In January 2007 I started a new role within BMW Financial Services which meant moving from the UK to the Asia Pacific regional office in Singapore. A few weeks before I moved I was invited to join a management training course with colleagues from my new region.

It was held on a Private Game Reserve in South Africa. The location and the experience were memorable and so was the content of the programme.

In this Side Mirror episode I share some of what I learned during that week. I took away learnings that still, 18 years later, remain integral to how I view leadership and how we can enable Fulfilling Performance.

About Andy

I'm an experienced business leader and a passionate developer of people in the automotive finance industry, internationally.

During over twenty five years, I have played a key role in developing businesses including Alphabet UK, BMW Corporate Finance UK, BMW Financial Services Singapore, BMW Financial Services New Zealand and Tesla Financial Services UK.

At the same time, I have coached individuals and delivered leadership development programmes in 17 countries across Asia, Europe and North America.

I started Aquilae in 2016 to enable “Fulfilling Performance” in the mobility industry, internationally.

Check out Tim Urban’s post: Your life in weeks

Learn more about Fulfilling Performance

Check out Release the handbrake! The Fulfilling Performance Hub.

Connect with Andy

LinkedIn: Andy Follows
Email: [email protected]

Join a guided peer mentoring team: Aquilae Academy

Thank you to our sponsors:

ASKE Consulting
Email: [email protected]

Aquilae
Email: [email protected]

Episode Directory on Instagram @careerviewmirror  

If you enjoy listening to our guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app. 

Episode recorded on 25 November, 2024.

In this episode we are celebrating the career to date of Duncan Forrester.

Duncan is a globally experienced Chief Marketing and Communications Officer and consultant who’s worked with many of the automotive industry’s most famous brands.

He cut his teeth at BMW and Volvo in the UK, before being appointed as the global head of Product and Brand Communication for Volvo Cars in Sweden, soon after the Geely acquisition, and relaunching the Volvo brand with the then all-new XC90 and the other models that followed.

He then spent a period of time running Corporate Communications for McLaren Automotive in Woking before the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of a small team launching an entirely new and innovative car company – Polestar.

With that unique experience, he started the first communication consultancy specifically supporting start-up and electric vehicle brands, initially creating the PR and Communications function for INEOS Automotive and their Grenadier, and then as Chief Communications Officer for Volta Trucks. And more recently in the same role for Automobili Pininfarina, with their all-electric Battista hypercar – one of the fastest and most powerful road cars ever built.

And he’s now working with the electrification of the vast Ultra Class mining haul trucks, so he really has worked on the decarbonisation of vehicles at every end of the automotive spectrum.

In our conversation we talk about how he knew from an early age that he wanted to get into the automotive industry and he demonstrated great effort and persistence to make that happen.

When opportunities arose, he had his own north star which helped him to decline some that weren't aligned.

As a result he has amassed a significant amount of experience in the specialised field of launching startup EV brands.

Paul Flitter and Paul Kirby had both mentioned Duncan in their recent episodes, highlighting what a supportive mentor he is. I was delighted to get the opportunity to get to know him myself through this conversation and to be able to share his story and experience with you.

Connect with Duncan

LinkedIn Profile
Website

About Andy

I'm an experienced business leader and a passionate developer of people in the automotive finance industry, internationally.

During over twenty five years, I have played a key role in developing businesses including Alphabet UK, BMW Corporate Finance UK, BMW Financial Services Singapore, BMW Financial Services New Zealand and Tesla Financial Services UK.

At the same time, I have coached individuals and delivered leadership development programmes in 17 countries across Asia, Europe and North America.

I started Aquilae in 2016 to enable “Fulfilling Performance” in the mobility industry, internationally.

Learn more about Fulfilling Performance

Check out Release the handbrake! The Fulfilling Performance Hub.

