July 14, 2024 • 19 mins
Join us as we chat with Nicola Johnson, Director of the HR Centre of Excellence at Bentley , as she opens up about balancing a high-powered career and being a mum.
From her return to work after maternity leave to the thrill of driving a Continental GT Speed at Silverstone, Nicola's stories are all about breaking boundaries.
And find out about Nicola's role models, like Michelle Obama and Katie Piper, and key figures in the automotive world who have paved the way.
Listen to learn:
🎙️the importance of authenticity
🎙️how to address subconscious biases
🎙️the impact of strong female role models
🎙️how Bentley creates a inclusive workplace culture
Sign up to our Power Platform to check out our events calendar here.
Keep up to date on the latest news from We Are Power : Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram & Facebook
Sign up to our newsletter.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Hello, hello and welcome to the we Are Power
podcast Northern Power Womenpodcast for your career and your
life, no matter what businessyou're in.
Hello, hello and welcome to thewe Are Power podcast.
This is a podcast that is allabout me chatting fantastic role
(00:34):
models, quite frankly, hearingtheir stories, hearing what
adventures they've been on andhopefully bringing you some top
tips, strategies that you cantake on in to help you navigate,
whether it's your career, yourlife, whatever path you're on at
this current moment.
That's what we want to do withour weekly podcast and this week
I'm really excited to welcomeNick Johnson, who is the
(00:54):
Innovative People Director atBentley, which is an amazing
luxury motor automated countrybased here in the north of
England, who were our 2024Northern Power Awards Future
List sponsor.
Nick, welcome to the podcast.
How are you?
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Thank you, simone.
It's great to be here.
I'm fantastic, I'm reallyexcited, thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Oh, and it was quite a few weeks ago to be on site at
Bentley HQ holding our FutureList virtual event as well,
having a good chat and a greatpanel on site as well.
So thank you so much forhosting that.
Please do catch up on that aswell.
Nick, tell us about how yousort of found yourself working
here at Bentley.
(01:36):
How did you get into theautomotive industry Obviously a
very male-dominated industry,yeah, yeah for sure.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
So I started my career at Ford Motor Company.
I was an HR coordinator.
I'd followed in my father'sfootsteps.
So he is a real lover of carsand taking a huge interest in
and so do I.
I actually designed my firstcar at school, but then moved
more into the business arenaOnce I'd graduated from
university.
I had job offers from both Fordand Bentley, but of course
(02:07):
there was no question for me.
I'd wanted to join a trueBritish luxury brand at that
time and I wasn't actually thatkeen to work in Dagenham.
But that was the other kind ofcomparator and so, yeah, I
wanted to, I guess, live in thenorth.
I'd done the London thing, I'ddone the south, and but my heart
was in the north.
So my career at Bentley beganand that was the beginning for
(02:29):
me.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
You have to literally tell me you designed a car in
school.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
I did.
Yeah, it was called the Mayora,which is Spanish for
improvement.
Yeah, it was blue and it was inkind of the graphic design
course.
So that was it.
Although I'm not sure I wasthat strong on design.
I was more kind of businessorientated.
So, yeah, hr was was chosenafter my business management
degree and what are thechallenges that you have faced?
Speaker 1 (02:54):
you know we talked about this being a male
dominated industry, but how didyou kind of overcome any of
those challenges, that sort ofstepped in front of you on the
on your way?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
yeah, really interesting question.
Um.
If I think back to um my earlyyears, I guess I was often the
only woman um in a room full ofmen and I remember um
overcompensating, trying to beum more masculine, more male in
my approach and and that workedokay, but actually I felt like I
wasn't um, I wasn't being me,and it took me a few years to
(03:23):
realize that the more effectivething is to be confident and be
you and really bring yourselfand be confident in the value
that you add to an individual.
So that's the approach that Itake now.
I guess I had a little think aswell.
There's a couple of other areas.
Really, working internationallyin my career, I found that some
(03:44):
countries in europe have gotless of an advanced approach to
women in the career, um, intheir careers and workplace um.
So I've continued to challengeand call out any kind of
subconscious biases, becauseoften people don't even realize
some of the comments.
You know, are you making thetea?
Um, what time do you call this?
They don't realize that it hasan impact.
And if you do call out thesebiases you know people referring
(04:07):
to girls then they realise andrealise the impact that they're
having.
So that's really important forme to call out.
