August 25, 2025 • 27 mins
The brilliant Adrian Jones joins the We Are PoWEr Podcast – bringing reflections on leadership, representation, and creating trusted spaces for people to thrive.
As Senior Director, Anglia & South Midlands Superstores at ASDA and a 2025 Northern PoWEr Women Advocate, Adrian looks after 31 stores and thousands of colleagues – but his focus goes far beyond retail. From mentoring female leaders to co-chairing the Women in ASDA network, he is committed to driving diversity, amplifying unheard voices, and building teams that perform by being truly inclusive.
Adrian shares why filling in his own award nomination was such a powerful moment, why listening before acting is the most underrated leadership skill, and how acknowledging the “quiet people in the room” can change outcomes for the better. He also opens up about family, sport, and the importance of helping his children – and the next generation – find confidence to stand up for what they believe in.
In this episode:
- Why the Northern PoWEr Women Awards matter to him
- Championing diversity and inclusion in leadership at ASDA
- How creating trusted spaces leads to real change
- The importance of spotting unconscious bias and acting on it
- Mentoring 5–10 female leaders every year
- Family life, rugby, motor racing, and the wine aisle as a metaphor for leadership
- What he hopes the world looks like for the next generation
Find out more about We Are PoWEr here. 💫
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, hello and welcome to the we Are Power
podcast.
If this is your first time here, the we Are Power podcast is
the podcast for you, your careerand your life.
We release an episode everysingle Monday with listeners in
over 60 countries worldwide,where you'll hear personal life
stories, top-notch industryadvice and key leadership
insight from amazing role models.
(00:21):
As we Are Power is the umbrellabrand to Northern Power Women
Awards, which celebrateshundreds of female role models
and advocates every year.
This is where you can hearstories from all of our awards
alumni and stay up to date witheverything MPW awards and we Are
Power.
Well, this week, I am delightedto be joined by Adrian from
(00:50):
ASDA, our fantastic partners.
Welcome to the podcast studio,to the teal sofa and proudly
wearing your Advocacy Badge 2025.
Congratulations.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Thank you, and thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Well, we first stumbled into each other at the
Foyer on the day of the NorthernPower Women Awards this year in
Manchester back in March, andyou came in with your rugby
shirt on and we'll get to thatlater because I was like which
club is that?
And we had a conversation andyou wanted to just wreck the
place out, didn't you?
Before you came in to thelargest event celebrating gender
equality in Europe.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
That's great.
My wife likes to know whereshe's going and what time she's
got to be, so I had to do aquick recce to understand where
we were going to go.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
You were, you were doing the advance party.
What did it feel like thatevening?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
How would I describe it?
I would describe it as a realaccolade for me, but quite
overwhelming because I genuinelyfeel that great leadership is
about inclusion and recognisingtalent, supporting people's
careers and their aspirations,and I see that's part of my job.
So to be recognised in apositive way for it was a bit
(01:58):
overwhelming because I see, asme it was, I was doing my job,
but certainly nice, certainlyamazing to be seen in that
environment.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
And what is that job?
Because I look at this and I'mlike there's a lot of things on
there.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
So essentially I look after 31 stores for Asda and
all the colleagues and managerslook after those stores.
So a large part of my role isrunning stores and retail
operations.
But equally, to underpin anyperformance in any company is
about having a brilliant teamworking for you.
So to engage with thecolleagues, to bring leaders
through, to help people feelthat we get to their full
(02:31):
potential and have a reallyclear succession plan haven't,
and we call it aces in places.
So I have our very best peoplein our very best position, our
most challenging positions, toget our very best results like a
human chess board.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
It can be a bit like that, but just taking you back
to that nomination, when you gotthat nomination, when anyone is
nominated for any of the awardsfor the Northern Power Women
Awards and submission iscompleted and then the awkward
bit, isn't it, Adrian?
Is then you've got to respondwith some questions.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Yeah, so I have the pleasure of working with Jenny
Taylor-Smith and Suzanne Arnoldand I think you know Jenny very
well, she's a force of nature.
So she rang me up and said Ithink you'd be nominated.
You really need to get yourapplication in.
I know Jenny's expectation isvery big.
So I boxed off an evening andthen just literally went through
my nomination and put myapplication.
And it's the same when Iapplied for the Women in Asda
(03:21):
co-chairchair role, I just spokeabout things I've done and
things I've experienced helpingpeople through their careers and
I say the word people throughtheir careers and put that on
the paper and hoped it was goodenough.
Unfortunately it was.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
And there you were on the evening of March with your
fellow advocates.
It's year two and since when wecreated the Northern Power
Women Awards, which will becoming into its 10th year now,
there was always the premise forme about collecting the good
guys.
Collect the good guys.
And the awards have always beenopen to all genders, but it was
last year that we we wanted tobring in this specific role and
(03:58):
importance of advocates.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Um, what would you say to people out there thinking
, oh, I think I do good stuff,but I think I only do little
stuff I think you can neverunderestimate the impact you can
have on somebody that works foryou or with you in a positive
way, and I think I've alwaystaken the time to listen and be
inquisitive, and it certainlytaught me loads of things along
(04:20):
the way that I can then helpother people to do, and I think
that unconscious awareness isthe best advice I can give to
anyone that thinks that theywant to help or want to help
inclusion in their, in theirbusinesses is to just be
inquisitive and don't befrightened to ask the question,
because if you, if we're notaware, you can never do anything
(04:40):
positive to change.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Yeah, it's easy not to do stuff sometimes, and I
know your colleagues havedescribed you as that inclusive
leader, without even realisingit.
Why do you think they say that?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
I've got a really strong belief that diverse teams
drive better performance andcertainly in any business you're
driven to better performance orbetter your performance.
I think if you don't have adiverse team in the first
instance, you'll never get thebest performance.
If you haven't got people thatwill speak up, offer their
opinion from differentperspectives, you'll never get
the performance that we'relooking for.
(05:13):
So it starts with a place ofperformance and then it builds
into really making sure that Ihave great representation and I
see that as my job.
So my job is about performanceand people and if you bring
those two two things together,you have to have a diverse team
and that's why I think people.
I don't see it as extra to myjob.
I see as part of my job to havegreat talent and great
diversity within my teams andone of the things that you've
(05:35):
done is created trusted spaces.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Isn't it to have conversations, um?
Is there one conversation thathas really stood out for you?