Connect with Andy

LinkedIn: Andy Follows
Email: [email protected]

Join a guided peer mentoring team: Aquilae Academy

Thank you to our sponsors:

ASKE Consulting
Email: [email protected]

Aquilae
Email: [email protected]

Episode Directory on Instagram @careerviewmirror  

If you enjoy listening to our guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app. 

Episode recorded on 4 November, 2024.

In this episode we are celebrating the career to date of Agustina Garcia.

Agustina leads a team at BMW dedicated to integrating modular systems into future cars. She has a fascination for technology and communication and believes communication is the key for success in projects and relationships.

Her favourite sentence in her company is “Be hard on the process and fair to the people.” And she takes inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi’s saying, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

In our conversation Agustina shares how she was already different as a child because her parents were in Germany and she was raised by her grandparents and wider family in Spain.

She was keen to achieve financial independence as early as possible and so her initial ambition to be a surgeon with its many years of study became less attractive. She chose to go into engineering instead.

She only wanted to be a leader if she could be herself.

We talked about the first person you lead is yourself and how you lead yourself will impact how you lead others.

We discussed women stepping up into leadership positions. Agustina suggests a lot of women don't do it because they don't have role models and she encourages women to become leaders and help shape a better society.

I enjoyed getting to know Agustina through our conversation very much and I am delighted that she chose to share her story with me. I hope that you will be inspired by her stepping up in this way and I look forward to hearing what resonates with you.

Connect with Agustina

LinkedIn Profile

About Andy

I'm an experienced business leader and a passionate developer of people in the automotive finance industry, internationally.

During over twenty five years, I have played a key role in developing businesses including Alphabet UK, BMW Corporate Finance UK, BMW Financial Services Singapore, BMW Financial Services New Zealand and Tesla Financial Services UK.

At the same time, I have coached individuals and delivered leadership development programmes in 17 countries across Asia, Europe and North America.

I started Aquilae in 2016 to enable “Fulfilling Performance” in the mobility industry, internationally.

Learn more about Fulfilling Performance

Check out Release the handbrake! The Fulfilling Performance Hub.

Connect with Andy

LinkedIn: Andy Follows
Email: [email protected]

Join a guided peer mentoring team: Aquilae Academy

Thank you to our sponsors:

ASKE Consulting
Email: [email protected]

Aquilae
Email: [email protected]

Episode Directory on Instagram @careerviewmirror  

If you enjoy listening to our guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app. 

Episode recorded on 31 October, 2024.

This is the third of three episodes about how the Guiding Principles of Fulfilling Performance can help us to manage our time or as I prefer to describe it, live our lives intentionally and deliberately.

In the first episode I shared some paradigms or ways of looking at our lives that can support us to be more effective in taking ownership of the journey we are on. The second episode focused on how the first two Guiding Principles: Know why and Be clear can help us to invest our time wisely in endeavours that mean the utmost to us whether that's a business project or a cherished relationship.

This episode rounds off the series looking at how the Guiding Principles of Equip yourself and Support others play their part in enabling Fulfilling Performance when time is at a premium.

About Andy

I'm an experienced business leader and a passionate developer of people in the automotive finance industry, internationally.

During over twenty five years, I have played a key role in developing businesses including Alphabet UK, BMW Corporate Finance UK, BMW Financial Services Singapore, BMW Financial Services New Zealand and Tesla Financial Services UK.

At the same time, I have coached individuals and delivered leadership development programmes in 17 countries across Asia, Europe and North America.

I started Aquilae in 2016 to enable “Fulfilling Performance” in the mobility industry, internationally.

Check out Tim Urban’s post: Your life in weeks

Learn more about Fulfilling Performance

Check out Release the handbrake! The Fulfilling Performance Hub.

Connect with Andy

LinkedIn: Andy Follows
Email: [email protected]

Join a guided peer mentoring team: Aquilae Academy

Thank you to our sponsors:

ASKE Consulting
Email: [email protected]

Aquilae
Email: [email protected]

Episode Directory on Instagram @careerviewmirror  

If you enjoy listening to our guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app. 