And then the final area.
I think I wouldn't be able totalk about challenges without
mentioning being a mum.
So I'm a mum of three and forme it's been quite challenging
having young children at thesame time as leading a senior
(04:28):
role.
However, I'm extremely lucky.
I've got children between theages of two and twelve and I've
got a really supportive company.
So I do work flexibly and Ihave a flexible work contract,
although I work full-time hours.
I've got a great team who arefully empowered and on a Monday
when I'm not in the office, theyare absolutely, you know, there
(04:49):
and leading the way.
And, of course, I'm alwayscontactable and I'm flexible.
But it works for me that I canspend the time that I need to
with my, with my young son, alsoheavily involved with our Be
Inspired network as well, whichhas helped both me and others, I
guess, overcoming some of thosechallenges of being a female
and you talk about thatflexibility.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
I think that's things that are so massively important
to help you kind of navigatethe industry you're in, and
you've talked about being partof Be Inspired.
What other sort of support didyou have along the way?
Have you really gained fromhaving a mentor?
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yeah, I've actually hugely benefited from mentors
and coaches and through mycareer.
So in my early years I hadChristine Gaskell was our HR
board member and I learned ahuge amount from her.
I've had various mentors, bothmale and female.
Now I have a senior malecolleague in work and I guess
(05:47):
every day is a school day, soI'm still learning.
He's had a real global careerand just helps me navigate in
terms of stakeholder managementand some of the things that he's
picked up in his career acrossthe group.
I think mentoring I think issuper important, but also
coaching, because often we allhave the answers within us and
it's just about having someonehelp us unlock them.
(06:09):
So coaching has been massivefor me, either just with
internal coaches or coachesexternally to really break down
personal barriers and overcomeyour own personal challenges.
I think that's super important.
But now I'm also a trainedcoach and I'm a mentor to others
because I've had a massiveamount of support through my
career from many of my leaders,many inspiring women that I've
(06:32):
worked with, but also mentorsand coaches that have really
pushed me, and so, yeah, I'mtrying to kind of give that back
and help other people now withtheir careers people now with
their careers.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
And what motivated you Because I think that's, I
really believe in that sort ofcircular, if you like the
circularity pretty certain I'mmaking words up now circularity
of mentoring.
You know that if you've gainedthat is important to give back.
What motivated you to go andget that sort of qualification
so you could pay it forward.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
I think it probably took me until I was in my late
30s, early 40s, to get to aposition where I felt confident
to talk about being a mum andbeing a leader and putting my
own wellbeing at equal priorityto work and children.
And I've only learned all ofthose techniques and values and
(07:25):
ways of working from, I guess,looking at what other people do
so, learning from a network ofmums and professionals and other
people that are struggling andhave put in little systems and
things in place.
I've done a lot of reading aswell around it in as well around
(07:47):
it and, yeah, I wanted forpeople to, I guess, see the
light in their 20s or early 30srather than, yeah, it taking me
so long into my late, late 30sand early 40s.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
I think it's never too early to get a mentor.
I don't think it's ever tooearly and, like you talked about
coaching, talk aboutsponsorships different forms
aren't there so I think thatearlier you can get there.
There's always someone who canhelp, even if it's no-transcript
.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
It is really important and it's also two way
as well.
So I have a reverse mentoringsystem with one of the younger
colleagues in our team and he'sreally helping me to think about
things differently as well.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
So, yeah, of what kind of mentoring that we're
enabling.
It's always that two-way.
It's always like, oh mygoodness, I'm going to take that
back into my organisation orinto my own home life.
Whatever it may be, I'm goingto take that learning on board
myself.
Have you seen change across theindustry and the approach to
gender diversity since you sortof jumped into, since you well
(08:54):
beyond building your first car,of course?
Speaker 2 (08:57):
I think I have, yeah, seen seen change, particularly
in the last five years.
Um.
So for me, the importance of umhaving diverse teams and the
benefits of collective iq anddiversity of thought they are um
really appreciated and realizedand recognized.
Um.
One of the most influentialbooks that I've read around this
topic was Rebel Ideas byMatthew Saeed, and it was such a
(09:21):
compelling read around thevalue and the benefits of
diversity that we actuallybrought Matthew in to speak with
our senior leaders and hepresented some of his stories to
them and it was really evidenceand proof points of why it's so
important and what you can loseout on if you don't have a
diverse team.
