Off the Fence with Purpose

Great career advice based on working in a variety of sectors

Great career advice based on working in a variety of sectors Sectors involved included Hospitality, Medical, Property, Retail, Communications and self-employed. That sums up the variety of careers of Fiona Robinson,the guest in this episode, has been through. She is currently Executive Assistant at the Applegreen Group office but the lessons learned from a captivating career beginning in the world famous Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin will keep listeners highly engaged. At the Shelbourne she was PA to the Director of Sales. She held similar roles at the Beacon Hospital, KPMG and the global fintech company Fiserv. In between there were stints at being Executive Director at the Public Relations Institute of Ireland, Manager at Euromedic Ireland, Broker/Manager at RE/MAX and Operations Manager at Ed Dempsey estate agents. Add to those were two periods at basketball Ireland, Senior Men’s Team manager and then Arena Business Development & Duty Manager. While she enjoyed her time as self-employed in real estate, describing it as great as it provided her freedom and independence, she says that having the security of a regular income overcame these benefits at the time. Titles in many businesses change as well as work practices. She describes the changing responsibilities of Secretary to Administrative Assistant to Personal Assistant to Executive Assistant (EA), as moving from typing letters to stakeholder management. Working as a number 2 to several senior executives has provided Fiona with a unique perspective on leadership styles from micromanagement to a more trusting approach. The key values she has seen in leaders are empathy, vision and good communications. Fiona also says that being a number 2 can be a highly influential position as you can effectively be the eyes and ears of an organisation with information being absorbed from all directions in the organisation. In terms of an individual’s career, she uses the glass half full analogy to demonstrate that we don’t all see the world in the same way. She says that we must be open to change in today’s world of work. Her message to young people seeking a career is network and understand your net worth. And surround yourself with positive people and be resilient, she says. She also believes that attitude is key to working with people. For her that is the most desirable attribute to have, followed by knowledge and hard work with luck also being part of any job search. Using a poem learned from her mother about a little train trying to make its way up a hill without success at first, she says that we must keep trying, you might get 40 rejections, but it only needs one acceptance to get you on the ladder of success. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

An amazing career story from a strategic business advisor that will keep you engrossed

This conversation with guest Jean Callanan takes a winding and fascinating route around her amazing career. It is about a career in which she spent over 11 years with Unilever the global leader in consumer goods working in various marketing and leadership roles including marketing Magnum ice cream in Germany and Italy and as part of a team who set up an ice cream business in Argentina and Uruguay. She also worked in Waterford Crystal at a time when it was one of the iconic international Irish brands. She is now a non-executive director of Bord Iascaigh Mhara-Ireland’s Seafood Development Agency, a founder of the Momenta Hub, a strategic consultant, chair of the Irish Hospice Foundation and an international advocate for dying well. Along the way during this podcast lessons from her life and work flow, how she came to rub shoulders with future EU leaders while in a college in Bruges in Belgium and her experience on The Forum on Broadcasting established by the Irish Government. Her lifetime experience also brings learnings. Your career is important she says so avoid jumping into the first shining opportunity that comes along, take time to reimagine your future. She also voices strong views on recruiters providing greater marks to higher education achievements than work experience or overcoming social inequality. Throughout this conversation surprises keep coming. When Jean was head-hunted for a well-known Irish company with an international reputation she went to meet  a psychologist who was one of the team advising the company on the candidates. His view of Jean was that she could do the job blindfolded but that it was clear that she wasn’t hugely enthusiastic about the job because in his words ‘she didn’t lie enough’. She got the job but left just after a year. The life of her grandmother, who when she became a widow went on to join a congregation of nuns in Africa led Jean to understand the lack of palliative care in African countries and why many of the elderly nuns came back to Ireland to die. This prompted her to become involved in the Irish Hospice Foundation, where she is currently chair of the board and she speaks to Jim and Ellen  about its work to ensure the best end-of-life and bereavement care, for all. These are just some of the reasons that this episode of Off the Fence with Purpose will keep you totally engrossed. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Stopping the music in Shanghai