Episode recorded on 4 November, 2024.

Last week I published the first in this series of Side Mirror episodes about Time Management. It wasn’t my first choice title for this topic but I called it that so it would be as easy as possible to find for people who are looking for help managing their time. After all, they’re busy people.

In the first episode I shared some paradigms or ways of looking at our lives that can support us to be more effective in taking ownership of the journey we are on.

This episode focuses on how the first two Guiding Principles of Fulfilling Performance: Know why and Be clear can help us to invest our time wisely in endeavours that mean the utmost to us whether that's a business project or a cherished relationship.

Check out the Big Rocks video

About Andy

I'm an experienced business leader and a passionate developer of people in the automotive finance industry, internationally.

During over twenty five years, I have played a key role in developing businesses including Alphabet UK, BMW Corporate Finance UK, BMW Financial Services Singapore, BMW Financial Services New Zealand and Tesla Financial Services UK.

At the same time, I have coached individuals and delivered leadership development programmes in 17 countries across Asia, Europe and North America.

I started Aquilae in 2016 to enable “Fulfilling Performance” in the mobility industry, internationally.

Check out Tim Urban’s post: Your life in weeks

Learn more about Fulfilling Performance

Check out Release the handbrake! The Fulfilling Performance Hub.

Connect with Andy

LinkedIn: Andy Follows
Email: [email protected]

Join a guided peer mentoring team: Aquilae Academy

Thank you to our sponsors:

ASKE Consulting
Email: [email protected]

Aquilae
Email: [email protected]

Episode Directory on Instagram @careerviewmirror  

If you enjoy listening to our guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app. 

Episode recorded on 31 October, 2024.

In a recent Aquilae Academy peer mentoring session, team members were discussing how leaders can make time for themselves to do what the author Cal Newport calls "Deep work" when it seems that as soon as they walk through the door everyone wants to speak to them.

On a call with a woman I am mentoring, she asked how can I manage all the demands on me without becoming stressed and overwhelmed.

When I launched our Fulfilling Performance newsletter, Release the handbrake! on Substack, a couple of readers were quick to ask how Fulfilling Performance can help us to manage the barrage of demands on our time.

It seems it's about time for a Side Mirror about time and how we can use the Fulfilling Performance paradigm to manage it. In this series of Side Mirror episodes I am going to show you how to apply those four Guiding Principles: Know why, Be clear, Equip yourself, and Support others to manage your time more effectively.

In this episode I'll start with some helpful paradigms. In our upcoming episodes I'll introduce each of the Guiding Principles in turn and explain how they apply here.

About Andy

I'm an experienced business leader and a passionate developer of people in the automotive finance industry, internationally.

During over twenty five years, I have played a key role in developing businesses including Alphabet UK, BMW Corporate Finance UK, BMW Financial Services Singapore, BMW Financial Services New Zealand and Tesla Financial Services UK.

At the same time, I have coached individuals and delivered leadership development programmes in 17 countries across Asia, Europe and North America.

I started Aquilae in 2016 to enable “Fulfilling Performance” in the mobility industry, internationally.

Check out Tim Urban’s post: Your life in weeks

Learn more about Fulfilling Performance

Check out Release the handbrake! The Fulfilling Performance Hub.

Connect with Andy

LinkedIn: Andy Follows
Email: [email protected]

Join a guided peer mentoring team: Aquilae Academy

Thank you to our sponsors:

ASKE Consulting
Email: [email protected]

Aquilae
Email: [email protected]

Episode Directory on Instagram @careerviewmirror  

If you enjoy listening to our guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app. 

Episode recorded on 23 October, 2024.

The expert I've invited to join me in this episode is Amy Rowlinson.

Shining a light on what is possible when you focus on why, Amy Rowlinson empowers people to forge their own path to create a purposeful, sustainable and fulfilling way of life.

As a life purpose coach, podcast strategist and podcaster, Amy's chosen mission is to gift a living legacy of inspiration, insight and knowledge and create long-lasting, positive ripple effects.