That you've gone?
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I think that it was an experience, and it's probably
seven or eight years ago, whenI came across to asda.
Now, listen, I'm a middle-agedman.
I generally wear a jumper and ashirt to work, I've got no hair
, um, quite round, and I sit ina meeting and I am, I suppose,
the opposite of what we wouldperceive diversity to be.
And then I think in my firstmeeting, my first retail because
(06:06):
I would say in the home officethere is quite good balance of
diversity my first retailmeeting with the retail
directors in stores was quite asurprise to see in the room I
was in, probably 20 photocopiesof me and one female in the room
and coming into that room itwas a real moment for me to say,
well, I want to do somethingabout this, I want to make some,
(06:27):
to make a difference here,spoke to the female sd who's in
the room, um, spoke about herexperiences and then kind of
played that forward and I reallyhad the opportunity coming out
when I came out from home office, where I was doing online, to
come out to retail stores threeyears ago where I sat in a room
of retail store managers and wasobserving behaviors.
(06:47):
I very much like to be.
I believe in a servantleadership model and was
observing behaviors in the room.
I noticed that the women werequite.
The women in the room werequite submissive, were making
cups of tea, taking notes, and Imade a point of recognizing
that and then speaking to themand being inquisitive and asking
a question what to dodifferently, and then giving
them more positive, more seniorroles in the room in terms of
(07:10):
project work and and how theywould feature in the room and
bringing them into conversations, but really wanted to make a
difference.
But come back to thatunconscious bias when I spoke to
the store managers in the room,they weren't aware of their
behavior.
It was a natural state for them, but awareness brought the
change in behavior and then, youknow, they took probably both
of them were aware took asuccessful turn in their career
(07:34):
in terms of moving into broadroles by having the confidence
to do that and asking thequestion how did you feel about
that?
How did that make you feel?
Made them realise that somebodynoticed it?
Speaker 1 (07:44):
And cared.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
When you notice you're thinking hold on a second
.
Why are you making the tea?
Why are you making the notes?
You've got valid points in here.
Was there anything that ever?
You thought I might not do that, because actually I might not
be welcome?
Speaker 2 (08:01):
um, my wife would tell you I enjoy conflict.
So, um, I think I have a reallystrong belief if something's
not right, then it's my, my roleas a senior leader, to do
something about it, and Ifundamentally believe that
behavior was wrong.
So I had no problem talking tomy male store managers about
their behavior and the impactit's having on people in the
room and if there's maybe acouple of other top tips you
would say out there, we'vetalked about the small things so
(08:23):
I am fortunate enough to be oneof the co-chairs for women.
As to network, and we've got adiverse, we've got a team of a
working group where there'sthree co-chairs and a working
group across all different partsof the business that come
together once a month to talkabout topics, talk things, talk
about things that are comingthrough the networks.
(08:43):
It's important and if I was togive one tip, it's just to
listen, to give a platform forpeople to talk confidently, to
listen and then take action,because I think, once you've
listened, it's incumbent on meto take action and be honest
about the actions I'm going totake.
Um, and we've had some realsuccess, whether it be in the
parental leave policy we'reworking on, whether it be
(09:03):
bringing in external speakersinto the company, whether it be
the international women's day,the intentional ownership
program we're working on, we'vemanaged to weave ourselves or
weave our support into thoseprograms and it feels like it's
really adding value and thewomen, the, the members because
there's males in the team aswell feel like they're being
(09:24):
listened to and feel likeaction's being taken, which is
really important and I thinkthat's that's a real key.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
It's you can sometimes be heard but not
listened to, and you are workinga really, really fast-paced
environment, aren't you retail?
I, I wouldn't.
What season are you working onnow?
You must be probably goneChristmas, christmas is over.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
One of the statements is I've been with different
retailers, but Christmas in Julyis a statement yeah, um.
So in terms of the buying andgetting the stock rid of the
offers, really now is we'rereally focused into Christmas.
Um so, yeah, very fast paced.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
But how do you take people with you on that change?
Speaker 2 (09:58):
I think for me, I'm really clear about the why.
So if there's one thing that'sconstant in retail, we do change
.
I'm making the people in myteam understand the need for
change.
The positive outcome fromchange is a really good starting
point to keep engagement, andthen seeing positive outcomes as
a result of change keepsengagement moving forward
(10:20):
because that helps gives theexample, isn't it?
Speaker 1 (10:21):
it's the metrics and it's the the story that you can
follow on.
Was there anything that kind ofjumped out at you on the way
and think, oh gosh, I didn'texpect to see that in terms of
the change.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Um, I think it's easy for to miss people getting left
behind and I think, whenthere's the pace of change, as a
leader, to observe the groupand observe the quiet people in
the room are probably the peoplethat are either being very
reflective or not getting caughtup in the change and the pace
of any business.
Right now, in the currenteconomic conditions, we have to
(10:56):
react quickly, we have to moveforward quickly, and observing
more people being quiet would beone of my, would be one of the
points I would raise and thentaking positive action with
those people and I always liketo ask like a fun fact in
advance of our guests.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
I've never, ever had a picture before now if you're
listening to the podcast, it'sprobably not going to help, but
adrian sent me over here um agraphic.
I don't know they can even pickthis up in here, and it's it's
your story, isn't it?
Yeah, you know, because there'sprobably many facts in here and
you've just you know you talkedabout your wife, because I know
your wife works on the frontline, doesn't she?
she's a sister in intensive yeah, you know, not an easy job
(11:32):
there.
You've got a fast-paced, toughjob.
You know your, your wife isbusy.
That's really busy.
Now, how I always think this is, you know, it's not so much how
you have it all, because that'simpossible, but how can you fit
all this in?
So we've got this diagram here.
52, surely not adrian right?
Um?
Speaker 2 (11:51):
hard to believe, I know yeah, umematics 24 hour.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Is that your guilty pleasure?
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Is it 24 hour?
Le Mans.
I do motor racing and we have atrip with a few friends down to
the south of France every yearfor Le Mans motor racing, where
we generally have barbecues,drink a few beers and then watch
24 hours of motor racing.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
And then you've been married for 24 years.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
I have been married for 24 years.
Everyone said I did uh my wife.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
I was punching above my weight, my wife, so I'm
always reflective of that.
But no, be married 24 years,sarah.
