Name: Paris Philippou

Title: Senior Executive & Transformational Leader

Organisation: Self-Employed

I am a strategic and results-driven executive with two decades of experience in building and executing successful business strategies. I have a solid track record of driving growth and profitability, improving end-to-end business operations and sustainability, and building strong brands that earn deep customer trust.

I have held senior executive roles at top-tier organizations, such as Walmart Africa, where I spearheaded large-scale transformations and led multi-billion Rand (multi-hundred million Dollar) business portfolios, managing complex operations across multiple retail brands. I have led digital, e-commerce, and omnichannel business units at various stages of maturity, leveraging data-driven decision making and strong financial acumen to increase efficiency and sustainability for commercial success.

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Leadership!

We’ve gone through the interviews and asked the best of the best to come back and answer 7 MORE Questions on Leadership.

I hope Paris's answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. As a leader, how do you build trust with employees, customers and other stakeholders?

Building trust starts with creating clarity. Whether it’s setting clear goals and targets for employees, outlining service levels and product quality for customers, or defining outcomes for stakeholders, clarity ensures that everyone knows what to expect and what to hold you accountable for. Trust thrives when expectations are transparent and well-communicated.

Equally important is taking accountability and ownership, particularly when things don’t go as planned. For employees, this means celebrating their successes while also stepping up as a leader to address challenges or setbacks, sometimes taking the heat as the leader, all while fostering a culture of accountability within the team. For customers, it’s about putting their needs first and having systems, processes, and direct interventions to make things right when issues arise.

Finally, trust is built on consistency. Repeatedly delivering on promises and commitments solidifies trust over time. When you consistently do what you say you will do—and act with integrity when you fall short—it lays a strong foundation for trust with all stakeholders. In essence, building trust is about delivering on your promises, owning your actions, and doing the right thing even when faced with challenges.

2. What do 'VISION' and 'MISSION' mean to you? And what does it actually look like to use them in real-world business?

To me, vision and mission are about creating clarity and alignment. A clear, simple-to-understand vision and mission that every employee can easily remember and articulate fosters a culture of shared purpose. Vision is the ambitious, inspiring "north star"—the goal you aspire to achieve and rally employees, stakeholders, and even your broader community around. Mission, on the other hand, is the roadmap that defines how you’ll get there and what you stand for along the way.

In the real world, how these come to life depends on the context. For example:

- During employee onboarding, a clear vision and mission set the tone for the journey ahead, helping new hires understand their role in the bigger picture.

- When unpacking results—weekly, monthly, or annually—it provides a framework to measure progress and align efforts with long-term goals.

- In strategy development and execution, a well-defined vision and mission guide decisions, ensuring your strategies and success metrics are tied to achieving the desired outcomes.

Vision and mission are not just lofty statements; they are practical tools for direction and decision-making. They drive purpose, inspire action, and provide a benchmark for success. Without them, it’s difficult to define what you stand for or measure what you’ve achieved. Ultimately, they don’t need to be elaborate. They need to be clear, ambitious, and capable of instilling a sense of purpose across the organization.

3. How can a leader empower the people they're leading?

Empowering others as a leader is something I’ve thought about deeply, leading me to develop my own leadership philosophy. This philosophy serves as a framework to challenge myself and stay intentional about empowering the people I lead. It centers around eight key principles that I believe are fundamental for any leader:

1. Define the Vision: Clearly articulate what we aim to achieve—our ambitious and inspiring "north star."

2. Craft the Strategy and Create Clarity of Purpose: Establish what we aim to do, when, and why, ensuring everyone understands their role in the bigger picture.

3. Build Structures and Talent: Identify the right people and structures needed to succeed and position them where they can make the greatest impact.

4. Empower High-Performance Teams: Equip teams with the tools, autonomy, and support to deliver excellence, focusing on their "heads, hands, and hearts."

5. Define How We Win: Develop the systems, processes, and measures of success needed to ensure consistent and sustainable progress.

6. Unblock Roadblocks: Actively identify and remove obstacles that hinder progress, enabling teams to focus on achieving their goals.

7. Unlock Resources: Secure the necessary resources—whether capital, operational budgets, or technology—to empower teams to execute effectively.

