The lion’s friendly approach

AS THE chairman of ING, one of Europe's biggest financial-services companies, Godfried van der Lugt likes clarity. He pulls out a slide, littered with colourful shapes, showing its activities around the world. The red circles, he explains, mark areas of market leadership, while green squares signal the need for organic growth. And the blue triangles? “That's where we're planning acquisitions,” he replies, his eyes twinkling. “You don't get strategy much clearer than that.”