Yes, and then two big birthdays, 18 and 21st, for the kids very
expensive, very expensive, yesso my daughter's 21 uh, she's
studying to be sports therapy atbournemouth university.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
And my son's 18 he's just finished sitting his a
levels, just waiting for results, hopefully going to go to leeds
, one of the leeds universitiesand then ben benny uh bertie
bertie, sorry, bertie the beagle, bertie, the lockdown uh
lockdown dog.
Yes, so he's six.
Uh, we've had him for fiveyears, um, but yeah, wouldn't be
without him.
I keep his busy.
Um keeps my wife busy.
(12:51):
She says he sheds more than adog every day because it loses a
lot of hair.
I managed to convince her toget a dog with to get a beagle,
so they had said they were shorthair and wouldn't molt.
Um, I was probably the mostwrong I've ever been shedding
hair like it's a whole, wholeanimal.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
What do you hope?
Speaker 2 (13:06):
your world, uh, the world is like for your, for your
kids um, I think we we bringour kids up to be, um,
independent.
My daughter my wife always sayis a photocopy of me.
She's fiercely independent,very focused on what she wants
to do and confident to take onsituations, and I think that's
something that's reallyimportant to me.
(13:27):
We don't worry about Georgia indifficult situations because
she will always do the rightthing and she will stand up if
she believes things are wrong.
Charlie, again, again verysports focused and very focused
on things that are important tohim, and again, we brought them
both up to be independent and beable to survive survive
survives probably a harsh word,but be able to exist in a
(13:49):
marketplace, um.
So yeah, in terms of what I'dhope for them, that they find
their place.
They further get theopportunity to do something they
love in their careers and haveconfidence in their lives and
have confidence to stand up forwhat they believe is correct.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
And your wife as well .
This is a busy job, but thefirst time I met you, you were
an advocate for your wife, thefirst thing you did.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
I often feel I don't say enough, but I'm very proud
of what my wife does.
Essentially, we sell productsto customers.
She holds people's lives in herhands every day and, I think,
working in the NHS, which is afemale-dominated industry.
It's very interesting to hearher view of the world versus my
view of the world and howdifferent positions are viewed
(14:32):
by the world in terms ofimportance Literally, someone
that can hold your life in yourhand versus someone that will
sell you a product and rugby iskey in your world, isn't it?
you used to play rugby um, yeah,I'm not built to play football.
Um, so I was fortunate enoughto play um for bristol um in
bristol academy.
Um played for cultural rugbyclub.
We are rugby rugby house.
I have no clue about football.
(14:54):
I don't follow a football teamum, so my son plays rugby union
and rugby league.
Fortunately, when he was four,he said he wanted to play rugby,
which I was really pleasedabout.
I'm not quite sure if he'd havefollowed football I would have
gone with it, but I'm not sureI'd have to learn football at
that point.
But no, a big rugby house, um,georgia enjoys watching rugby as
a family.
We've been to Twickenham aswith my son.
I go to Twickenham when we can.
So, yeah, rugby is part of ourlife.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
What do you think the learnings are?
Because I always think, youknow you've seen there's been a
massive rise in women's sport.
You know this is a big summerof women's sport as well.
What do you think the learningsare?
Both ways it lags behind verymuch financially.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
I think it's.
If you talk about the women's,the England women's, the england
women's rugby team is probablymore successful than the men's
rugby team.
Um, when I first as a twicken,they would always be the warm-up
match for the for the men's togo back 15 years for the men's
internationals and now they havestandalone international
matches and are very, very, verysuccessful.
So I think the, the awareness,the growth and the skill of the
(15:52):
sport and the way the sport'splayed and the success of the
sport is driving furtherinterest into the sport, which
is great for the sport itself.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
And what learnings could we take into the world of
work?
Speaker 2 (16:02):
I think again, it's just awareness, listening and
understanding how to make themost to give people the
opportunity to make the most ofthemselves.
So I'm not an advocate ofpositive discrimination, but
helping people reach their fullpotential probably drives me
more in work than in successionplanning and in sports and in
(16:23):
life, necessarily performanceitself.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
So power, you can see often and currently globally,
not always used for good, butpower, what does power mean to
you in a leadership perspective?
Speaker 2 (16:42):
So I'm really clear in my leadership style.
I adopt a servant leadershipstyle.
So my view is I'm there to helpmy team grow, be the best they
can be.
So if there's an obstacle theyface, I'll help them to face
into it.
If there's some learning thatthey want to do, I'll help them
face into it.
It's a performance that needsto improve.
I'll help them with that.
(17:02):
My role is to help them be thebest they can be for themselves.
Um so and power it that that'swhere the power lands.
So, helping understandsolutions, helping drive
performance, giving confidenceum to take decisions and move
forward.
That's the power I have.
I think we a lot, of, a lot oftime power is wielded um
(17:27):
dictatorially, when it should beabout making people the, giving
people the best opportunity todo what they can do 100, a
platform that, and what wouldyou hope your legacy will be?
I would hope behind me to leavepeople throughout my career that
have fulfilled their potential,whether that be a colleague on
(17:50):
the sales floor, whether that bea manager that's now a director
or a COO.
I would absolutely hope that mylegacy is people that have
worked with me and around mehave realized their potential
with me and what supermarketaisle best represents your
leadership.
I did look at you I did look atyour questions and smirk.
I'm waiting for the dogquestion.
(18:11):
So, um, I would say that Ithought about this hard.
Actually, the wine aisle, um,so the wine aisle is a bit of
fun, um, but it has greatdiversity.
It comes from lots of differentplaces, um, whether by grape or
by country I think we justmoved back to country um, lots
of different places that canbring lots of happiness in
different ways love it.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
I think mine would always be the why now, but then,
and bertie, bertie the beagle Ilove this.
It's one of my favoritequestions ever.
If your bertie the dog coulddescribe you as a boss, what
would he say?
Speaker 2 (18:46):
he would say what did I come up with?
He would say good fun, but canbe strict.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Harsh bit of fur.
Maybe Does that mean you'rebeing honest.
He's like stop it, dad.
Now I'm done with the walk andI like lockdown when we couldn't
go out as much.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Oh, no, no, no, no.
I think if you feed a dog,treat a dog well, they're happy,
and if they're happy, they thismight make if you, if you feed
a dog, treat a dog well, um,they're happy, and if they're
happy they generally do whatthey need to do.
But yeah, he's a great dog.
