Let's talk Transformation : The business leaders podcast

"context is key, we must take this opportunity to look to "SHTEM" and integrate the humanities into science and take all voices into account"

A brilliant conversation with Jayshree about the importance of science and the role of business in bringing science to a more diverse population. We discuss how to bring more diversity to STEM, and continue to build more powerful communities for innovation and solving world problems more effectively. We dive in and out of the contents of her two books in the Heart of Science series to look at the different contexts and realities of the state of science and STEM.

Science and the art of storytelling are intertwined – solving critical problems requires meaningful engagement, critical thinking, empathetic listening, collaborative and effective communication and diversity of thought. If we were to mix science and storytelling more intentionally it would attract a more diverse population.

STEM subjects focus on certainty and a quest for answers and seek to analyse, while humanities focus on dealing with uncertainty and a focus on questions, and can help us synthesise. We must navigate with clarity, inclusivity, action and responsibility and have a plan: sustainable innovation calls on us to change our models of leadership and business and consider the legacy perspective, invoking more collaboration, trust and alignment.

Jayshree shares her experience, thought leadership and vision both from her career in science and business, and her continuing advocacy for diversity in STEM.

The main insights you'll get from this episode are :

-       For someone with an interest in research, experimentation, and human impact, as well as a passion for the context of science, 3M provides the requisite ingredients of a culture of empowerment, an emphasis on collaboration and the context of improving lives.

-       Science is invisible, underappreciated, and taken for granted - people don’t realise the impact it has on their lives; a positive perception of science is required to avoid a negative impact on society.

-       Social science research is also necessary to understand people and shape an advocacy strategy for science, i.e. communication with a relatable context (in the form of storytelling).

-       Science and the art of storytelling are intertwined – solving critical problems requires meaningful engagement, critical thinking, empathetic listening, collaborative and effective communication and diversity of thought. 

-       There has been little progress in terms of diversity in STEM and it is time to reengineer the notions around engineering to prevent the negative consequences if we fail to attract more girls to science.

-       ‘STEAM’ (shattering stereotypes, telling the whole-sum story of science, exposure and environment, allies and advocates, metrics and measures) cleaning will hopefully help girls see themselves as scientists.

-       STEM is only possible thanks to Sponsors, Teachers, Enthusiasts and Mentors and diverse VOICES - Volunteering, Organising, Inspiring, Championing, Engaging - intentionally amplify ideas and take the initiative.

-       3M runs initiatives to promote diversity in STEM by encouraging education through programmes and funding, creating equity in communities and economic equity for underrepresented individuals.

-       SHTEM is the integration of humanity in STEM: humanity focuses on uncertainty and the drive for questions whereas STEM focuses on certainty and the quest for answers; COVID was a prime example of science communication (for the public).

-       Skilled tradespeople make the world go round, these trades are based on STEM and a shortage of skilled workers will affect the whole world - the public must be educated, inspired and understand how society can be changed.

-       Helpful information can be found in Jayshree’s books, The Heart of Science: Engineering Footprints, Fingerprints and Imprints, which offers points to ponder, and The Heart of Science: Engineering Fine Print, which examines feelings, identities, needs and emotions (FINE) to understand how humans can manage change and take meaningful action.

-       We must all work individually alongside organisations to change the culture by jettisoning implicit biases; delving into our identities; and being aware of entrenched beliefs to create more honesty, authenticity, diversity, equity and transparency.

-       More inclusive workspaces make economic, moral and ethical sense and diversity warrants equity - creating a more diverse, robust workforce entails challenging existing constructs, dismantling archetypes and shattering stereotypes.

-       Leaders must ‘lead from their rung of the ladder’, be aware of their own privilege and break SILOS (social circles and spheres, informal and formal connections, local community and culture, opportunity creation and context, societal constructs and classifications).

-       CAPE (of Good Hope for the future): commit to sustainable development goals with a long-term perspective, advocate for science with a societal perspective, promote representation with a global perspective, and empower innovation with an inclusive perspective.