We're going to be sharing theseprinciples with all of our
leaders but, yeah, things likethat, using evidence um, you can
(09:43):
really develop a commonlanguage and understanding and
certainly within Bentley we havethat.
But I see that across acrossautomotive um.
So I was recently on a paneldebate with um AutoCar Great
Women, um awards and plus we'repart of Julian Muir's 30% Club
and you see, through theseforums, a big shift that
everyone is coming along on thejourney around the importance of
(10:06):
investing in female development, around general diversity,
gender diversity, all thedifferent types, storytelling
initiatives, and I thinkeverybody fully understands
there's no.
Why are we doing this?
Everyone understands themovement we're working towards.
I also see a lot of progresswithin the wider group.
(10:27):
So, for example, volkswagengroup, you've got opportunities
to collaborate and work togetheron these topics through Audi,
volkswagen, skoda, seat.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
So yeah, a huge initiative and movement within
the automotive industry now, andI think that importance of that
, that knowledge exchange acrosssort of the brands, across the
subsectors, is so key, isn'tthere?
Because there's no one sizefits all solution to solving or
achieving gender parity, genderequality.
(10:55):
Everyone's doing things adifferent way.
Think about your younger self.
What can we do to encouragemore younger women to pursue
careers in non-traditionalindustries and sectors like
automotive?
I think?
Speaker 2 (11:10):
understanding the opportunities and understanding
that it isn't outdated,old-fashioned, just for men.
There are so many differentcareer opportunities, so many
different routes, so manydifferent amazing things that
you can do.
You know, working at Bentley,we let all of our colleagues
(11:32):
drive the products.
Once a year, or certainly everyother year, we have an event at
Alton Park where thousands orhundreds of colleagues get to
drive the product race aroundthe racetrack.
So there's huge experiences,there's global travel, there's
multi-group projects, there'sall sorts of things that you can
get involved with, but I guesswe're not quite as famous maybe
(11:55):
some of the tech companies, butthere are tech roles.
There are.
There are all sorts ofdifferent things that you need
to have real transparency.
I think seeing other rolemodels, seeing other people and
flourishing and having greatcareers in automotive is
important and we do try and makesure we share stories of role
models within the industry aswell.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Yeah, and you talked about Christine Gaskell before
who I've kind of known for anumber of years, as you know,
sort of very you know a realnorthern power woman, if you
like, and powerhouse if you like, and yourself.
And you know there's so manygreat role models across the
industry and you talked aboutJulia at the 30% Automotive Club
which I've been part of andspoke at and things like that.
(12:38):
But that role model can neverunderestimate the power of role
models, can you?
And again, attracting morewomen into the industry.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Yeah, I think role models are hugely important and
I was thinking about this withGemma yesterday and we had a
conversation around role models.
I was talking about MichelleObama, who was a lawyer, and I
said to Gemma did you know thatshe was Barack's boss and mentor
long before they were married,long before he was the president
of the USA?
And Gemma was like I didn'tknow that.
(13:08):
Her book is absolutelyincredible and she really is an
inspiring woman.
But also people like KatiePiper and her approach to
overcoming adversity.
There's something to learn, Ithink, reflecting in terms of
role models.
Of course, we've got amazingrole models in automotive as
well.
We had a think about thatyesterday.
So we've got our own.
(13:29):
Hildegard Vortman, audi AGmember of the Board for Sales
and Marketing.
We've also met recently MariaGrazia Davina, group MD at
Stellantis, and we've got ourown CIO, kirsty Bennett,
ex-virgin, who also takes aleading role in our Be Inspired
Network and, of course, gemmaSharp, who was listed on another
Power Women future list.
(13:50):
She's very early in her career,but lots of role models around
us, and that's just to name afew, because there are so many
role models in automotive tolook up to.
Um, this is um quite special tome in terms of role models for
um, for people at work, but alsofor my own family.
Um, my five-year-old said to meum, girls are pretty and boys
(14:12):
are clever.
And I was absolutely horrified,like where did you get that
from?
And said that's what everyonesays at school.
You know that's the way it is.
And I said that isn't the wayit is.
Girls can do anything they wantto, and we actually read um
good night stories, rebel girlsand I've read it with each of my
daughters and it's just onepage with all of these amazing,
um, incredible women that haveachieved so many things.
(14:32):
So I think, in terms of rolemodeling, you can't start too
early.
