Talking Leadership with Sir Peter Estlin – Chair of FutureDotNow and Senior Advisor to Barclays plc
Nick Smart
October 21, 2020
Sir Peter Estlin is currently an independent director of Rothschild & Co as well as Chair of FutureDotNow. He has had a distinguished career in accounting and finance which saw him become the Chief Finance Officer at Barclays. As part of his work with the City of London Corporation he held the post of the Lord Mayor of London in 2018/19.
Sir Peter graduated from Bristol University and joined Deloitte Haskins & Sells and progressed to becoming a Chartered Accountant. I began by asking Sir Peter who had inspired him in his early career.
‘My manager was a young partner who was working with the London office investigating how computing and technology could revolutionise the audit process. He and the team had a great vision and they wanted to create a focal point of learning. I was inspired by his passion, looking at how technology was being used in business. It was those two elements that really persuaded me to shift my career route quite rapidly, even at the very early stage.’
A move to London to progress the project followed and working in new and emerging technologies meant exposure to the senior management of his organisation and their customers. This was the early 80’s and major financial services players like Prudential and Royal Bank of Scotland were seeking new products for insurance, banking and asset management. His company culture promoted growth, to try new things and to take some risk. It was a period where he could ask forgiveness rather than permission to try new solutions for his customers.
Develop your passion
‘What I learned from that time is that if you really want to take something forward you've got to develop your own passion, you've got to have your own goal of where you're going. But don't be afraid of making mistakes.’
That word passion that resonates. Seeing passion from a leader and then finding your own to push yourself into new challenges.
It was an approach Sir Peter took in those early years, putting himself forward and taking on roles that would lead him out of his comfort zone. He does the same now, even as an industry leader he still finds himself in situations that are new, but as he puts it, ‘what’s the worst that can happen?’. He recalls the pain of making errors but put into in perspective they were mistakes his leadership could handle within a supportive environment.
The need for tough feedback
‘Having humility when something doesn’t work out and you receive negative feedback is actually a very powerful tool. It's lovely to be celebrated and for people to say, “you did a great job”. But I also believe it's particularly good for us all to get a bit of a knock back occasionally as arrogance becomes a dangerous trait. I think I benefited from having a failure once in a while and having others advise me where I needed to improve. Without that information I could not have known the aspects that were effectively holding me back and been able to work on them. It’s true that negative feedback is really hard to take but you actually also want and need it. And therefore, how you give negative feedback is also important. Knowing both sides makes you resilient and it is important when leading your own team.’
Sir Peter’s resilience is rooted in the difficult circumstances of his childhood. He lost his mother just as he was transferring to senior school. He talks eloquently of how the effects of that period of his life gave him independence and the desire to do his best and take the chances that were available to him. At this time he was offered a bursary at King Edward’s Witley. His experience of needing to be assertive and proactive during his school years has were later transferred into his professional life.
Listen to your team
Even when he occupied the senior position in his organisation, he still sought out feedback and displayed humility to his team.
‘In my team my chief of staff would be my eyes and ears. She would assess the room and nudge me and say “you need to sit back and listen to this person”. We’d also discuss alternatives to my suggested approach. I think we all learn from it. And in being more open colleagues can help each other. I believe in a team approach, It’s very seldom you have all the creativity singularly from one person, it's normally an interaction. High performing teams come about through diversity. So, whilst I have a natural inclination hire people with the same passions as me, I know the team need the challenge of different points of view and those people should be added to the team deliberately. I think that effective leaders, lead by example. And some of that example should come from being open and more transparent about where they've succeeded, but also where they've made mistakes.’
Again, the theme of passion comes to the fore and its by utilising passion that Sir Peter feels leaders can get the advocates and supporters they need to deliver their initiatives. When creating FutureDotNow and the Association of Apprentices Sir Peter needed to persuade business leaders and government to champion his causes. In an environment crowded with initiatives it is not possible to get support simply by referencing past roles. To truly gain advocates it was the demonstration of the benefits, and why the work is important that won over new support.
Have a strong vision to share
‘You must tell people what do you and what’s the vision. Describe what are you trying to achieve, and communicate that in a simple way. See who identifies with that vision, and understand why they identify with it and what's in it for them. You're looking for synergistic elements that benefit both parties. Form an emotional connection. People can often get the intellectual argument quite quickly. People that emotionally engaged you are the most powerful. That’s what I seek to achieve, an emotional connection’.
Passion, emotion, humility. Three key aspects of great leadership. But as Sir Peter says, leaders need to lead by example, to show these qualities as well as expect them from their team.
Copyright www.pmhit.com
About Sir Peter
Sir Peter Estlin is an independent director of Rothschild & Co as well as Chair of FutureDotNow a coalition of businesses and organisations working together to boost digital skills across the
UK. He is also Chair of the Association of Apprentices, a national membership body for
apprentices in the UK, as well as a trustee of Trust for London, Morden College and
Bridewell Royal Hospital. He is a non-executive on HMT Audit Committee and a Founder
Patron of Onside Youth Zones. Peter was Lord Mayor of the City of London in 2018/19,
having had a thirty-five year career with Barclays, Citigroup and Coopers & Lybrand in
London, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore. He is married to Lindy and they have three
adult children.
Learn more about Sir Peter’s work here;