On her podcast, Focus on WHY, Amy provides uplifting and relatable conversations designed to inspire listeners to take purposeful action.

Her book, Focus on Why: Create a purposeful way of life, comes out on 24 October 2024.

Connect with Amy:

LinkedIn
Friday Focus Newsletter
Website
Order Amy’s book: Focus on Why - Create a purposeful life
Link to Amy’s socials and other resources 
Enquire about coaching with Amy
Listen to Amy’s Focus on Why podcast

About Andy

I'm an experienced business leader and a passionate developer of people in the automotive finance industry, internationally.

During over twenty five years, I have played a key role in developing businesses including Alphabet UK, BMW Corporate Finance UK, BMW Financial Services Singapore, BMW Financial Services New Zealand and Tesla Financial Services UK.

At the same time, I have coached individuals and delivered leadership development programmes in 17 countries across Asia, Europe and North America.

I started Aquilae in 2016 to enable “Fulfilling Performance” in the mobility industry, internationally.

Learn more about Fulfilling Performance

Check out Release the handbrake! The Fulfilling Performance Hub.

Connect with Andy

LinkedIn: Andy Follows
Email: [email protected]

Join a guided peer mentoring team: Aquilae Academy

Thank you to our sponsors:

ASKE Consulting
Email: [email protected]

Aquilae
Email: [email protected]

Episode Directory on Instagram @careerviewmirror  

If you enjoy listening to our guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app. 

Episode recorded on 9 October, 2024.

In this episode we are celebrating the career to date of Jean-Luc Cartwright.

Jean-Luc is a Director at Maple House Classic Cars

His first experience in the motor industry came at the age of 13, working weekends cleaning cars at a Sports Car specialist in Cheshire in the Northwest of England. Jean-Luc describes himself as an eternal car nerd who has been fortunate to work with some of the most forward thinking automotive brands in the world Lexus and Tesla - He is now pursuing a personal passion by looking back to classics with Maple House Classic Cars.

In our conversation we talk about his early experiences, including his father's influence on his engineering mindset. Jean-Luc explains how he secured his role at Lexus and his subsequent transition from Lexus to Tesla, highlighting the culture shock of joining a startup. He emphasises the importance of building rapport and relationships and acknowledges the mentoring he received. He shares how he adapted to his leadership roles in Edinburgh, Dublin, and Newcastle. Jean-Luc's story underscores the value of initiative, adaptability, and the ability to lead and develop teams.

I enjoyed getting to know Jean-Luc better through our conversation and I'm pleased to be able to share his insights. As always, I look forward to hearing what resonates with you.

Connect with Jean-Luc:

LinkedIn Profile
Email: [email protected]
Website

About Andy

I'm an experienced business leader and a passionate developer of people in the automotive finance industry, internationally.

During over twenty five years, I have played a key role in developing businesses including Alphabet UK, BMW Corporate Finance UK, BMW Financial Services Singapore, BMW Financial Services New Zealand and Tesla Financial Services UK.

At the same time, I have coached individuals and delivered leadership development programmes in 17 countries across Asia, Europe and North America.

I started Aquilae in 2016 to enable “Fulfilling Performance” in the mobility industry, internationally.

Learn more about Fulfilling Performance

Check out Release the handbrake! The Fulfilling Performance Hub.

Connect with Andy

LinkedIn: Andy Follows
Email: [email protected]

Join a guided peer mentoring team: Aquilae Academy

Thank you to our sponsors:

ASKE Consulting
Email: [email protected]

Aquilae
Email: [email protected]

Episode Directory on Instagram @careerviewmirror  

If you enjoy listening to our guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app. 

Episode recorded on 27 September, 2024.

In this episode we are celebrating the career to date of Susanne Allmendinger-Vogt.

Susanne is the founder of BB&R Brand Business & Responsibility Consulting. Prior to starting her business she had a 25 year career with BMW Group where her last role was Global Head of Brand and Communication Strategy for MINI.