It's super important.
I couldn't.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
I couldn't agree more .
I think you know you've gotgender stereotypes are forming
by the age of five, six.
There's a brilliant video outthere called redraw the balance.
It's been around for years andyears and it is.
You've got a classroom in frontof young kids, you know, six
years old, and you've got threewomen going to the classroom and
supply teachers under the guys.
We're going to draw professionstoday and they go away and they
(14:59):
draw.
And when the three peoplereemerge, you know one's a
fighter pilot, one's a searcherand one's a firefighter and
sadly, the first thing a younglittle girl says is oh, it's
dress-up day, you know, and it'sjust, we've got to smash that,
haven't we?
So I love the fact that youproper shouted out some of those
, those names and role modelsand and our Gemma high five,
(15:21):
gemma, on a future list.
So it's really important, isn'tit?
I said it's a well-used phrase,isn't it?
If you can't see it, you can'tbe it, but it's.
It's so important and so goodfor you, for you changing.
You can change the narrativewith the storybook reading.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Right, absolutely, yeah and um yeah, like my
daughter is amazed by all theseamazing things that that women
do and of course, men can do thesame but I think it's important
at a young age to realize thatyou can do everything.
You don't have to go forcertain stereotypical, um
careers.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Yeah, and I'm third time reading or listening, shall
I say to the Michelle Obamabook.
I love, I do Audible becauseshe narrates it and that whole
it's in different sections,isn't it In the section?
It was like, yeah, she was.
She was really quite intolerantof Barack, actually, I think at
first because he was a bitnaughty.
A bit naughty and late Thanks.
Well, what do you think are, ifyou think about people
(16:14):
returning or re-entering, if youlike, into the workforce,
whether it be a break or youknow, sort of a significant sort
of time away, what do, what canwe do more of?
And what does Bentley do tosort of kind of solve some of
those challenges when you'recoming back in?
Because when you're away for awhile, you know we can always
(16:35):
talk about, oh, it's justconfidence.
But technology and the world ofwork moves so fast sometimes
it's hard to kind of catchpeople back up.
So how do you?
How do you do that?
How?
Speaker 2 (16:45):
do you support that?
I think from my own experienceit is really tough.
I've had three, three sets ofmaternity leave.
I'm really lucky, and I foundit difficult each time to come
back.
I think I felt like I'd lost mynetwork.
I felt like I'd lost my kind ofworking knowledge.
Our industry transformed soquickly um that you know, even a
year um out of the workplace,out of the workplace, working at
(17:07):
this pace makes a massivedifference.
And also, I just say confidenceum can be a thing so, um.
So I've always enjoyed keepingin touch with the company, my
manager, my team and doing, youknow, team events days out and
things like that.
I think that's helped.
But also having a reallysupportive manager.
When you get back, someone thatthat realizes you're going to
(17:28):
have a bit of a ramp up, you'regoing to take, take some time,
and we do have um mentoringwhich is available to everybody,
and I think I would encourageanyone returning to get a mentor
or a coach to help them withnavigating some of those
challenges.
Um my third baby.
When I came back from maternityleave my very first day back, I
was encouraged to reconnectwith our product and we were at
(17:51):
um silverstone and I was able todrive the Continental GT speed
around Silverstone as fast as Ipossibly could.
Well, I was well back into itthen.
So, yeah, it was an amazingopportunity.
So, I think, just to pushyourself as well and do as much
as I can.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
And well, that sounds like fun.
And how do you strike thatbalance between maintaining the
professionalism butincorporating the fun into your
work and the world of work?
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Yeah, I mean, if we go in terms of Bentley, part of
our culture journey is to ensurethat we drive the right
behaviours being more purposeful, innovative, but also making
sure Bentley is an enjoyableplace to work.
This is really important and wespend such a lot of time at
work that it would be wrong notto bring fun into the workplace.
And we're so lucky.
I think I've mentioned earlierthat we have the opportunity for
(18:43):
thousands of our colleagues toexperience our products.
We have an event at Alton Parkon a regular basis and this is
all about belonging at Bentley.
That is's not just forcustomers.
You can feel and really see andunderstand the product.
We hold family events.
We have free fairground rides.
Which parent wouldn't want thatin their lives?
Where the kids can just go onanything for free?
(19:03):
Even this week, our boardmembers were out on the plaza
celebrating the fourthgeneration Continental GC, and
all of our team were there.