I don't have to be strict thatoften sarah's probably stricter
than I am with him um, but no, Ithink, yeah, having some fun,
and then, um, but be making surehe's clear on his boundaries.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
He's all good and and we've talked about you you, you
know you're the co-chair.
You applied.
You weren't voluntold.
You wanted to do this, didn'tyou?
What have you learned from thatrole?
Because it's key, isn't it?
It's a key role withinorganizations such as ASDA.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
We've run the Intentional Ally Allyship
Program now for three years andI've taken so many learnings and
so many stories and always soamazed at some of the stories
that come across my desk or comeacross from the team that I
mentor.
So I mentor five to ten femaleleaders a year through this
(20:03):
intentional allyship program.
We also do ethnicity throughthat as well, and the thing I've
learned is to listen, to probeand to ask questions.
Just the stories are amazing.
Whether it be a colleaguethat's been a colleague 16 years
and is now a store manager.
Whether it be a minister who'sgot 12 children and is now a
manager.
Whether it be some people thatcome to this country with some
(20:26):
amazing qualifications thatdidn't think they were good
enough, that's now a manager.
And if you didn't slow down andlisten to their story, I would
never know their background, Iwould never know the potential,
I'd never had the opportunity tomentor and support them in
their career.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
And mentoring is so key, isn't it?
Is that something you had onyour career adventure?
Speaker 2 (20:44):
So I always think I'm a product of the people I've
worked for over the years andI've worked for a few years,
clearly, and I think there's abit of everyone that's worked
for me, that I've worked for inme across many different
businesses, and I always lookfor mentors at least two mentors
for myself in the business thatI'm in that I can ring and ask
a question of and be thoughtfulof and I've been privileged to
(21:06):
have probably 10, 15 mentorsover my time in ASDA and it's
been a huge help to me grow myexperience and grow my knowledge
in the business.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Yeah, take yourself out of your comfort zone, isn't
it 100%?
And what would be the sort ofthat best bit of advice you
would give to your Charlie orGeorgia age Don't party too hard
and ask for too big presents.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
My son still doesn't drink but definitely parties
hard.
I would say be clear on whatyou want and be clear on how
you're going to get there.
You, how, you, how you're goingto get there, but understand
the people that are going tohelp you get there as well and
was that you?
were you clear?
Uh no.
So I think I've learned alongthe way.
I think when I I've got a mathsdegree, I left university
(21:47):
thought I'd be an accountant.
Um, I ended up workingpart-time for tesco and then was
was was fortunate to bementored by a huge amount of
people on the way and then hadthe opportunity to join ASDA and
then be mentored through ASDA.
So I think I wasn't perhapsclear enough.
My daughter is crystal clearshe wants to be a
physiotherapist.
My son's a bit ambiguous, buthe knows he wants to work in
(22:07):
business, which is why he'shopefully going to get into
Leeds and he wants to play rugby.
So good luck to him.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
There you go, multitasking.
I know we.
Advocacy is a big part of whyyou're here today.
Um, and I know you're so.
We've had many offlineconversations and talked about
it, but is that everydayadvocacy?
It doesn't, you know we.
I know we've talked about thesmall things early, but what
could somebody do tomorrow?
Speaker 2 (22:32):
I know we've talked about listening I think it's um,
mentoring is key.
So to have a mentoring circle Ilearn as much from it as the
mentors hopefully get game formyself to have a working group
that feeds in.
That just makes you stop andthink and listen.
I said before, listeningobservation is probably key and
(22:53):
I would say to anyone that wantsto be thoughtful of diversity
sit in a meeting and don't sayanything, and if you observe the
behaviors and see what's goingon, then you can decide to make
positive change or not.
And I you know I was talking toone of our executives like the
other week says you know, a lotof the um behavior is
unintentional.
(23:13):
And when I slow down and talk topeople about says you know,
calling someone love isn'treally appropriate.
They're horrified becausethey're not doing it.
Um, and when we, when I talk tomembers of the team, it says
you know, you shouldn't alwaystake notes, you shouldn't always
um be the servant to people.
You need to stand and be proudof what you did and take, take a
lead on something.
(23:33):
Um, it's just that observationand then that action and I think
the actions are reallyimportant and then positive
reinforcement.
So Tracy Brabyn came and spokein ASDA a few months ago and
talked about calling out thesuccess stories, calling out the
people from a diversebackground that have made
(23:56):
progress or done somethingreally positive to reinforce the
message.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
And if you had an unlimited powered magic wand to
make change and unlimited budget, what would you do?
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Wow, that's a big question.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Obviously, you know partner with.
We Are Power.
You know just saying.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
For me, diverse teams are important.
I said that at the head.
I don't possibly promote theright people into the right role
.
I've been accused of beingagnostic to diversity because I
just look for the right person.
But what I've really workedhard on if I could make a change
is in succession planning.
(24:39):
So the important part abouthaving a diverse team is having
a diverse succession plan and adiverse talent pool, and that's
where I probably work thehardest and you don't get
immediate result because thetalent pool's got to grow.
There's got to be movement.
You can move people through intobroader roles but over time
we've got quite a diverse talentpool now and part of my role is
(25:00):
even through the mentorship isgiving someone the confidence to
stick their hand up and say youknow what I could have a go at
that.
I'm not going to go into itstraight away, but there's some
things I'm going to do along theway and I'm going to put myself
in a position where I could beconsidered and give it a
confidence to through adevelopment and a talent
planning for an individual tohave the confidence to apply for
(25:21):
a role.
Then you get your diversity.
I've seen in previousbusinesses too quickly positive
promotion focused on the stat,not the long term, and you will
get the gender split or thediversity split in the moment.
But I've seen the unfortunateoutcome of that is people being
unsuccessful in their career andactually stepping back, not
pushing through.
So I think that whole pointabout development, talent,
(25:44):
succession planning if I couldwave a magic wand, I'd invest
there, knowing that we get theoutput at the top and what's
your superpower?
um, I don't know, I'm very, I'mvery humbled even to be sat here
and get this award.
I'm really humbled.
I genuinely believe it's partof my job.
Um, if I'd say there's onething what have I asked your
(26:06):
wife?
she would struggle to find asuper.
I think, um, if I would say, um, making it part of the day job.
