Fireside Chat: Sarah House-Barklie

*At the time of interview, Sarah was transitioning between her position as Chief People Officer at The IN Group and her current role at Wireless Logic Ltd.

With a wealth of experience occupying senior HR functions across Banking, Finance, Gaming, and Marketing organisations, Sarah House-Barklie has also acted as Adviser to the Board for several charities and sat on the panels for HR Analytics, Diversity & Inclusion, and the Future of HR.

A thought leader who values both innovation and measured strategy, Sarah’s insights on leadership and brand positioning are exceptional. See below for the full interview:

"Relationships are so important in the work environment: start to build out your network. You were hired as you, so be you and take notes."

M.INT –What are your favourite brands: who is doing business right in terms of positive positioning?

SHB –One that stands out for me is the ever-innovative LEGO brand. We love playing with it in our house, and the history and ongoing agility of the company is really interesting. Founded during the Great Depression by a carpenter who first made wooden toys, they moved to producing simple plastic bricks in the 40s. It’s captured the imagination of many generations from all walks of life, but it did almost hit bankruptcy in 2000s as it went out of style. It had too many ‘old’ products in a market saturated with new technology that it hadn’t embraced.

So, LEGO looked at how it could get back in tune with the rest of the market and changed how it viewed innovation and technology, and it discovered it could reinvent itself by collaborating with popular gaming companies, TV and film franchises like Harry Potter and Star Wars, and this led to launching its own successful series of films. The company quickly regained in popularity and profitability, and I believe is currently the 3rd largest toy manufacturer in the world.

What’s important is that it learnt a lesson; consumer needs, demands and interests are constantly evolving and it’s important not to get left behind. LEGO realised that by taking the time to see where and why it went wrong, it was able to create a measured strategy to fix its problems.

LEGO continues to be great at positioning itself; offering product consistency, having a clear purpose and vision, being very active on social media and not being afraid to change things up. Having a strong brand identity and keeping that at the forefront of your strategy is important for positioning. It’s not something you can change overnight; it does take time. LEGO nailed it!

M.INT –What are you looking forward to in 2024?

SHB –On a personal level, I’m very much looking forward to getting fit this year after my Christmas and New Year indulgence but in terms of the business world, I think 2024 is going to be an interesting year. Last year we saw private equity investors remaining relatively active across the board, even with rising interest rates, consistent high inflation and geopolitical unrest, which was a little surprising. Looking at what people are talking about so far for 2024, it seems optimism does remain among investors, mainly about the opportunities created by instability in the markets. So, they will likely deploy investment in creative ways for high-quality assets, as well as consolidating and divesting across their portfolios where appropriate. I am keen to see how this will play out and drive deals and whether this will pick up to pre-2023 numbers as we near the end of the year.

M.INT –Who is a Leader that has inspired you, and why?

SHB –There are so many to be honest. I do think that someone I really admire as a thought leader rather than ‘traditional leader’ is Simon Sinek. There is a ‘High-Performance’ podcast series led by Jake Humphrey and Damian Hughes and they have one episode where they discuss high performance with Simon. I love listening to him as he is an optimist, and his ambition is to create a world in which all people feel inspired and fulfilled. He has an inspirational TED talk ‘Start With Why,‘ which talks about how great leaders inspire action. He has some unconventional thoughts surrounding business and leadership, which are all good to consider, to ensure we don’t become complacent and lazy in our leadership style.

M.INT –What are you currently reading or listening to?

SHB –I’ve just finished reading ‘Prisoners of Geography’, by seasoned journalist Tim Marshall. He examines 10 regions across the globe in terms of how their weather, seas, mountains, rivers, deserts, and borders affect their strengths and vulnerabilities and the decisions made by their leaders. We live in a highly complex world, and it seems that some countries have it all whilst others seem destined to always struggle, and that each country has its own history of rivalries and ancient disputes with neighbouring nations. There continue to be frequent border challenges even today, and this book helps you to understand much of the geopolitical bickering that goes on. It’s a brilliant book and I’d urge anyone interested in improving their knowledge of the big picture to grab a copy.

M.INT –What advice would you give a new colleague on their first day?

SHB –Times have changed and people can either start a new role face to face or remotely. Aside from the slightly more obvious first day tips of planning your journey, being on time, dressing appropriately etc. I think the key thing is to start to build out your network. Relationships are so important in the work environment both on a social level as well as for valuable advice and insight as you continue your onboarding journey. Ask lots of questions of your colleagues and be yourself, you were hired as you, so be you and take notes. There’s a lot to take in! Suggest arranging to go for coffee or lunch with people so you can get to know them better. Have an elevator pitch ready. People will be interested to learn about you, and this is your opportunity to share with them your experience and successes and what you are looking forward to in your new role. You could consider asking someone to mentor you or buddy you during your first few months, whatever level you are at, so they can act as a bit of a confidante or trusted advisor to you.

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