We were all sitting in thesunshine and enjoying festival
food on the lawn.
So we really do and take aproactive approach, and it's not
just about company initiatives.
I think we're all responsiblefor bringing fun in, and so
within my own team, we've got adedicated little team that look
(19:26):
after our social events and webring well-being and we make
sure we've all got the rightbalance.
We have well-being checks inour team meetings as well.
So, um yeah, making sure thatwe're all looking after each
other and having, um yeah,common and common, common goals
and fun as well asprofessionalism and it's
bringing that whole self to work, isn't it?
Speaker 1 (19:45):
I think you talked about that earlier on.
I think that is so important,nick, I don't know where the
time goes, uh, these terms.
Thank you so much for lettingus delve into the world of
automotive, into the world ofworking mum of three, into the
world of mentoring and coachingand your top tips.
Thank you so much for joiningus on today's podcast and thank
(20:06):
you for letting us come out andplay.
I want to get to Alton Park now.
I want to be on that list nexttime.
But thank you for letting usinto your home over at Bentley
as well and look forward toseeing you soon.
Thank you so much, nick thanks,thanks, simone.
It's great to join you today andthanks all of you for listening
.
I always think there'ssomething so different we take
(20:27):
away from every individual.
Everyone comes from a differentpath or a different journey and
nobody has that one straightline.
Look at nick.
She started designing her owncar.
The mayor I love that thespanish name, roberta it's
fantastic.
You never know where that'sgoing to be.
You never know what thatinterest is going to drive you
literally drive you.
There was no pun intended inthat, honestly, but thank you so
(20:47):
much for joining and we lovehearing from you, so please do
leave us a review and stayconnected on all of our socials
facebook and linkedin.
We are power tiktok.
Insta.
Twitter.
We are power underscore net.
Thank you for listening.
My name is simone.
This is a we are power podcaston what goes on media production
.
Hello, hello and welcome to the we Are Power
podcast Northern Power Womenpodcast for your career and your
life, no matter what businessyou're in.
Hello, hello and welcome to thewe Are Power podcast.
This is a podcast that is allabout me chatting fantastic role
(00:34):
models, quite frankly, hearingtheir stories, hearing what
adventures they've been on andhopefully bringing you some top
tips, strategies that you cantake on in to help you navigate,
whether it's your career, yourlife, whatever path you're on at
this current moment.
That's what we want to do withour weekly podcast and this week
I'm really excited to welcomeNick Johnson, who is the
(00:54):
Innovative People Director atBentley, which is an amazing
luxury motor automated countrybased here in the north of
England, who were our 2024Northern Power Awards Future
List sponsor.
Nick, welcome to the podcast.
How are you?
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Thank you, simone.
It's great to be here.
I'm fantastic, I'm reallyexcited, thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Oh, and it was quite a few weeks ago to be on site at
Bentley HQ holding our FutureList virtual event as well,
having a good chat and a greatpanel on site as well.
So thank you so much forhosting that.
Please do catch up on that aswell.
Nick, tell us about how yousort of found yourself working
here at Bentley.
(01:36):
How did you get into theautomotive industry Obviously a
very male-dominated industry,yeah, yeah for sure.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
So I started my career at Ford Motor Company.
I was an HR coordinator.
I'd followed in my father'sfootsteps.
So he is a real lover of carsand taking a huge interest in
and so do I.
I actually designed my firstcar at school, but then moved
more into the business arenaOnce I'd graduated from
university.
I had job offers from both Fordand Bentley, but of course
(02:07):
there was no question for me.
I'd wanted to join a trueBritish luxury brand at that
time and I wasn't actually thatkeen to work in Dagenham.
But that was the other kind ofcomparator and so, yeah, I
wanted to, I guess, live in thenorth.
I'd done the London thing, I'ddone the south, and but my heart
was in the north.
So my career at Bentley beganand that was the beginning for
(02:29):
me.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
You have to literally tell me you designed a car in
school.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
I did.
Yeah, it was called the Mayora,which is Spanish for
improvement.
Yeah, it was blue and it was inkind of the graphic design
course.
So that was it.
Although I'm not sure I wasthat strong on design.
I was more kind of businessorientated.
So, yeah, hr was was chosenafter my business management
degree and what are thechallenges that you have faced?