To say that the guest on this episode had a varied career could be considered an understatement. It is a career that spans the private, public, international, Not for Profit, NGO and family- owned business sectors. Helen Brophy, now the Director General of the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) in Ireland discusses the lessons from her wide-ranging career with Jim and Ellen. These lessons include the importance of team working, why 75% of change management programmes fail, the challenges when promoted and the opportunities in the public service. As well as lessons from her career the conversation covers topics such as change management, the benefits and challenges of a role in the public service, dealing with conflict, preparing countries for EU succession and preparing Ireland for its leadership role in the EU later this year. Just some of the senior positions Helen has held are Manager of the Export Division, and then some years later, Head of Marketing and Business Development at Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) – Irelands Seafood Development Agency; Chief Executive of the National Dairy Council: a Board Member and Director of the Executive Development Programme at the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, and  today Director General of the IPA .   The role of the IPA is to advance the understanding, standard and practice of public administration and public policy in Ireland. Since joining in late 2022, Helen has led a substantial transformation programme in working towards achieving the vision of the IPA as Ireland’s centre of excellence in building capacity and capability across the Public Service. In addition to her Master of Business Studies (MBS) from UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School Helen holds an Executive Masters in Consulting and Coaching for Change from Insead Business School, France, a BA from Dublin City University and a range of further graduate qualifications in coaching, psychometrics and leadership development.   A key takeaway from this episode is that if you do not have a specific career path planned be sure that what you do  is driven by a vision, be passionate and love what you do. As for the time Helen stopped the music in an Irish pub in Shanghai.  It was in the late 1990s while she was managing the BIM Export Division.  The pub  was considered to be the first Irish pub in China.. When she walked in the band, which was Irish, stopped playing and the lead singer said “O my God, an Irish person has just walked in.” The band  had been playing in the pub for three months and Helen was the first Irish person they had seen there. It is much different today where there are considered to be over 40 Irish Pubs in China. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

A global leader in PR and communication

In this episode John Saunders talks to Jim and Ellen about his fascinating career which moved from being a well known radio sports presenter and public announcer at international football games in Ireland to leading the US based Fleishman Hilliard, one of the world’s  largest PR and communication agencies. At age 14 John Saunders set up his own sports newspaper, in his late teens he became the public address announcer for Ireland’s most successful football club, Shamrock Rovers as well as at Irish international football games. He also became a household name presenting sports news on RTE the national Irish broadcaster. Every morning for five years he presented a morning slot on radio with such regularity that many Irish people their set morning schedule on his opening words. His love of sport and his tenacity led him to  engage with Anheuser-Busch, owners of Budweiser Beer and Fleishman Hilliard when the Budweiser sponsorship of the Irish Derby at the Curragh Racecource was announced. At that stage he had moved from RTE and was in the PR/Communications world with a small agency. He describes how through months of constant engagement he eventually took over the Budweiser Irish Derby PR and communications, one of the biggest sponsorship deals in Ireland at the time. This work led to Fleishman Hilliard entering the Irish marked in a joint venture as Fleishman Hilliard Saunders. Eventually John became the major shareholder in the company which was acquired by the Omnicom Media Group as part of an international deal. His career with Fleshman Hillard flourished from MD of the Irish office to head of regional offices, global CEO and now global Chair. Not only does this entertaining episode deal with his career but it also covers Irish-US relations, being a Grand Marshal at one of the largest St Patrick's Day Parade in the US, speaking at international events, dealing with tech and industry changes and his acknowledgement of the many Irish and US leaders who provide support and friendship throughout his career. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

The career ladder as we know it has broken

The career ladder as we know it has broken Listen here to understand how and why   Conor Lynch was a guest in Season One of Off the Fence with Purpose and since then he has been busy getting his new book “Learn, Earn Own” ready for publication. It has now been published by Amazon   Learn Earn Own has been described as an amazing resource for anyone starting a new career, changing course, or looking to kick themselves up the career ladder.   Here Conor chats with Jim and Ellen about how the traditional career ladder has broken. And how anyone searching for their first job, planning a career change or launching a side hustle can use his book to design a career that works for them.   He has the experienced breaking the mould of the linear career ladder using his assets and brand as a digital entrepreneur, innovator and educator.   During this fascinating discussion you will hear stories of career changes, career innovation and career re-invention. Even if you have a settled career and are moving or planning to move up the career ladder in your organisation you will be stimulated by this discussion.   As Conor says there is no one career model that suits everyone but there are many opportunities available for career choices. It is not just always about making sudden changes or impulsive decisions, it can be about taking ‘baby’ steps.   Neither do you need to move up your career ladder on your own. He has lots to say about collaborative careers and career experiments   The conversation here also covers how AI is driving changes in education, academia, career guidance and in the recruitment process. If you are a parent who has experienced the traditional career ladder you will find Conor’s understanding of how your children may approach their careers, a bit of an eye-opener.   In the next episode of Off the Fence with Purpose coming later in February the guest is a radio presenter in Dublin whose career has moved in various guises from Ireland to the US, to Crete, the UK and back to Ireland. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.