So if there was one positivechange that I've made, is
whether I find a day a month, afew hours a week, just provide
some headspace to being a womenas the co-chair, thinking about
(26:26):
succession planning and talent,bringing the right people
through, having the right peoplearound the table, just taking
the time to do that and seeingthat as a day job rather than
see it as an extra.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
It's part of what you do and who you are, adrian
thank you so much for joining methank you for wearing your
badge with pride.
Thank you so much and I'm sodelighted that you've joined us
today, and big thanks to ASDAfor all the support that you
offer us.
You're welcome subscribe onYouTube, apple, amazon Music,
spotify or wherever you get yourpodcasts.
Leave us a review or follow uson socials.
We are power underscore net onInsta, tiktok and Twitter, or we
(27:02):
are power on LinkedIn, facebookand we are underscore power on
YouTube.
Hello, hello and welcome to the we Are Power
podcast.
If this is your first time here, the we Are Power podcast is
the podcast for you, your careerand your life.
We release an episode everysingle Monday with listeners in
over 60 countries worldwide,where you'll hear personal life
stories, top-notch industryadvice and key leadership
insight from amazing role models.
(00:21):
As we Are Power is the umbrellabrand to Northern Power Women
Awards, which celebrateshundreds of female role models
and advocates every year.
This is where you can hearstories from all of our awards
alumni and stay up to date witheverything MPW awards and we Are
Power.
Well, this week, I am delightedto be joined by Adrian from
(00:50):
ASDA, our fantastic partners.
Welcome to the podcast studio,to the teal sofa and proudly
wearing your Advocacy Badge 2025.
Congratulations.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Thank you, and thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Well, we first stumbled into each other at the
Foyer on the day of the NorthernPower Women Awards this year in
Manchester back in March, andyou came in with your rugby
shirt on and we'll get to thatlater because I was like which
club is that?
And we had a conversation andyou wanted to just wreck the
place out, didn't you?
Before you came in to thelargest event celebrating gender
equality in Europe.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
That's great.
My wife likes to know whereshe's going and what time she's
got to be, so I had to do aquick recce to understand where
we were going to go.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
You were, you were doing the advance party.
What did it feel like thatevening?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
How would I describe it?
I would describe it as a realaccolade for me, but quite
overwhelming because I genuinelyfeel that great leadership is
about inclusion and recognisingtalent, supporting people's
careers and their aspirations,and I see that's part of my job.
So to be recognised in apositive way for it was a bit
(01:58):
overwhelming because I see, asme it was, I was doing my job,
but certainly nice, certainlyamazing to be seen in that
environment.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
And what is that job?
Because I look at this and I'mlike there's a lot of things on
there.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
So essentially I look after 31 stores for Asda and
all the colleagues and managerslook after those stores.
So a large part of my role isrunning stores and retail
operations.
But equally, to underpin anyperformance in any company is
about having a brilliant teamworking for you.
So to engage with thecolleagues, to bring leaders
through, to help people feelthat we get to their full
(02:31):
potential and have a reallyclear succession plan haven't,
and we call it aces in places.
So I have our very best peoplein our very best position, our
most challenging positions, toget our very best results like a
human chess board.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
It can be a bit like that, but just taking you back
to that nomination, when you gotthat nomination, when anyone is
nominated for any of the awardsfor the Northern Power Women
Awards and submission iscompleted and then the awkward
bit, isn't it, Adrian?
Is then you've got to respondwith some questions.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Yeah, so I have the pleasure of working with Jenny
Taylor-Smith and Suzanne Arnoldand I think you know Jenny very
well, she's a force of nature.
So she rang me up and said Ithink you'd be nominated.
You really need to get yourapplication in.
I know Jenny's expectation isvery big.
So I boxed off an evening andthen just literally went through
my nomination and put myapplication.
And it's the same when Iapplied for the Women in Asda
(03:21):
co-chairchair role, I just spokeabout things I've done and
things I've experienced helpingpeople through their careers and
I say the word people throughtheir careers and put that on
the paper and hoped it was goodenough.
Unfortunately it was.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
And there you were on the evening of March with your
fellow advocates.
It's year two and since when wecreated the Northern Power
Women Awards, which will becoming into its 10th year now,
there was always the premise forme about collecting the good
guys.
Collect the good guys.
And the awards have always beenopen to all genders, but it was
last year that we we wanted tobring in this specific role and
(03:58):
importance of advocates.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Um, what would you say to people out there thinking
, oh, I think I do good stuff,but I think I only do little
stuff I think you can neverunderestimate the impact you can
have on somebody that works foryou or with you in a positive
way, and I think I've alwaystaken the time to listen and be
inquisitive, and it certainlytaught me loads of things along
(04:20):
the way that I can then helpother people to do, and I think
that unconscious awareness isthe best advice I can give to
anyone that thinks that theywant to help or want to help
inclusion in their, in theirbusinesses is to just be
inquisitive and don't befrightened to ask the question,
because if you, if we're notaware, you can never do anything
(04:40):
positive to change.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Yeah, it's easy not to do stuff sometimes, and I
know your colleagues havedescribed you as that inclusive
leader, without even realisingit.
Why do you think they say that?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
I've got a really strong belief that diverse teams
drive better performance andcertainly in any business you're
driven to better performance orbetter your performance.
I think if you don't have adiverse team in the first
instance, you'll never get thebest performance.
If you haven't got people thatwill speak up, offer their
opinion from differentperspectives, you'll never get
the performance that we'relooking for.
(05:13):
So it starts with a place ofperformance and then it builds
into really making sure that Ihave great representation and I
see that as my job.
So my job is about performanceand people and if you bring
those two two things together,you have to have a diverse team
and that's why I think people.
I don't see it as extra to myjob.
I see as part of my job to havegreat talent and great
diversity within my teams andone of the things that you've
(05:35):
done is created trusted spaces.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Isn't it to have conversations, um?
Is there one conversation thathas really stood out for you?
That you've gone?
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I think that it was an experience, and it's probably
seven or eight years ago, whenI came across to asda.
Now, listen, I'm a middle-agedman.
I generally wear a jumper and ashirt to work, I've got no hair
, um, quite round, and I sit ina meeting and I am, I suppose,
the opposite of what we wouldperceive diversity to be.