Speaker 1 (02:54):
you know we talked about this being a male
dominated industry, but how didyou kind of overcome any of
those challenges, that sort ofstepped in front of you on the
on your way?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
yeah, really interesting question.
Um.
If I think back to um my earlyyears, I guess I was often the
only woman um in a room full ofmen and I remember um
overcompensating, trying to beum more masculine, more male in
my approach and and that workedokay, but actually I felt like I
wasn't um, I wasn't being me,and it took me a few years to
(03:23):
realize that the more effectivething is to be confident and be
you and really bring yourselfand be confident in the value
that you add to an individual.
So that's the approach that Itake now.
I guess I had a little think aswell.
There's a couple of other areas.
Really, working internationallyin my career, I found that some
(03:44):
countries in europe have gotless of an advanced approach to
women in the career, um, intheir careers and workplace um.
So I've continued to challengeand call out any kind of
subconscious biases, becauseoften people don't even realize
some of the comments.
You know, are you making thetea?
Um, what time do you call this?
They don't realize that it hasan impact.
And if you do call out thesebiases you know people referring
(04:07):
to girls then they realise andrealise the impact that they're
having.
So that's really important forme to call out.
And then the final area.
I think I wouldn't be able totalk about challenges without
mentioning being a mum.
So I'm a mum of three and forme it's been quite challenging
having young children at thesame time as leading a senior
(04:28):
role.
However, I'm extremely lucky.
I've got children between theages of two and twelve and I've
got a really supportive company.
So I do work flexibly and Ihave a flexible work contract,
although I work full-time hours.
I've got a great team who arefully empowered and on a Monday
when I'm not in the office, theyare absolutely, you know, there
(04:49):
and leading the way.
And, of course, I'm alwayscontactable and I'm flexible.
But it works for me that I canspend the time that I need to
with my, with my young son, alsoheavily involved with our Be
Inspired network as well, whichhas helped both me and others, I
guess, overcoming some of thosechallenges of being a female
and you talk about thatflexibility.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
I think that's things that are so massively important
to help you kind of navigatethe industry you're in, and
you've talked about being partof Be Inspired.
What other sort of support didyou have along the way?
Have you really gained fromhaving a mentor?
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yeah, I've actually hugely benefited from mentors
and coaches and through mycareer.
So in my early years I hadChristine Gaskell was our HR
board member and I learned ahuge amount from her.
I've had various mentors, bothmale and female.
Now I have a senior malecolleague in work and I guess
(05:47):
every day is a school day, soI'm still learning.
He's had a real global careerand just helps me navigate in
terms of stakeholder managementand some of the things that he's
picked up in his career acrossthe group.
I think mentoring I think issuper important, but also
coaching, because often we allhave the answers within us and
it's just about having someonehelp us unlock them.
(06:09):
So coaching has been massivefor me, either just with
internal coaches or coachesexternally to really break down
personal barriers and overcomeyour own personal challenges.
I think that's super important.
But now I'm also a trainedcoach and I'm a mentor to others
because I've had a massiveamount of support through my
career from many of my leaders,many inspiring women that I've
(06:32):
worked with, but also mentorsand coaches that have really
pushed me, and so, yeah, I'mtrying to kind of give that back
and help other people now withtheir careers people now with
their careers.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
And what motivated you Because I think that's, I
really believe in that sort ofcircular, if you like the
circularity pretty certain I'mmaking words up now circularity
of mentoring.
You know that if you've gainedthat is important to give back.
What motivated you to go andget that sort of qualification
so you could pay it forward.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
I think it probably took me until I was in my late
30s, early 40s, to get to aposition where I felt confident
to talk about being a mum andbeing a leader and putting my
own wellbeing at equal priorityto work and children.
And I've only learned all ofthose techniques and values and
(07:25):
ways of working from, I guess,looking at what other people do
so, learning from a network ofmums and professionals and other
people that are struggling andhave put in little systems and
things in place.
I've done a lot of reading aswell around it in as well around
(07:47):
it and, yeah, I wanted forpeople to, I guess, see the
light in their 20s or early 30srather than, yeah, it taking me
so long into my late, late 30sand early 40s.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
I think it's never too early to get a mentor.
I don't think it's ever tooearly and, like you talked about
coaching, talk aboutsponsorships different forms
aren't there so I think thatearlier you can get there.
There's always someone who canhelp, even if it's no-transcript
.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
It is really important and it's also two way
as well.