-       We must navigate with clarity, inclusivity, action and responsibility and have a plan: sustainable innovation calls on us to change our models of leadership and business and consider the legacy perspective, invoking more collaboration, trust and alignment.

-       LAPS – leadership and legacy in organisations, allyship and advocacy across the value chain, partnership and primacy with the public, stewardship and diplomacy with the ecosystem.

-       Sustainability is a team sport and ties in with purpose; innovation is a lifesaver for business, inspiration is the lifeblood of innovation and purpose is the lifeline for inspiration.

Find out more about Jayshree's work here :

LinkedIn: Jayshree Seth (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayshree-seth-6287b45/)

Books available on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Heart-Science-Engineering-Footprints-Fingerprints-ebook/dp/B08QNJ461T/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3OL798CQUO7YF&keywords=jayshree+seth&qid=1683558917&sprefix=jayshree+seth%2Caps%2C71&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Heart-Science-Engineering-Fine-Print-ebook/dp/B09TTC2PGG/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3OL798CQUO7YF&keywords=jayshree+seth&qid=1683558998&sprefix=jayshree+seth%2Caps%2C71&sr=8-2

In episode 4 of our podcast, host Sally Yates catches up with Anders Kirkeby - Head of Open Innovation at SimCorp.

Discover Anders’ thoughts on innovation within Banking, tech adoption across buy and sell side institutions, and, of course, what he’d put into Room 101.

"An ideal environment for learning provides a transformational experience, builds strong bonds and unlocks potential with very few resources..."

Jon and I discuss everything from history in high school to hacker communities. We discuss the shift of perspective you can get from going to check your assumptions of what skills are and how they are done. We also discuss the future of developer skills, and how building powerful communities to ensure impact can help. A 'democratisation' of access to developer skills and intentionally developing the system for them to be successful through education, awareness, communities and learning contents is key to growing these communities of transformational learning and skills development.

Jon shares his own story of how he came to be involved in Major League Hacking and his mission to empower hackers, create a different and more visible system to access developer skills and build a sustainable business to serve this community.

Main insights you will get from this episode are :

-       The role of developer evangelist has changed: it used to be an educational role to help developers via student workshops, conference talks, blogs, videos, etc. but it has evolved/ matured and become more structured.

-       There are more expectations associated with it (e.g. to justify the existence of the role within an organisation), and it is more specialised (e.g. content creation, Developer Relations/ Marketing), but evangelising is still a core responsibility and the most important on a daily basis.

-       There is no need for a tech background to become a developer - MLH programs exist to teach code/real-world skills to everyone, regardless of experience and involve lots of peer support and mentorship in a product-agnostic field; eclectic skill sets and profiles are valued.

-       MLH uses qualitative and quantitative elements to measure success in their fast-moving, community-based environment: How many people do we serve in a year? Do people get value from what we do? It is a holistic idea of success to build a financially sustainable but mission-oriented business.

-       Rather than a specific methodology, organised chaos rules! There is no prescriptive approach to how things are done, e.g. creating design processes, writing code - everyone can be successful on their own terms.

-       Self-organised teams working across ecosystems make communities powerful. The most successful communities form longer-lasting relationships and can give rise to larger communities; or communities come together to work together.

-       Developer evangelists must be invested in the success of other people and help them achieve their goals – community leaders are enablers for their peers (e.g. servant leaders) and can change people’s lives.

-       2030 vision for the industry is to connect people more effectively with career opportunities; change the recruitment/hiring mindset by giving students a way to showcase their skills and differentiate themselves, demonstrate what they are excited about.

-       Companies on the bleeding edge think radically differently about talent and give people the time, space and absence of risk to experiment (e.g. hackathons); companies must look in different places for new hires, invest in the next generation and be future-focused in their thinking.

-       Computer science education is overly reliant on individual work and does not reflect the often abstract and open-ended collaborative work that prevails in the industry - tech and software are a means to an end and can have incredible impact and reach with relatively little effort.