And then I think in my firstmeeting, my first retail because
(06:06):
I would say in the home officethere is quite good balance of
diversity my first retailmeeting with the retail
directors in stores was quite asurprise to see in the room I
was in, probably 20 photocopiesof me and one female in the room
and coming into that room itwas a real moment for me to say,
well, I want to do somethingabout this, I want to make some,
(06:27):
to make a difference here,spoke to the female sd who's in
the room, um, spoke about herexperiences and then kind of
played that forward and I reallyhad the opportunity coming out
when I came out from home office, where I was doing online, to
come out to retail stores threeyears ago where I sat in a room
of retail store managers and wasobserving behaviors.
(06:47):
I very much like to be.
I believe in a servantleadership model and was
observing behaviors in the room.
I noticed that the women werequite.
The women in the room werequite submissive, were making
cups of tea, taking notes, and Imade a point of recognizing
that and then speaking to themand being inquisitive and asking
a question what to dodifferently, and then giving
them more positive, more seniorroles in the room in terms of
(07:10):
project work and and how theywould feature in the room and
bringing them into conversations, but really wanted to make a
difference.
But come back to thatunconscious bias when I spoke to
the store managers in the room,they weren't aware of their
behavior.
It was a natural state for them, but awareness brought the
change in behavior and then, youknow, they took probably both
of them were aware took asuccessful turn in their career
(07:34):
in terms of moving into broadroles by having the confidence
to do that and asking thequestion how did you feel about
that?
How did that make you feel?
Made them realise that somebodynoticed it?
Speaker 1 (07:44):
And cared.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
When you notice you're thinking hold on a second
.
Why are you making the tea?
Why are you making the notes?
You've got valid points in here.
Was there anything that ever?
You thought I might not do that, because actually I might not
be welcome?
Speaker 2 (08:01):
um, my wife would tell you I enjoy conflict.
So, um, I think I have a reallystrong belief if something's
not right, then it's my, my roleas a senior leader, to do
something about it, and Ifundamentally believe that
behavior was wrong.
So I had no problem talking tomy male store managers about
their behavior and the impactit's having on people in the
room and if there's maybe acouple of other top tips you
would say out there, we'vetalked about the small things so
(08:23):
I am fortunate enough to be oneof the co-chairs for women.
As to network, and we've got adiverse, we've got a team of a
working group where there'sthree co-chairs and a working
group across all different partsof the business that come
together once a month to talkabout topics, talk things, talk
about things that are comingthrough the networks.
(08:43):
It's important and if I was togive one tip, it's just to
listen, to give a platform forpeople to talk confidently, to
listen and then take action,because I think, once you've
listened, it's incumbent on meto take action and be honest
about the actions I'm going totake.
Um, and we've had some realsuccess, whether it be in the
parental leave policy we'reworking on, whether it be
(09:03):
bringing in external speakersinto the company, whether it be
the international women's day,the intentional ownership
program we're working on, we'vemanaged to weave ourselves or
weave our support into thoseprograms and it feels like it's
really adding value and thewomen, the, the members because
there's males in the team aswell feel like they're being
(09:24):
listened to and feel likeaction's being taken, which is
really important and I thinkthat's that's a real key.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
It's you can sometimes be heard but not
listened to, and you are workinga really, really fast-paced
environment, aren't you retail?
I, I wouldn't.
What season are you working onnow?
You must be probably goneChristmas, christmas is over.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
One of the statements is I've been with different
retailers, but Christmas in Julyis a statement yeah, um.
So in terms of the buying andgetting the stock rid of the
offers, really now is we'rereally focused into Christmas.
Um so, yeah, very fast paced.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
But how do you take people with you on that change?
Speaker 2 (09:58):
I think for me, I'm really clear about the why.
So if there's one thing that'sconstant in retail, we do change
.
I'm making the people in myteam understand the need for
change.
The positive outcome fromchange is a really good starting
point to keep engagement, andthen seeing positive outcomes as
a result of change keepsengagement moving forward
(10:20):
because that helps gives theexample, isn't it?
Speaker 1 (10:21):
it's the metrics and it's the the story that you can
follow on.
Was there anything that kind ofjumped out at you on the way
and think, oh gosh, I didn'texpect to see that in terms of
the change.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Um, I think it's easy for to miss people getting left
behind and I think, whenthere's the pace of change, as a
leader, to observe the groupand observe the quiet people in
the room are probably the peoplethat are either being very
reflective or not getting caughtup in the change and the pace
of any business.
Right now, in the currenteconomic conditions, we have to
(10:56):
react quickly, we have to moveforward quickly, and observing
more people being quiet would beone of my, would be one of the
points I would raise and thentaking positive action with
those people and I always liketo ask like a fun fact in
advance of our guests.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
I've never, ever had a picture before now if you're
listening to the podcast, it'sprobably not going to help, but
adrian sent me over here um agraphic.
I don't know they can even pickthis up in here, and it's it's
your story, isn't it?
Yeah, you know, because there'sprobably many facts in here and
you've just you know you talkedabout your wife, because I know
your wife works on the frontline, doesn't she?
she's a sister in intensive yeah, you know, not an easy job
(11:32):
there.
You've got a fast-paced, toughjob.
You know your, your wife isbusy.
That's really busy.
Now, how I always think this is, you know, it's not so much how
you have it all, because that'simpossible, but how can you fit
all this in?
So we've got this diagram here.
52, surely not adrian right?
Um?
Speaker 2 (11:51):
hard to believe, I know yeah, umematics 24 hour.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Is that your guilty pleasure?
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Is it 24 hour?
Le Mans.
I do motor racing and we have atrip with a few friends down to
the south of France every yearfor Le Mans motor racing, where
we generally have barbecues,drink a few beers and then watch
24 hours of motor racing.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
And then you've been married for 24 years.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
I have been married for 24 years.
Everyone said I did uh my wife.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
I was punching above my weight, my wife, so I'm
always reflective of that.
But no, be married 24 years,sarah.
Yes, and then two big birthdays, 18 and 21st, for the kids very
expensive, very expensive, yesso my daughter's 21 uh, she's
studying to be sports therapy atbournemouth university.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
And my son's 18 he's just finished sitting his a
levels, just waiting for results, hopefully going to go to leeds
, one of the leeds universitiesand then ben benny uh bertie
bertie, sorry, bertie the beagle, bertie, the lockdown uh
lockdown dog.
Yes, so he's six.
Uh, we've had him for fiveyears, um, but yeah, wouldn't be
without him.
I keep his busy.
Um keeps my wife busy.
(12:51):
She says he sheds more than adog every day because it loses a
lot of hair.
I managed to convince her toget a dog with to get a beagle,
so they had said they were shorthair and wouldn't molt.