So I have a reverse mentoringsystem with one of the younger
colleagues in our team and he'sreally helping me to think about
things differently as well.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
So, yeah, of what kind of mentoring that we're
enabling.
It's always that two-way.
It's always like, oh mygoodness, I'm going to take that
back into my organisation orinto my own home life.
Whatever it may be, I'm goingto take that learning on board
myself.
Have you seen change across theindustry and the approach to
gender diversity since you sortof jumped into, since you well
(08:54):
beyond building your first car,of course?
Speaker 2 (08:57):
I think I have, yeah, seen seen change, particularly
in the last five years.
Um.
So for me, the importance of umhaving diverse teams and the
benefits of collective iq anddiversity of thought they are um
really appreciated and realizedand recognized.
Um.
One of the most influentialbooks that I've read around this
topic was Rebel Ideas byMatthew Saeed, and it was such a
(09:21):
compelling read around thevalue and the benefits of
diversity that we actuallybrought Matthew in to speak with
our senior leaders and hepresented some of his stories to
them and it was really evidenceand proof points of why it's so
important and what you can loseout on if you don't have a
diverse team.
We're going to be sharing theseprinciples with all of our
leaders but, yeah, things likethat, using evidence um, you can
(09:43):
really develop a commonlanguage and understanding and
certainly within Bentley we havethat.
But I see that across acrossautomotive um.
So I was recently on a paneldebate with um AutoCar Great
Women, um awards and plus we'repart of Julian Muir's 30% Club
and you see, through theseforums, a big shift that
everyone is coming along on thejourney around the importance of
(10:06):
investing in female development, around general diversity,
gender diversity, all thedifferent types, storytelling
initiatives, and I thinkeverybody fully understands
there's no.
Why are we doing this?
Everyone understands themovement we're working towards.
I also see a lot of progresswithin the wider group.
(10:27):
So, for example, volkswagengroup, you've got opportunities
to collaborate and work togetheron these topics through Audi,
volkswagen, skoda, seat.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
So yeah, a huge initiative and movement within
the automotive industry now, andI think that importance of that
, that knowledge exchange acrosssort of the brands, across the
subsectors, is so key, isn'tthere?
Because there's no one sizefits all solution to solving or
achieving gender parity, genderequality.
(10:55):
Everyone's doing things adifferent way.
Think about your younger self.
What can we do to encouragemore younger women to pursue
careers in non-traditionalindustries and sectors like
automotive?
I think?
Speaker 2 (11:10):
understanding the opportunities and understanding
that it isn't outdated,old-fashioned, just for men.
There are so many differentcareer opportunities, so many
different routes, so manydifferent amazing things that
you can do.
You know, working at Bentley,we let all of our colleagues
(11:32):
drive the products.
Once a year, or certainly everyother year, we have an event at
Alton Park where thousands orhundreds of colleagues get to
drive the product race aroundthe racetrack.
So there's huge experiences,there's global travel, there's
multi-group projects, there'sall sorts of things that you can
get involved with, but I guesswe're not quite as famous maybe
(11:55):
some of the tech companies, butthere are tech roles.
There are.
There are all sorts ofdifferent things that you need
to have real transparency.
I think seeing other rolemodels, seeing other people and
flourishing and having greatcareers in automotive is
important and we do try and makesure we share stories of role
models within the industry aswell.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Yeah, and you talked about Christine Gaskell before
who I've kind of known for anumber of years, as you know,
sort of very you know a realnorthern power woman, if you
like, and powerhouse if you like, and yourself.
And you know there's so manygreat role models across the
industry and you talked aboutJulia at the 30% Automotive Club
which I've been part of andspoke at and things like that.
(12:38):
But that role model can neverunderestimate the power of role
models, can you?
And again, attracting morewomen into the industry.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Yeah, I think role models are hugely important and
I was thinking about this withGemma yesterday and we had a
conversation around role models.
I was talking about MichelleObama, who was a lawyer, and I
said to Gemma did you know thatshe was Barack's boss and mentor
long before they were married,long before he was the president
of the USA?
And Gemma was like I didn'tknow that.
(13:08):
Her book is absolutelyincredible and she really is an
inspiring woman.
But also people like KatiePiper and her approach to
overcoming adversity.
There's something to learn, Ithink, reflecting in terms of
role models.