-       An ideal environment for learning provides a transformational experience; is dysfunctional; is anti-best practices; forces creativity; builds strong bonds; and unlocks potential with very few resources, and without structure or guidance.

-       A good starting point is to engage with existing communities, either in-person or online; go outside your comfort zone and take the first step, people will be excited and supportive.

In episode 3 of Let's Talk, host Sally Yates catches up with Bernardo Castel-Branco - Director & Head of Risk and Compliance at @ Alpha FMC.

Discover how the role of compliance is changing within Financial Services, where and why the regulators’ patience is wearing thin, and the importance of data to the regulatory landscape.

"Workplace systems are powerful but I am not powerless..."

Jenny and I discuss the leadership paradigms of today's world, and the untapped leadership potential held in underrepresented leaders in today's systems. How can we unleash this potential ? How can we bring more diverse voices to the decision making tables to shift stereotypes and increase innovation ?

There is no step-by-step model for leadership - we must embrace messiness, care about it and understand it. Context is key, and contextual agility is a skill that underrepresented leaders have honed more intentionally. How can we constantly leverage all the resources we have when pitching project ideas, and building workplace culture ? How can we lead from our zone of untapped capacity ?

Owning our own power and building a model where we can bring different perspectives to the table - a model of care and collaboration, which will not be easy as it is counter to current metrics and reward systems, is key for unlocking potential.

Jenny shares her story, experience and insights from her own career, and from working with leaders around the globe.

The main insights you'll get from this episode are :

-       ‘Workplace systems are powerful, but I am not powerless’ - not doing anything means that the status quo persists, but doing something means having agency, even on a micro scale; multiple collective small moments create macro shifts.

-       Systemic memories (biases) inhibit change and DE&I language can be exclusive – Jenny’s book is at the intersection of leadership and DE&I, i.e. leadership from a marginalised perspective.

-       We all have multiple identities, e.g. race, heritage, gender, parent, etc. giving us unique experiences; we need spaces that give us the opportunity to think about our unique perspective on and approach to an issue or a problem.

-       ‘Misleadership’ is embedded in many designs and cultures, e.g. looking up to leaders who exhibit no leadership, and the label of ‘leadership’ is often attached to positional authority – this does not mean that the people are leaders; leaders need not be at the top of an organisation.

-       Diverse recruitment is difficult as the system of people being expected to ‘fit in’ rather than belong is so ingrained; we need malleable organisations that can shift with the people - the current definition of talent rules out swathes of talent because they don’t ‘match’ the criteria.

-       There is no step-by-step model for leadership - we must embrace messiness, care about it and understand it; we must build comfort into a model of care and collaboration, which will not be easy as it is counter to metrics and outcomes.

-       Context is instrumental to outcomes and is impactful - contextual agility provides a good framework for leadership, e.g. being aware of ourselves and our power in any collaboration, aware of our growth, understand the system at play and connecting this to past and future decisions.

-       Agility very often brings physical movement to mind - athletes train the body and mind hard, putting in a lot of work behind the scenes in preparation for when the moment comes.

-       We must be present, listen to feedback from others and have the full context to make decisions – ‘tap-in’ questions help us to pause and step back and invite us to be as aware as possible of our own intersections to create conditions for dialogue to happen.

-       Leadership is about finding a balance between thought and action: building change takes time and leaders don’t have time - we expect leaders to solve everything, but we ourselves need more runway to learn, grow and experience.

-       The original research into imposter syndrome was based on high-performing women who questioned their ability despite accolades; the focus is still on individual deficit, but it can also be collective, i.e. a systemic deficit.

The ‘zone of untapped capacity’ is an extension of the idea of the zone of genius – working in the flow state and thriving; leveraging our own power and privilege to bring in marginalised perspectives to create leadership that shifts culture and systems.

