Interview with a CEO - Creating meaningful, purposeful work in the everyday

David was appointed CEO of SG Kleinwort Hambros Fiduciary Services in 2021. He has enjoyed a successful career with the business for almost 20 years. His commitment to the organisation is inspiring, it only takes a short conversation with David to know he is a man on a mission, he knows what he wants to achieve and is focused on delivering. 

KH: How important do you believe purpose and values are for a leader and their organisation? 

DB: Purpose and values are vital. Without them, you cannot create that golden thread that links everything together and creates meaningful, purposeful work in the everyday. It’s a leader’s job to bring clarity, direction and share common goals. For me, clarity is key, especially when a leader or organisation wants to reward success – if there is no clarity of what success looks like, how can we reward our people well? 

Clarity of purpose and values is unifying. When leaders bring clarity, this creates a sense of security and belonging, people understand what they are part of and their own role in the business.  

KH: What are some of the best ways you have found to embed purpose and values, so people are clear and understand? 

DB: It’s my job to set the tone from the top - this is an overused phrase in my opinion, but it’s rarely “overdone” – it’s easy to say but that means nothing unless I do it. I have found the most important way to embed purpose and values is to live those values every day. People rightly expect to see leaders live their values on a daily basis. This means treating people well and being consistent in how I apply these values to all decisions. This builds trust too, and I believe you have to be trusted to lead. 

For me, this leads to another question – how do you become a better leader? I often reset myself. This is about challenging myself and my purpose as a leader, asking ‘do I need to reset any goals?' Am I focused on the right goals or are there distractions? Is there a mismatch between what I am actually doing and what I think I am doing or want to be doing? 

An easy mistake to make is trying to do too much too soon. As a leader, it’s your job to drive the business forward and lead through change but I have found this is often best done through setting smaller goals. Being overly ambitious can slow you down or prevent you from achieving your goals. I now like to simplify things wherever I can – it helps me, and it helps everyone else. 

KH: So, I have to ask, you clearly have high standards for yourself, how do you assess when you need to adapt? Where do you seek out feedback and challenge? 

DB: That’s simple. Everywhere. My style is open and direct, and I want people to be open and direct with me.

I’m very aware I’m not the finished article, I’m very aware I make mistakes, so I want to receive feedback, I seek it out very intentionally. I do believe that 99% of feedback will come from a good heart. 

KH: There must have been many defining moments in your leadership over the years, is there one that particularly stands out for you? 

DB: Outside of work I was the lead coach for the U18 girls hockey team for a number of years. What I learnt with the hockey team directly impacted how I developed as a leader at SG Kleinwort Hambros. Not only was this coaching role a new challenge which stretched me, I was also working with coaches of the highest standard, so I was able to learn from them and develop my style. The lessons didn’t stop there. In that coaching period, I learnt to adapt my communication style. Clarity was crucial and the young people I coached were quick to challenge and fearless to give me feedback and tell me if what I said didn’t make sense to them. I had to learn to lead with empathy, bridging a significant generational gap and understanding different mindsets to get the best out of them. 

Coaching this hockey team has made a huge difference to my leadership and helped me identify where and when I was going wrong and how to adapt. This comes back to simplicity and ensuring the messages I was delivering were clear and simple without unnecessary complications. It’s a good reminder to me that as leaders we need to ensure that we continue to put ourselves in learning opportunities that are not just about technical skills and qualifications but ones that shape us into better people and better leaders. 

KH: That leads beautifully to my next question. Can we measure leadership effectiveness? 

DB: Yes, to a degree. 

It does depend on what you believe makes an effective leader. You can measure employee turnover, conduct surveys, team engagement, and ensure everything can be traced back to, and is part of the golden thread. All of this is useful, data is useful, but I look for more than that.  

I believe that you can experience the effectiveness of leadership by visiting a workplace, walking through the office and speaking to people across all roles and levels. This gives a greater sense of how that organisation is led. Is there a buzz? What’s going on? Are people enjoying the workplace? Effective leadership should be experienced in the culture as well as the data. 

KH: So, my final question. What makes for a brilliant, satisfying day for you as CEO? 

DB: That would be one where a lot is going on, one where I can engage in robust, challenging conversations. I believe the best change often comes from the hardest conversations. So, as a leader, I want to have strong team players around me who will challenge and provoke my thinking. We can achieve much more together. 

Image courtesy of the Guernsey Press