Grab a coffee and read this quarters 5 minutes with… Featuring Lee Blackwell, the Council’s director of marketing and communications.
What is your role at the Council? I am Director of Communications and Marketing which covers a range of different areas including membership.
If you could describe your workday using only emojis, which ones would you choose? 🐱 ☕ 😆 📱🤔 😮💨
What’s the most unexpected thing you’ve learned or experienced while working in the industry and for the Council? How – despite years of education, regulation, and innovation – some myths still stick around with people who should really know better. If you are working in the retirement market, you need to understand modern later life lending. You don’t have to provide these products or even necessarily endorse them but you should not stop customers from exploring all their options.
If you could swap roles with anyone else in your company for a day, who would it be, and what do you think you’d learn from the experience? Aiming high, I would like to be Chair for a day. David brings a huge amount to the role, not least his political connections and I would love to spend some time in Westminster! With an election on the horizon, it would be great to get better insight as to what people are thinking.
What’s the most exciting project you’ve been a part of in your career and why? Having worked in financial services for a long time, I’ve worked on some amazing campaigns including a FTSE listing, various rebrands, pushes for real legislative change, and reports that have helped shape how we think about different markets. However, some of the most satisfying achievements are lower key. When you gain someone’s trust and help them to see the true power of good communication or finally manage to change a stakeholder view on a product or idea.
Who inspires you and why? The world is a hugely scary place for a great many people. I have huge respect for those who not only recognise a need in their communities but take steps to meet these needs. Whether it’s volunteering, raising funds for charity or simply keeping an eye on their neighbour, the choice to be a force for good is vitally important.
Tell us about a hobby or passion of yours outside of work that you enjoy. I am busy outside work with friends, the gym and other interests but I do make time to foster for Cats Protection. Most Cats Protection branches are run locally, and they are desperate for support – whether it is looking after kittens or fund raising.
Name your dream holiday location. My entire family is in Cape Town, so I would love to visit them; and travel at the front of the plane rather than the more usual three rows from the back.
What is the best book you have read and why? Wilful Blindness by Margaret Heffernan. During the fall out from the Enron Scandal, the judge pointed out that an executive should have known what was going on and that wilful blindness is not an excuse. This book looks at why people choose to remain oblivious to certain things, even if recognising the problem could lead to better outcomes in the future.
Is there anything else you would like to tell us? As cliched as it sounds, I am genuinely interested in speaking to as many members of the Council and stakeholders across the sector as possible. There is real value in collaboration and discussion.
