“For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.” Steve Jobs, speech at Stanford University, 2005
The need to be prepared for and open to career change is driven by a number of factors. First, many organisations are far less likely (or able) to deliver long-term career paths. This becomes very apparent in times of economic turmoil, with corporate restructuring and redundancy programmes, and became especially true with the dislocation of the financial crisis.
Second, senior executives would appear to be more active in managing their own careers. This is driven by increased mobility, the desire to acquire a broad range of skills in preparation for a portfolio career and, as economic growth picks up, an increased opportunity to derive economic benefit. Third, people are working longer, often choosing to set up their own businesses, consult, or to develop a portfolio of non-executive directorships.
We believe that the need to reinvent ourselves will continue to be a facet of a modern career path. Indeed we often see examples of senior executives undergoing significant career changes including moving from corporate to consultancy or from government to corporate or directors moving from an executive to non-executive role.
In this edition of Overture, the first transition we examine is one that we see fairly often, a senior executive leaving the corporate environment to join a consultancy, where many of the skills, content and experience honed in-house are highly relevant and highly valued. This, combined with an intimate knowledge of how corporates work as well as the ability to negotiate, engage with and advise at Board level make a compelling proposition for CEOs and Chairmen, who often turn to a select group of external consultants for trusted advice.
Inevitably, however, there are challenges that come with this move, particularly if the individual concerned has no previous experience of fee generation or consulting. Finding themselves in a position of generating and converting new business and having to understand the dynamics, especially financial, that drive a consultancy can make this transition one of the more difficult to achieve.
The second transition is the move from government / regulator to corporate. Over the past few years, we have seen for a number of corporates that engagement with government, regulators and NGOs has become a priority, indeed a challenge (especially for those corporates in highly regulated industries, such as financial services, extraction industries and telecoms). As a result, they are responding to the need to engage with and influence these critical stakeholder groups by attracting former civil servants, diplomats or regulators. These individuals bring regulatory, diplomatic and political skills to refresh and reinvigorate the organisation’s approach to these key relationships.
Matthew Kirk, a former diplomat, now Group External Affairs Director for Vodafone Group, notes that the key difference between working for a commercial entity as compared to government is ‘a much greater sense of direct accountability and much clearer priorities’. In government it is very hard to say that anything that might be of public or political concern is ‘low priority’. In a corporate he has found much greater acceptance that resource constraints mean changing working practices, and sharper prioritization.
Both sides can learn a great deal from each other. Governments can learn how to direct resources to maximum effect, how to manage complex large projects, and how to ensure constant efficiency improvements. Corporates have a lot to learn about effective communication, diversity, the importance of social benefit and broader public opinion.
– Matthew Kirk, Group External Affairs Director, Vodafone Group.
His challenge to this transition was too little time for a formal induction into the private sector. Fortunately the experiences of nearly 25-years as a diplomat (where the issues being worked on changed constantly as did the people, organisations, countries, nationalities and cultures) provided a firm grounding for the transition.
At the same time an early concern from his perspective was not whether there was a job to be done, but whether the value of bringing diplomatic skills to bear could be adequately reflected in the metrics used within corporates to measure performance. A couple of very big challenges early on intensified the ‘learning on the job experience’ and demonstrated the ability to deliver.
The third transition we explore is what has for decades been the natural progression for executive directors – to become a non-executive director. This remains true today. However, the way in which this is handled has changed dramatically. In the past, many executives would step into non-executive roles with little preparation. Today, with infinitely greater regulatory scrutiny and media intrusion, there is more understanding that this transition is not automatic and different skills and networks are needed to deliver on the governance, strategy and influence required of a non-executive director.
It is a transition and, for some, a transition made easier by having already had a non-executive role on another Board. But it is clearly a significant change. I imagine most people enjoy the change, because periodic change is important in people’s careers to create fresh stimulus.
– Francis Salway, Non-Executive Director, Next and Cadogan Group Limited.
Being prepared for this transition is important. Francis Salway, former CEO of Land Securities Group, is now successfully developing a portfolio career. He said that having a first non-executive directorship prior to stepping down as an executive helped facilitate the transition. He added that he was finding it easier as a non-executive director to identify and focus on the organisation’s strategic issues for ‘even though an executive director will be skilled in the art of delegation, day to day they still require oversight on delivery and execution, which leaves them less time to focus on the longer-term issues’. Leaving this behind he said, ‘not only frees up the mind, but also the diary’. On a lighter note, the most practical challenge to his career transition was diary management
In conclusion, at Fidelio, we recognise that there is huge value for the individual and the corporate in being able to access talent cross-border, cross-sector and cross-function. The potential for career transformation is highly attractive, but it can be tough to do. Companies can support in terms of on-boarding and help the senior executive to redeploy skills honed over successful careers while learning new ones. And, for those senior executives who are able to transition between very different corporate structures and still perform at a high level, the prize in terms of career progression and satisfaction is golden.
by Emma Villiers, Principal Consultant, Fidelio Partners
Fidelio High Notes – April 2014
- Fidelio welcomes Ian Forbes on board who will enrich our Development and Executive Search offering with a focus on driving growth.
- Fidelio is active across finance, governance and public affairs searches.
- Fidelio is supporting clients in addressing increased mobility needs across Europe.
- Active programme of events for Fidelio including “Navigating Executive Search” with HBSA, and “Tomorrow’s City Infrastructure Forum” at the Guildhall.
- Fidelio is hosting a private dinner “Leadership at the front and beyond” with General Sir Richard Shirreff, recently retired Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
Please contact us with comments or for more information on Fidelio Partners at info@fideliopartners.com