Um, I was probably the mostwrong I've ever been shedding
hair like it's a whole, wholeanimal.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
What do you hope?
Speaker 2 (13:06):
your world, uh, the world is like for your, for your
kids um, I think we we bringour kids up to be, um,
independent.
My daughter my wife always sayis a photocopy of me.
She's fiercely independent,very focused on what she wants
to do and confident to take onsituations, and I think that's
something that's reallyimportant to me.
(13:27):
We don't worry about Georgia indifficult situations because
she will always do the rightthing and she will stand up if
she believes things are wrong.
Charlie, again, again verysports focused and very focused
on things that are important tohim, and again, we brought them
both up to be independent and beable to survive survive
survives probably a harsh word,but be able to exist in a
(13:49):
marketplace, um.
So yeah, in terms of what I'dhope for them, that they find
their place.
They further get theopportunity to do something they
love in their careers and haveconfidence in their lives and
have confidence to stand up forwhat they believe is correct.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
And your wife as well .
This is a busy job, but thefirst time I met you, you were
an advocate for your wife, thefirst thing you did.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
I often feel I don't say enough, but I'm very proud
of what my wife does.
Essentially, we sell productsto customers.
She holds people's lives in herhands every day and, I think,
working in the NHS, which is afemale-dominated industry.
It's very interesting to hearher view of the world versus my
view of the world and howdifferent positions are viewed
(14:32):
by the world in terms ofimportance Literally, someone
that can hold your life in yourhand versus someone that will
sell you a product and rugby iskey in your world, isn't it?
you used to play rugby um, yeah,I'm not built to play football.
Um, so I was fortunate enoughto play um for bristol um in
bristol academy.
Um played for cultural rugbyclub.
We are rugby rugby house.
I have no clue about football.
(14:54):
I don't follow a football teamum, so my son plays rugby union
and rugby league.
Fortunately, when he was four,he said he wanted to play rugby,
which I was really pleasedabout.
I'm not quite sure if he'd havefollowed football I would have
gone with it, but I'm not sureI'd have to learn football at
that point.
But no, a big rugby house, um,georgia enjoys watching rugby as
a family.
We've been to Twickenham aswith my son.
I go to Twickenham when we can.
So, yeah, rugby is part of ourlife.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
What do you think the learnings are?
Because I always think, youknow you've seen there's been a
massive rise in women's sport.
You know this is a big summerof women's sport as well.
What do you think the learningsare?
Both ways it lags behind verymuch financially.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
I think it's.
If you talk about the women's,the England women's, the england
women's rugby team is probablymore successful than the men's
rugby team.
Um, when I first as a twicken,they would always be the warm-up
match for the for the men's togo back 15 years for the men's
internationals and now they havestandalone international
matches and are very, very, verysuccessful.
So I think the, the awareness,the growth and the skill of the
(15:52):
sport and the way the sport'splayed and the success of the
sport is driving furtherinterest into the sport, which
is great for the sport itself.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
And what learnings could we take into the world of
work?
Speaker 2 (16:02):
I think again, it's just awareness, listening and
understanding how to make themost to give people the
opportunity to make the most ofthemselves.
So I'm not an advocate ofpositive discrimination, but
helping people reach their fullpotential probably drives me
more in work than in successionplanning and in sports and in
(16:23):
life, necessarily performanceitself.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
So power, you can see often and currently globally,
not always used for good, butpower, what does power mean to
you in a leadership perspective?
Speaker 2 (16:42):
So I'm really clear in my leadership style.
I adopt a servant leadershipstyle.
So my view is I'm there to helpmy team grow, be the best they
can be.
So if there's an obstacle theyface, I'll help them to face
into it.
If there's some learning thatthey want to do, I'll help them
face into it.
It's a performance that needsto improve.
I'll help them with that.
(17:02):
My role is to help them be thebest they can be for themselves.
Um so and power it that that'swhere the power lands.
So, helping understandsolutions, helping drive
performance, giving confidenceum to take decisions and move
forward.
That's the power I have.
I think we a lot, of, a lot oftime power is wielded um
(17:27):
dictatorially, when it should beabout making people the, giving
people the best opportunity todo what they can do 100, a
platform that, and what wouldyou hope your legacy will be?
I would hope behind me to leavepeople throughout my career that
have fulfilled their potential,whether that be a colleague on
(17:50):
the sales floor, whether that bea manager that's now a director
or a COO.
I would absolutely hope that mylegacy is people that have
worked with me and around mehave realized their potential
with me and what supermarketaisle best represents your
leadership.
I did look at you I did look atyour questions and smirk.
I'm waiting for the dogquestion.
(18:11):
So, um, I would say that Ithought about this hard.
Actually, the wine aisle, um,so the wine aisle is a bit of
fun, um, but it has greatdiversity.
It comes from lots of differentplaces, um, whether by grape or
by country I think we justmoved back to country um, lots
of different places that canbring lots of happiness in
different ways love it.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
I think mine would always be the why now, but then,
and bertie, bertie the beagle Ilove this.
It's one of my favoritequestions ever.
If your bertie the dog coulddescribe you as a boss, what
would he say?
Speaker 2 (18:46):
he would say what did I come up with?
He would say good fun, but canbe strict.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Harsh bit of fur.
Maybe Does that mean you'rebeing honest.
He's like stop it, dad.
Now I'm done with the walk andI like lockdown when we couldn't
go out as much.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Oh, no, no, no, no.
I think if you feed a dog,treat a dog well, they're happy,
and if they're happy, they thismight make if you, if you feed
a dog, treat a dog well, um,they're happy, and if they're
happy they generally do whatthey need to do.
But yeah, he's a great dog.
I don't have to be strict thatoften sarah's probably stricter
than I am with him um, but no, Ithink, yeah, having some fun,
and then, um, but be making surehe's clear on his boundaries.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
He's all good and and we've talked about you you, you
know you're the co-chair.
You applied.
You weren't voluntold.
You wanted to do this, didn'tyou?
What have you learned from thatrole?
Because it's key, isn't it?
It's a key role withinorganizations such as ASDA.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
We've run the Intentional Ally Allyship
Program now for three years andI've taken so many learnings and
so many stories and always soamazed at some of the stories
that come across my desk or comeacross from the team that I
mentor.
So I mentor five to ten femaleleaders a year through this
(20:03):
intentional allyship program.