Find out more about Jenny here : www.untappedleaders.com

In our second episode of the Let's Talk podcast, host Sally Yates is chatting to Lynne Carreiro, Managing Director at IQEQ - a compliance veteran versed in all things SEC and FCA, with a passion for responsible investing and animal welfare.

Listen to Sally and Lynne debate whether regulators are fair about expectations, whether wilful misrepresentation of ESG requirements is bogging down efforts and what Lynne would banish to Room 101.

Let's Talk!

"Question everything, get curious, every learner should be a seeker of truth.."

Ferose and I discuss learning in the digital age, what it means for humans and for technology, and for this evolving partnership of digital and human.

To remain relevant in today’s world, we must be lifelong learners. Every learner should question everything, and not simply accept what we are told and what we have heard previously. The search for truth leads to growth and deepened understanding of what we don't know. In a complex world, this is key to growing new relationships, creating new systems and evolving with new technology. 

We also discuss the advent of ChatGPT and what it may mean for education and learning, and how we can partner with this technology moving forward. What if AI is one day sentient and can empathise ? Technologists understand what is behind the tools with vast intellectual and financial resources being invested to make everything possible, but the biggest challenge remains ethics around AI and keeping pace with AI development.

Ferose shares his insights, research and pulls on his different, interconnected experiences to give us an holistic view on this vast question of learning in the digital age. 

The main insights you'll get from this episode are :

-       The human ability to build tools is transformational and means we can ‘move’ fast; whilst tools make us lazy (e.g. map reading being replaced by GPS), they do not make us less capable (e.g. digital cameras not rendering photographers redundant).

-       ChatGPT demonstrates the impact of the disruptive effect of AI, i.e. very powerful with unknown unintended consequences (e.g. the corruption of social media’s pure intentions potentially threatening democracy).

-       Humans cannot understand how deeply interconnected the world is, and we don’t know what the secondary/tertiary effects of this are.

-       In terms of the future of work, insights from testing show that it is not creative pursuits that will be disrupted last (e.g. writing) as expected, but mechanical tasks (e.g. plumbing) and eye-contact jobs (involving human connection).

-       If AI is one day sentient and can empathise, this is the final frontier: technologists understand what is behind the tools with vast intellectual and financial resources being invested to make everything possible, but the biggest challenge is ethics around AI keeping pace with AI development.

-       The characteristics of a good engineer remain the same, however, namely curiosity, humility and practice. Most engineers are taught hard skills (e.g. coding) but soft skills (e.g. empathy, compassion, radical candour) are just as important and can also be taught.

-       Likewise good leadership relies on timeless principles such as storytelling; understanding the context of the world we live in; making connections between seemingly disconnected things; taking a holistic approach; remaining at the intersection of science and humanity; and making sound decisions.

-       What should be taught: curiosity (how to ask difficult/interesting questions); first-principle thinking (to get to the root cause of the problem); thinking in systems (multi-link solutions with global effects); the ability to build a complex architecture in one page.

-       Inclusion is a mindset of being respectful and open. Tech and tools advance literacy, meaning that everyone can learn, but the rate of change is problematic as people are left behind (e.g. the elderly, or marginalised communities with no access to tech) and miss out on progress.

-       The hidden potential links inclusion and learning and requires us to take a step back to see where the gaps are, e.g. an explicit 50/50 gender mix across the board implemented in a thoughtful manner; making disability mainstream (as 15% of the global population); understanding and then executing to add value for the collective.

-       Learning must be shared, whereby there is no reduction on the part of the giver. If they are not shared, learnings are useless. We must use social media to promote ideas, not ourselves - this is meaningless to others, whereas sharing knowledge is powerful.

-       To remain relevant in today’s world, we must be lifelong learners. Every learner should be a seeker of truth, question everything, and not simply accept what we are told.

The purpose of learning is always the search for truth, which leads to growth. We must always ask the hard questions - for true seekers, the possibilities are infinite.