She has a curious mind always seeking the root causes behind the obvious. She's a challenge seeker who loves to explore new horizons and push things forward. She's an optimist who believes there is power and goodness in everything and everyone.

She believes our economic system needs companies with fresh, innovative solutions for the world's big problems - healthy companies that care about all their stakeholders, including the environment, and see themselves as a force for good.

As a passionate brand strategist, Susanne has dedicated herself now, after years in the corporate world, to supporting deep tech startups in building strong, successful brands and businesses.

She helps them overcome their biggest challenges and pain points to bring their impactful solutions to market.

She's also active as a Business Angel and mentors startups in their early stages.

Susanne loves all kinds of sports, mainly outdoors and preferably in the mountains. Living in Munich, this is just around the corner and her source of energy. Fortunately, her husband and 17-year-old son share this passion.

In our conversation we talk about how she found her way into BMW, her early experience of weekly trips to the MINI plant in the UK, her longstanding affinity for the MINI brand, her early foray into the world of Connected Drive and her eventual sense that it was time to move on.

Susanne and I spent 18 overlapping years at BMW but had not met before this call. I enjoyed getting to know her and learning more about her life and career journey.

As always, I look forward to hearing what resonates with you.

Connect with Susanne:
LinkedIn Profile
Website

About Andy

I'm an experienced business leader and a passionate developer of people in the automotive finance industry, internationally.

During over twenty five years, I have played a key role in developing businesses including Alphabet UK, BMW Corporate Finance UK, BMW Financial Services Singapore, BMW Financial Services New Zealand and Tesla Financial Services UK.

At the same time, I have coached individuals and delivered leadership development programmes in 17 countries across Asia, Europe and North America.

I started Aquilae in 2016 to enable “Fulfilling Performance” in the mobility industry, internationally.

Learn more about Fulfilling Performance

Check out Release the handbrake! The Fulfilling Performance Hub.

Connect with Andy

LinkedIn: Andy Follows
Email: [email protected]

Join a guided peer mentoring team: Aquilae Academy

Thank you to our sponsors:

ASKE Consulting
Email: [email protected]

Aquilae
Email: [email protected]

Episode Directory on Instagram @careerviewmirror  

If you enjoy listening to our guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app. 

Episode recorded on 24 September, 2024.

In this episode we are celebrating the career to date of Paul Kirby.

Paul is well known in the UK van world as "the Electric Van man" and as a member of The EV Café team.

In our conversation we talk about his rocky start in life, and his career journey from his first job with a library suppliers as a warehouse person and van driver to  his current position.

I'm grateful to Paul for sharing his experiences as openly as he does. His approach to our conversation makes the story of his life and career journey all the more inspiring.

As always, I look forward to hearing what resonates with you.

Connect with Paul:

LinkedIn Profile

YouTube: @Electric Van Man

Websites:

The EV Café

EV Essentials

About Andy

I'm an experienced business leader and a passionate developer of people in the automotive finance industry, internationally.

During over twenty five years, I have played a key role in developing businesses including Alphabet UK, BMW Corporate Finance UK, BMW Financial Services Singapore, BMW Financial Services New Zealand and Tesla Financial Services UK.

At the same time, I have coached individuals and delivered leadership development programmes in 17 countries across Asia, Europe and North America.

I started Aquilae in 2016 to enable “Fulfilling Performance” in the mobility industry, internationally.

Learn more about Fulfilling Performance

Check out Release the handbrake! The Fulfilling Performance Hub.

Connect with Andy

LinkedIn: Andy Follows
Email: [email protected]

Join a guided peer mentoring team: Aquilae Academy

Thank you to our sponsors:

ASKE Consulting
Email: [email protected]

Aquilae
Email: [email protected]

Episode Directory on Instagram @careerviewmirror  

If you enjoy listening to our guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app. 

Episode recorded on 20 September, 2024.