I am at a time in my life where there is a significant amount of my career behind me and who knows how much longer to go. I was therefore delighted to be asked to be a guest on the podcast “How Did You Do That?” co hosted by Simon Stoneham and Gethyn Williams to reflect on what I have achieved over the last 40 odd years and think about what I learnt as a result.
When I was a student there was more of a thing as a traditional career path. I like many ‘visionary’ young people wanted to change the world, and my path was to be a town and country planner but ‘specialising’ in ‘pollution and environmental control’ (what I guess is now part of the sustainability movement). Going to uni was new ground for the Braid family as no -one had ever done that before, so I had no reference points, but Manchester University sorted the foundations out. However in the early ‘80s there just weren’t the opportunities in what I wanted to do. I was focussed on the environment motivated by a field trip as an A level geography student. Unemployment and living back at home created the first sharp bend in the road.
Tell me, who when they are school age ‘comes out’ with their declared ambition to work in financial services? Exactly. But needs must and I entered the world of financial services as a ‘Life Inspector’ for the Phoenix Assurance Company and at the time had a sense that this would be where I’d stay till I was presented with a gold watch on reaching retirement 40 years later. How wrong could I be? Thankfully.
As a senior manager in the now Royal and Sun Alliance Group my last role was as a ‘Dr Death’ redundancy ‘specialist’ as wherever I went it shut. Over a 6-month period I closed a ‘200 seat’ (200 people) call centre transferring work to other sites and working with the staff to help them transition into other work etc. I realised that with all the merger and acquisitions going on I was becoming an expensive commodity and would be at risk myself of being surplus to requirements. Every day I expected the proverbial tap on the shoulder. ‘I’m sorry Ian we are going to have to let you go’ So, despite having a young family, I also realised that I didn’t want to become ‘institutionalised’ and wondered could I make something of myself in the big wide world out there?
I took voluntary redundancy and then began a challenging journey to today where I zigged and zagged out and in and out of financial services, survived and thrived, restlessly searching for what I was looking for – which I think now was a sense of purpose. Fortunately (serendipitously?) I had stumbled into the world of volunteering during this time. Working for a marketing consultancy, whilst still competing as a ‘journeyman’ triathlete I cold called the then CEO of the British Triathlon Association (BTA), a guy called Norman Brook. This was 2004 so the concept of online meetings was in its infancy and Norman therefore suggested we meet in London, and he used what has become a ‘go to’ phrase for me ‘Everything is worth the price of a cup of coffee.” I sold him precisely nothing but Norman ’sold me’ a role in a voluntary capacity as the regional secretary of the South-east region of the BTA. I had no clue what this meant but it felt right and so it proved as I wouldn’t have done what I have in the last 20 years if I hadn’t done that role. I will always be grateful for that coffee at the Café Ritazza on the concourse at London Victoria.
There have been a significant number of other times when I have taken on roles that I haven’t felt I have had either the experience or the skills to do them. But they have ‘felt right’ and my instinct was to get involved. My exit visa from the world of financial services finally came in 2011. I was working in insurance in sport and a client was the British Athletes Commission. (BAC) Because of my parallel voluntary career in sport I knew the then Chair and the sliding doors opened as there was an urgent need for a CEO to help save the organisation from closure and bankruptcy. I am grateful for this opportunity which I undertook guided as much by my moral compass as I’d very little knowledge of high-performance sport particularly from an athlete’s perspective. Whilst the members of the BAC were excelling at the London Games of 2012 I was fighting to get the company out of ‘special measures’ and give the 1500 members in 40 sports a voice in the system.
That all ended ‘unexpectedly’. I had certainly left my footprint though and I am proud of the fact that the athletes’ association that was on the verge of closure when I arrived and has been taken on by others who have sustained the organisation in the system.
Potentially I could have ended my career there as I’d done my time and especially as the CEO role had a detrimental effect on my wellbeing. But there has been one last part of the journey to complete and that was the role of self-employment as I set up DOCIAsport in 2017. I always felt that I would have remained in the performance sport environment with a focus on looking after the people looking after the people – coaches, administrators, volunteers. Yes that’s still in the mix but gut feel and instinct led me to helping the Rugby Football League set up Community Wellbeing Hubs within their club infrastructure.
There’s still some unfinished business and I am committed to these pieces of work because they all have sustainable impact in the sector. But I’m working in a way to make myself redundant passing the batons to others.
How did I do that? I think key is building and sustaining an active network. I have often backed my instinct and worked to a set of values which were always in me, but I am more conscious of what they are now. Yes there have been mistakes made personally and professionally, some I regret and wouldn’t do again, others I have learned from. Going forward I realise I need a sense of purpose and whatever I commit to, I know I can’t do on my own. Let’s see what the future holds. In the meantime I hope you enjoy the 2 podcasts from ‘How Did You Do That? And a link is here but is available wherever you get your pods.
Take and give care.
Ian
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