8. Create a Strong Culture and Team Principles: Foster a culture of trust, accountability, and collaboration, and define the principles that guide how the team shows up and what it stands for.

These principles form the foundation of empowerment. By providing a clear direction, the right resources, and a supportive environment, leaders can enable their teams to thrive, innovate, and achieve exceptional outcomes.

4. Who are some of the coaches or mentors in your life who have had a positive influence on your leadership? Can you please tell a meaningful story about one of them?

I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have had exceptional mentors and coaches who’ve shaped my leadership journey. Among them are Llewellyn Walters and Doug Jones, former CEOs of Makro (a Walmart Africa company), with Doug now serving as CEO of Metcash in Australia. I’ve also benefited from the mentorship of Laurent Dury, former Chief Growth Officer of Walmart Canada, and Ignacio Caride, President and CEO of Walmart Mexico. I've also had others, some very long-standing, and each has had a unique and profound influence, serving as sounding boards, challenging my thinking, and broadening my perspectives.

One story that stands out is from my time with Doug Jones. He introduced me to the concept of "building systems" and what that truly entails. He broke it down in a way that was both simple and transformative: a system is the seamless integration of people, culture, processes, governance, and technology. When these elements are intentionally aligned and executed correctly, they create an environment where the business can thrive sustainably, independent of individual talent or institutional knowledge.

That lesson stayed with me—it reinforced the importance of creating frameworks that outlast any single individual, including myself. It shaped how I approach team building, strategy development, and organizational sustainability, and it remains one of the most valuable insights I carry as a leader.

5. Leadership is often more about what you DON'T do. How do you maintain focus in your role?

In my current role and previous leadership positions, I’ve learned that what you choose not to focus on is as critical as what you prioritize. Effective focus comes from clarity—clarity of vision, mission, strategy, and immediate goals. These elements must align, creating a framework that guides both my actions and my team’s efforts.

Our focus starts with defining annual goals, which cascade into quarterly, monthly, and even weekly objectives. We create a clear roadmap, supported by OKRs and measurable targets, and we consistently track progress against them. Along the way, we challenge ourselves to ensure that everything we’re working on aligns with those defined goals. If something doesn’t, we pause to reassess its relevance. Adjustments are only made if the change directly supports our long-term vision and mission.

This disciplined approach keeps us from getting distracted by noise or short-term urgencies that don’t contribute to our strategic objectives. It allows us to maintain focus on what truly matters, ensuring every action is purposeful and aligned with our broader goals.

6. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Everyone plans differently. How do you plan for the week, month and years ahead in your role?

Planning starts with a robust annual operating plan (AOP), which defines our key objectives and the metrics we aim to achieve. From there, we break these goals down into OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), ensuring they are cascaded and clearly communicated across the organization. This alignment ensures that everyone understands their role in achieving our broader objectives.

We then establish a consistent rhythm of meaningful review meetings—weekly, monthly, and quarterly—to assess our progress against these plans. These meetings aren’t just status updates; they are opportunities to make informed decisions. We evaluate whether to continue with our current actions, adjust course to get back on track, or, when appropriate, aim higher than our original targets.

This structured approach enables us to stay focused, agile, and aligned, ensuring that short-term actions consistently contribute to our long-term goals.

7. What advice would you give to a young leader who is struggling to delegate effectively?

First, understand that effective delegation is a cornerstone of good leadership. Without it, you risk becoming a bottleneck, and your team will struggle to achieve its full potential. Delegation isn’t just about handing off tasks—it’s about building trust and fostering accountability within a high-performing team.

Second, recognize that delegation frees you to focus on what matters most as a leader: driving strategy, shaping culture, and nurturing the next generation of leaders. By stepping back from operational details, you create space to think critically and lead with intention.

Finally, don’t fear failure. The people you delegate to may make mistakes, but those moments are invaluable opportunities for growth. As a leader, your role is to guide, support, and develop your team so they can succeed. Delegation is as much about empowerment and learning as it is about achieving outcomes. In short, embrace delegation as a leadership tool—not just to achieve results but to build a resilient and capable team.