stay open to it all.
I continued to learn when I moved from Ford to McLaren, where the biggest shift was understanding the customers. At Ford, you never really knew your customers personally. At McLaren, every single customer mattered. Winning and retaining them became my top priority, and that was a steep learning curve.
As a CEO, you realise that you have as much, or more, to learn than anyone on your team. You have to accept that, embrace it and recognise that the role carries huge responsibilities: organisational, operational and external-facing. You’re constantly thinking about problems, often waking in the middle of the night with solutions popping into your head. But leadership isn’t about doing everything yourself. It’s about learning, growing and being of value to the organisation so that when the opportunity comes, you’re ready.
You’ve always been strong at fostering diversity in your teams – not just in terms of gender, but more broadly – and encouraging the next generation to adopt that mindset in their leadership. What do you think has made you so effective in this area?
Inherently, my approach comes from the beliefs my parents instilled in me – that everyone is equal, and nobody is better or less. I carry that perspective into life and into work. When I’m looking for people for a role, I focus on finding the very best person for the job, regardless of background. It’s circular in a way. If you want the best results, you need the best people, and to get the best people, you need a strong, diverse talent pool. That’s why the work I did around diversity with Mandeep Dhatt, my CPO at McLaren, was so important. It’s critical for building and developing the pool of talent so you can select the right people for the right roles.
I’ve also always been a firm believer in using local expertise when entering new markets. For example, the McLaren team in England couldn’t fully understand the Korean market or the Taiwanese market, so we employed local experts who knew the culture and could guide us. The results were outstanding, and we built some of the best dealerships in the world by combining local knowledge with our diverse teams. Open-mindedness and valuing diverse perspectives are crucial, because the broader the base, the stronger the top of the pyramid – and the better the results for the business.
The industry is undergoing major shifts – electrification, new ownership models, digital retailing and even flying mobility concepts. From your perspective, what qualities will the next generation of automotive leaders need most?
I often ask myself whether the next generation has the same level of ambition and understanding of the work it takes to succeed, and it’s a real challenge. You have to work incredibly hard to reach senior leadership. Sometimes that means long hours, and sometimes it’s a 24/7 responsibility. As a chief executive, you’re constantly trying to solve problems, juggling organisational responsibilities and thinking about customers, shareholders and external pressures. It never really goes away.
I never planned to become a CEO or MD. In fact, I’ve held that role four times almost by chance. Early on, someone advised me that if you enjoy what you do, you naturally apply yourself. I worked hard at the roles I enjoyed, improved as I went along and opportunities came my way. At Ford, for example, I started as an operator and progressed through foreman, superintendent, and shift manager – not because I was chasing titles but because I was improving myself and learning constantly.
That’s the key. You have to keep learning and improving and giving value to the organisation. If the organisation needs you, you step up and do it well. That may lead to senior executive roles, or even CEO positions, but that shouldn’t be the ultimate goal. Leadership is about contribution, continuous development and supporting your team. Your colleagues may even be better at their roles than you, and that’s okay. Success comes from recognising that, applying yourself where you can make a difference and being ready when the opportunity arises.
If you were designing the ‘perfect leader’ for the future, what key attributes and skills would you prioritise?
That’s a hard one for a number of reasons. Fundamentally, there are no perfect people. We all have strengths and weaknesses. The best leaders are those who recognise and manage their weaknesses. For example, I’m naturally quite shy and not particularly socially confident, yet as a CEO, you have to be constantly engaging with people. You learn to cope with it and find ways to make it work.
A great leader, in my view, must genuinely appreciate other people and not be egotistical. It isn’t about you. You have to understand your context and recognise that leadership is about building a strong team, often with talents exceeding your own in their areas of expertise. You need the ability to focus, motivate and support your team, while adapting your style to get the best out of people. Some people need encouragement, while others require a firmer, more demanding approach.
A common pitfall I’ve observed in CEOs is egotism. They think they know everything and fail to appreciate that the knowledge and capability lie within their team. I’ve always preferred recruiting people who are better than me at certain things. It makes everything far easier and ultimately strengthens the organisation.
Across your career you’ve worked with, and no doubt observed, many influential leaders. Who had the greatest impact on shaping your own leadership style?
There have been a whole variety of influences on my leadership but I always credit my parents. They were very different characters yet they had a phenomenally strong impact on me. Their core belief that everyone is equal shaped my perspective. Nobody is better or less, and that has guided how I approach people and leadership.
From my career, Graham Morris, the CEO at Rolls-Royce, was hugely influential. He was incredibly detailed and disciplined, but what set him apart was the way he made everyone feel part of the team. When he walked around the shop floor, everyone, from operator to executive, felt included. As a result, people would do anything for him.
Alan Mulally, at Ford, also shaped my thinking. He introduced the ‘One Ford’ concept, uniting a global organisation of 350,000 people behind a single vision. His ability to communicate, align and motivate without aggression was staggering. People never felt threatened, only included. That experience taught me the power of vision and alignment at scale.
Other influences include John Fleming, a strong manufacturing leader, and Ron Dennis at McLaren, who emphasised brand stewardship and personal accountability. ‘People buy from you, not just the brand,’ he would say. I learned from all these leaders by observing what worked, adopting it where it suited me and adding my own style.
