John Davidson is general counsel and group company secretary at brewer SABMiller. He was previously a partner at Lovells (now Hogan Lovells) in London and New York, specialising in international corporate finance work and mergers and acquisitions work. He is the chairman of the GC100, a group of senior lawyers who work inside Britain’s biggest companies.
What did you want to be when you were a child?
A grown-up. Or maybe a train driver.
What was your very first job?
As a Saturday assistant in the local public library.
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How do you start your working day?
In the shower, where inspiration often strikes. Then like most in-house lawyers, I guess, going through the overnight emails, separating the urgent from the important from the less urgent and less important, comparing them with my agenda, and prioritising accordingly. With businesses in 70 countries around the world, there is always something going on somewhere, and inevitably my preconceived plan for any given day rarely survives first contact with the inbox.
What happens during your ideal day at work?
The to-do list gets shorter rather than longer.
What annoys you at work?
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I try very hard not to let things annoy me; there’s almost always a better reaction that will achieve a better outcome. Except when the air conditioning breaks down.
Who has had the biggest impact on your working life – and why?
Jeremy Stephens, a corporate partner at Lovells. I worked with Jeremy for seven years, until his untimely death in 1991, and learned from him everything that was important about being a lawyer and a member of a team, as well as how to have fun while still working hard.
What was your best business decision – and your worst?
Best: accepting Graham Mackay’s offer to join SABMiller in 2006. Worst: that’s for others to say.
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What’s the most adventurous thing you have ever done – or would like to do – non-professionally?
Asking my wife to marry me – the start of a 27-year adventure that’s still going on.
What is your most treasured possession?
Apart from wife and four sons (more a sacred trust than a possession), it must be books. I never throw one away, despite my wife’s encouragement to de-clutter.
Which book inspires you and why?
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The Bible and The Lord of the Rings.
How do you relax?
Cooking for the family, cricket, reading, Scottish dancing, and complicated railway board games.
What’s your most-played tune on your iPod, and why do you like it?
I don’t have one - can’t stand listening to music through little earphones. If I did, it would probably be something by Runrig, or Genesis, or Karl Jenkins.
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Which film do you wish you had appeared in?
L.A. Confidential.
Which person, living or dead or fictional, would you have as your ideal dinner guest – and why?
Isaac Asimov: a modern renaissance man who was famous for his science fiction, but actually knew a great deal about a great many things, and would be a fascinating conversationalist.
What are your best and worst qualities?
I’m not the best person to answer that. My wife says good sense of humour and snoring. My PA says very kind, giving, calm in a crisis, and “ask my wife”!