In this article we talk to Carlo Alloni, Bellrock’s energetic new CEO, to hear about his ideas, ambitions and plans to double down on future technologies…
Can you tell us a bit about your work background?
I started out in investment banking, actually. It was quite a journey from there to telecoms, hard services and integrated facilities maintenance. I’ve witnessed a thing or two over the years. I stayed with my team in Egypt through the Arab Spring, managing stakeholders while a revolution started outside, and I’ve rebuilt networks after hurricanes. Maybe a crisis brings out the best in me?
No matter where I’ve worked though, the common themes across all those areas were always technology and people. Bellrock really stands out in that regard. This feels like a natural step; I’m still surrounded by people who are optimistic and proactive about tech’s potential.
It’s been my pleasure to lead teams in different countries, from different cultures. It’s shown me the value and power of diversity, and there’s incredible human capital inside this business; experience, knowledge, talent. I’m here to strengthen relationships and encourage everyone to do the best they can.
What excites you most about leading Bellrock?
Would it surprise you to hear I’ve been thinking about this question a lot recently? Three things consistently stand out:
Number one, it’s the incredibly diverse and interesting client base Bellrock has. As technology, consultancy and workspace solutions provider, I can’t wait to see how much more value we can deliver for them.
Number two is, of course, the Bellrock team members themselves. I don’t say ‘employees,’ I don’t even like ‘colleagues.’ I use ‘team members’ because we’re really all here to help each other do our jobs better. So, I need to listen and hear how I can create the conditions for you all to keep performing and shining.
Number three is the Property and FM industries. We’re out there in the real world, adding value for communities. People can see and feel the benefit of our work, they’re safer and healthier because of what we do. That’s meaningful and motivating to me.
How would you describe your style of leadership?
Experience has consistently shown me that most of the best ideas come from the frontline. Good leadership is picking the right people and supporting them to do their jobs to the best of their ability. I’m not at the top shouting orders down, I’m the support holding things up from beneath. That’s the essence of my leadership.
So, in practice, the key is structuring a business to crowdsource all this intelligence from the front. Not all businesses are set up to do that. Over the next few months I will be visiting the places where team members work to talk to them, as well as to customer themselves.
That’s the second pillar of my leadership style, total focus on the customer. Without them, there’s no business for any of us. If we have consistently excellent services and customer satisfaction, delivered by highly empowered and engaged team members, that’s successful leadership.
What challenges do you see on the horizon, how will we face them?
This isn’t a Bellrock challenge, as much as an industrywide challenge. Think about how technology has revolutionised your life on a personal level: Netflix, Uber, Deliveroo, Spotify, Amazon. Nobody in Property and FM is quite at that level yet. We need to be the ones to redefine the industry on that kind of scale using technology.
And we’re in an amazing position to achieve this, with our fantastic Bellrock Technologies division. What I want is to keep investing and keep boosting the technology side, making sure it permeates all areas of the business.
Then we move to delivering machine learning, unstructured data insights, AI, and predictive maintenance in a more user-friendly, intuitive way. We’re in the best position in the market to make it happen.
What about outside work, what’s home life like?
I’ll hold up my hands and say I’m sometimes guilty of taking work home. I’ve never been able to help it, I genuinely enjoy what I do. But I’m a family man first and foremost, I’ve been married 27 years and we have an 11-year-old son.
As an Italian I love cooking, too. Cooking is such a clear way to transmit love, especially for family. You feel generous when you put your effort into something and see people enjoying it, right?
Other than that, I walk, I meditate. Both help me relax. 20 minutes meditation each morning, and as many long walks along the beach as I can manage. There’s something about the breeze and the salt air that gives me good ideas.
What are you working on at the moment?
My focus right now is on listening and finding out what makes Bellrock such a positive force, what’s our mojo? How can we deliver for clients, and be the best place to grow successful careers?
There’s so much about our industry today that isn’t friendly towards technology and innovation. We can be the ones to change that, to start doing things the way we know they should be done.