We also do ethnicity throughthat as well, and the thing I've
learned is to listen, to probeand to ask questions.
Just the stories are amazing.
Whether it be a colleaguethat's been a colleague 16 years
and is now a store manager.
Whether it be a minister who'sgot 12 children and is now a
manager.
Whether it be some people thatcome to this country with some
(20:26):
amazing qualifications thatdidn't think they were good
enough, that's now a manager.
And if you didn't slow down andlisten to their story, I would
never know their background, Iwould never know the potential,
I'd never had the opportunity tomentor and support them in
their career.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
And mentoring is so key, isn't it?
Is that something you had onyour career adventure?
Speaker 2 (20:44):
So I always think I'm a product of the people I've
worked for over the years andI've worked for a few years,
clearly, and I think there's abit of everyone that's worked
for me, that I've worked for inme across many different
businesses, and I always lookfor mentors at least two mentors
for myself in the business thatI'm in that I can ring and ask
a question of and be thoughtfulof and I've been privileged to
(21:06):
have probably 10, 15 mentorsover my time in ASDA and it's
been a huge help to me grow myexperience and grow my knowledge
in the business.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Yeah, take yourself out of your comfort zone, isn't
it 100%?
And what would be the sort ofthat best bit of advice you
would give to your Charlie orGeorgia age Don't party too hard
and ask for too big presents.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
My son still doesn't drink but definitely parties
hard.
I would say be clear on whatyou want and be clear on how
you're going to get there.
You, how, you, how you're goingto get there, but understand
the people that are going tohelp you get there as well and
was that you?
were you clear?
Uh no.
So I think I've learned alongthe way.
I think when I I've got a mathsdegree, I left university
(21:47):
thought I'd be an accountant.
Um, I ended up workingpart-time for tesco and then was
was was fortunate to bementored by a huge amount of
people on the way and then hadthe opportunity to join ASDA and
then be mentored through ASDA.
So I think I wasn't perhapsclear enough.
My daughter is crystal clearshe wants to be a
physiotherapist.
My son's a bit ambiguous, buthe knows he wants to work in
(22:07):
business, which is why he'shopefully going to get into
Leeds and he wants to play rugby.
So good luck to him.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
There you go, multitasking.
I know we.
Advocacy is a big part of whyyou're here today.
Um, and I know you're so.
We've had many offlineconversations and talked about
it, but is that everydayadvocacy?
It doesn't, you know we.
I know we've talked about thesmall things early, but what
could somebody do tomorrow?
Speaker 2 (22:32):
I know we've talked about listening I think it's um,
mentoring is key.
So to have a mentoring circle Ilearn as much from it as the
mentors hopefully get game formyself to have a working group
that feeds in.
That just makes you stop andthink and listen.
I said before, listeningobservation is probably key and
(22:53):
I would say to anyone that wantsto be thoughtful of diversity
sit in a meeting and don't sayanything, and if you observe the
behaviors and see what's goingon, then you can decide to make
positive change or not.
And I you know I was talking toone of our executives like the
other week says you know, a lotof the um behavior is
unintentional.
(23:13):
And when I slow down and talk topeople about says you know,
calling someone love isn'treally appropriate.
They're horrified becausethey're not doing it.
Um, and when we, when I talk tomembers of the team, it says
you know, you shouldn't alwaystake notes, you shouldn't always
um be the servant to people.
You need to stand and be proudof what you did and take, take a
lead on something.
(23:33):
Um, it's just that observationand then that action and I think
the actions are reallyimportant and then positive
reinforcement.
So Tracy Brabyn came and spokein ASDA a few months ago and
talked about calling out thesuccess stories, calling out the
people from a diversebackground that have made
(23:56):
progress or done somethingreally positive to reinforce the
message.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
And if you had an unlimited powered magic wand to
make change and unlimited budget, what would you do?
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Wow, that's a big question.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Obviously, you know partner with.
We Are Power.
You know just saying.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
For me, diverse teams are important.
I said that at the head.
I don't possibly promote theright people into the right role
.
I've been accused of beingagnostic to diversity because I
just look for the right person.
But what I've really workedhard on if I could make a change
is in succession planning.
(24:39):
So the important part abouthaving a diverse team is having
a diverse succession plan and adiverse talent pool, and that's
where I probably work thehardest and you don't get
immediate result because thetalent pool's got to grow.
There's got to be movement.
You can move people through intobroader roles but over time
we've got quite a diverse talentpool now and part of my role is
(25:00):
even through the mentorship isgiving someone the confidence to
stick their hand up and say youknow what I could have a go at
that.
I'm not going to go into itstraight away, but there's some
things I'm going to do along theway and I'm going to put myself
in a position where I could beconsidered and give it a
confidence to through adevelopment and a talent
planning for an individual tohave the confidence to apply for
(25:21):
a role.
Then you get your diversity.
I've seen in previousbusinesses too quickly positive
promotion focused on the stat,not the long term, and you will
get the gender split or thediversity split in the moment.
But I've seen the unfortunateoutcome of that is people being
unsuccessful in their career andactually stepping back, not
pushing through.
So I think that whole pointabout development, talent,
(25:44):
succession planning if I couldwave a magic wand, I'd invest
there, knowing that we get theoutput at the top and what's
your superpower?
um, I don't know, I'm very, I'mvery humbled even to be sat here
and get this award.
I'm really humbled.
I genuinely believe it's partof my job.
Um, if I'd say there's onething what have I asked your
(26:06):
wife?
she would struggle to find asuper.
I think, um, if I would say, um, making it part of the day job.
So if there was one positivechange that I've made, is
whether I find a day a month, afew hours a week, just provide
some headspace to being a womenas the co-chair, thinking about
(26:26):
succession planning and talent,bringing the right people
through, having the right peoplearound the table, just taking
the time to do that and seeingthat as a day job rather than
see it as an extra.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
It's part of what you do and who you are, adrian
thank you so much for joining methank you for wearing your
badge with pride.
Thank you so much and I'm sodelighted that you've joined us
today, and big thanks to ASDAfor all the support that you
offer us.
You're welcome subscribe onYouTube, apple, amazon Music,
spotify or wherever you get yourpodcasts.
Leave us a review or follow uson socials.
We are power underscore net onInsta, tiktok and Twitter, or we
(27:02):
are power on LinkedIn, facebookand we are underscore power on
YouTube.
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