Find out more about Ferose here : https://ferosevr.com

In our first podcast episode of Let’s Talk, our host Sally Yates is chatting to the Global Head of Markets Compliance at Société Générale, Paul Clulow-Phillips.

Hear Paul’s opinion on the areas in which Banking needs to up its game, how and why governance has been switched up at SocGen, and how the regulators are embracing AI.

And, as is customary on Let’s Talk, we get to know Paul a little better: hear his pitch for what he'd banish to Room 101, given half the chance.

Let’s Talk!

"you are everyone you've ever met and you learn something from every encounter however brief..."

A fun conversation with John about the power of lived experiences, sharing stories and understanding different perspectives around the Human side of business and indeed of life.

How can we make life better for our customers ? how can we create more human centred practices in organisations ? how can we use the experience of everyone to better the Human experience ?

We delve into the myths and realities of the Human experience and discuss the enablers and behaviours. Organisations nowadays are full of humans who aren’t allowed to act in a human way because there are too many barriers; Repressing natural human behaviour removes freedom and results in a lack of common sense; a lack of humanity; and a waste of time (and potentially money) – we should look at the human experience from the customer angle given that what’s good for customers is good for business.

John shares his insight, stories, thoughts and inspiration from working with businesses large and small.

The main insights you will get from this episode are :

-       ‘You are everyone you’ve ever met’: we learn from the people we meet and the situations we’re in - this builds resilience, grounds us to reality and gives us an understanding of others’ lived experiences.

-       There are 5 enablers and 7 behaviours for being ‘human’; storytelling plays a big role, as does listening, and seeing things from different perspectives - the emotional experience is far more important than the functional one.

-       Organisations nowadays are full of humans who aren’t allowed to act in a human way because there are too many barriers; companies should unwind restrictive policies and procedures to allow human behaviour.

-       Repressing natural human behaviour removes freedom and results in a lack of common sense; a lack of humanity; and a waste of time (and potentially money) – we should look at the human experience from the customer angle given that what’s good for customers is good for business.

-       Staff must be empowered to act instinctively to help, for example - this requires a healthy culture in which senior managers allow people to do the right thing for the customer, which can then be discussed and used as a learning.

-       Customer experience is an ‘outside-in’ process: human bias means that we see the world from the inside out - from our own perspective - and organisations are no different; they are closer to their own business than their customers.

-       We must see business as the planet exerting a strong pull that needs to be resisted in order to remain close to customers - decision-makers cannot really know what customers want and it is a continuous process of finding broader perspectives and connecting with customers.

-       Intentional curiosity makes for competitive advantage, and leaders must face uncomfortable truths, both in the form of data, but even more hard-hitting, hearing them first hand.

-       Common myths in terms of the customer experience are:

·      Feedback – countless surveys produce huge amounts of data that convince senior leaders they are close to what matters, giving a false sense of security – it’s about genuine understanding.

·      Loyalty – does not exist, it is more a matter of usefulness; if senior leaders believe customers are loyal, they stop trying

·      ROI – must prove how it adds revenue; a bad customer experience is very expensive to provide and causes customers to leave; it is the cost of inaction.

-       Data gives comfort and certainty and allows management around figures - pioneers are needed to make fundamental changes and see the customer experience in a more human-centred way, e.g. trying to overcome the inequality that wealth and confidence buy a good experience.

-       ‘In a crisis, service matters’: companies should aim to give good service to everyone, to save people time and stress so that they can enjoy life as much as possible.

-       We must work on our own ‘inside-out’ process and give ourselves time to be – organise our thoughts, make a commitment to something that could be a starting point for so much. Just try! If in doubt, be human and learn from mistakes.

In our new podcast, Let’s Talk, we're taking a bigger view of what it means to future-proof financial services through a triple bottom line lens - people, business and planet. Now more than ever, the industry is having to challenge itself to do better and to be better.

In this podcast we’ll be talking to a range of experts, friends and industry characters as they share insights into the strategies at the forefront of the financial services industry, what tactics are in play and what we can expect to see on the horizon.