We met at Christopher’s Restaurant in Covent Garden for lunch, not coffee. I prefer lunch. The restaurant was his choice. I knew it from the early nineties. I was running a television business at a time when TV people worked to lunch. We start by talking about our respective running careers. His running peaked within sight, but for injury, of qualifying for the 5000 metres at the Seoul Olympics in 1988. I tell him that mine hasn’t peaked yet. I started to run two years ago when my GP told me off about my lifestyle. I can do 5k in 35 minutes I tell him. He is genuinely encouraging. I ask what motivated him. 'No surrender, when it gets tough' he replied. Scary. Does he mean no surrender to himself or others, or both? I’m suspecting that his identity is connected with winning and beating others. 'I’m ambitious rather than competitive', he counters. I’m not convinced.

He tells a story about a junior colleague who complained that when he asked for help in marking up a contract he felt that he was scoring points. 'I had absolutely no idea that I was doing that', he says disarmingly. 'So I changed my behaviour.' You did what, I ask in disbelief. 'I changed my behaviour', he repeated. He makes it sound easy. Many of my clients find it hard to change. But I’m still suspicious. You were sent to boarding school aged nine, I assume that screwed you up? 'No, actually, it didn’t. In fact I enjoyed it. We were encouraged to take initiative.'

My prejudices about him were now aflame. I asked him what he believed to be his behavioural weakness at work, as perceived by others. 'They would say that sometimes I procrastinate for no obvious reason.' He agrees that this might be his way of retaining control over a tendency to over achieve – head boy at school; deputy GC at Andersen; GC at Ernst & Young and then GC at Boston Consulting Group and, of course running for Great Britian and almost making it to the Olympics. Not exactly a slacker. Driven, like all the GCs I meet.

His procrastination puts him back in charge. 'Sometimes I feel like saying to people 'give me a break'.' More to himself than others, I suspect. He talks about his competitive streak being 'binary', in that he has genuine friendships with the people with whom he has competed in sport. He cites as an example that he won the Oxford vs Cambridge Varsity Cross Country race against a close friend. They ran to beat each other, but were best man at their respective weddings. 'I need a sparring partner at work', he adds.

Then he tells me a story about deciding to run away with a mate to join the Marines aged eight and actually going through with it in the dead of night but, when he turned up at his friend’s house, the mate had - reasonably in my view - second thoughts. It takes confidence to pack a bag aged eight and head out into the dark. I come to the conclusion that his chief asset is his confidence. He agrees. I also conclude that he is more in competition with himself than with others, although they may not see it that way.

I wonder how all of this links with his leadership style in a complex business like Boston Consulting Group – 82 offices in 46 countries; 10,500 employees; nearly 900 partners. 'Politically, I have to walk a fine line in supporting the CEO but also the partners, who are effectively the shareholders.' I’m in no doubt as to his political nous. He went in-house from Norton Rose because he was keen on getting into a leadership position as soon as possible. He knew that could take 20 years in private practice.

How does he help others develop? 'It’s important to give people space and time. Then I use two lenses to deploy them: a tactical lens and a strategic lens, i.e. are they the right resource to deliver the task at hand and will it grow them in a personal development sense?' It’s important, he says, to bring 'your values into your leadership', but 'I find there is a tension for me: I want to be fulfilled, but am I doing any good?' He acknowledges that this might be the guilt of the son of a vicar coming through. We talk more about running. I say I’m struggling to get from 8k to 10k in my regular run. He advises me to vary the pace. I tried it. It works. I exceeded my 10k. I suspect he’s a good teacher and good at varying the pace, to win. 

Ciarán Fenton is a leadership and behavioural change consultant.