Des has worked in financial services for over 30 years, "both as a banker and leader" as he puts it. Having spent most of his career working in Ireland, his more recent experience is in the UK, as MD of First Trust Bank (AIB's Northern Irish subsidiary) and, more recently, as CEO of Cumberland Building Society in NW England.​

He is someone that relishes the challenge of change and, in this episode, we spoke to Des at the start of Cumberland's change journey - a journey made somewhat trickier by the fact that there was no obvious 'burning platform'. We'll talk to Des again later in 2019 to see how his change plan is progressing and what he's learned along the way.

Show Notes:

2.00s – Des's background and a bit on Cumberland – 3.22 – Purpose and values matter – 5.00 – Listening to Cumberland's people – 7.10 – Where's the business today? – 11.30 – What does the change journey look like? – 14.20 – Creating a case for change in a healthy company – 19.00 – Communicating to get people comfortable with change – 20.40 – Being transparent – literally! – 22.30 – Looking at leadership outside the office – 24.30 – The role of people leaders during change – 23.00 – the roles of leaders during change is fundamental – 29.00 – What's gone wrong so far? – 31.30 –Des' role models – 34.45 – Des' advice to his 20-year-old self – 'nobody gives you self-confidence'