Of course, we've got amazingrole models in automotive as
well.
We had a think about thatyesterday.
So we've got our own.
(13:29):
Hildegard Vortman, audi AGmember of the Board for Sales
and Marketing.
We've also met recently MariaGrazia Davina, group MD at
Stellantis, and we've got ourown CIO, kirsty Bennett,
ex-virgin, who also takes aleading role in our Be Inspired
Network and, of course, gemmaSharp, who was listed on another
Power Women future list.
(13:50):
She's very early in her career,but lots of role models around
us, and that's just to name afew, because there are so many
role models in automotive tolook up to.
Um, this is um quite special tome in terms of role models for
um, for people at work, but alsofor my own family.
Um, my five-year-old said to meum, girls are pretty and boys
(14:12):
are clever.
And I was absolutely horrified,like where did you get that
from?
And said that's what everyonesays at school.
You know that's the way it is.
And I said that isn't the wayit is.
Girls can do anything they wantto, and we actually read um
good night stories, rebel girlsand I've read it with each of my
daughters and it's just onepage with all of these amazing,
um, incredible women that haveachieved so many things.
(14:32):
So I think, in terms of rolemodeling, you can't start too
early.
It's super important.
I couldn't.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
I couldn't agree more .
I think you know you've gotgender stereotypes are forming
by the age of five, six.
There's a brilliant video outthere called redraw the balance.
It's been around for years andyears and it is.
You've got a classroom in frontof young kids, you know, six
years old, and you've got threewomen going to the classroom and
supply teachers under the guys.
We're going to draw professionstoday and they go away and they
(14:59):
draw.
And when the three peoplereemerge, you know one's a
fighter pilot, one's a searcherand one's a firefighter and
sadly, the first thing a younglittle girl says is oh, it's
dress-up day, you know, and it'sjust, we've got to smash that,
haven't we?
So I love the fact that youproper shouted out some of those
, those names and role modelsand and our Gemma high five,
(15:21):
gemma, on a future list.
So it's really important, isn'tit?
I said it's a well-used phrase,isn't it?
If you can't see it, you can'tbe it, but it's.
It's so important and so goodfor you, for you changing.
You can change the narrativewith the storybook reading.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Right, absolutely, yeah and um yeah, like my
daughter is amazed by all theseamazing things that that women
do and of course, men can do thesame but I think it's important
at a young age to realize thatyou can do everything.
You don't have to go forcertain stereotypical, um
careers.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Yeah, and I'm third time reading or listening, shall
I say to the Michelle Obamabook.
I love, I do Audible becauseshe narrates it and that whole
it's in different sections,isn't it In the section?
It was like, yeah, she was.
She was really quite intolerantof Barack, actually, I think at
first because he was a bitnaughty.
A bit naughty and late Thanks.
Well, what do you think are, ifyou think about people
(16:14):
returning or re-entering, if youlike, into the workforce,
whether it be a break or youknow, sort of a significant sort
of time away, what do, what canwe do more of?
And what does Bentley do tosort of kind of solve some of
those challenges when you'recoming back in?
Because when you're away for awhile, you know we can always
(16:35):
talk about, oh, it's justconfidence.
But technology and the world ofwork moves so fast sometimes
it's hard to kind of catchpeople back up.
So how do you?
How do you do that?
How?
Speaker 2 (16:45):
do you support that?
I think from my own experienceit is really tough.
I've had three, three sets ofmaternity leave.
I'm really lucky, and I foundit difficult each time to come
back.
I think I felt like I'd lost mynetwork.
I felt like I'd lost my kind ofworking knowledge.
Our industry transformed soquickly um that you know, even a
year um out of the workplace,out of the workplace, working at
(17:07):
this pace makes a massivedifference.
And also, I just say confidenceum can be a thing so, um.
So I've always enjoyed keepingin touch with the company, my
manager, my team and doing, youknow, team events days out and
things like that.
I think that's helped.
But also having a reallysupportive manager.
When you get back, someone thatthat realizes you're going to
(17:28):
have a bit of a ramp up, you'regoing to take, take some time,
and we do have um mentoringwhich is available to everybody,
and I think I would encourageanyone returning to get a mentor
or a coach to help them withnavigating some of those
challenges.
Um my third baby.
When I came back from maternityleave my very first day back, I
was encouraged to reconnectwith our product and we were at
(17:51):
um silverstone and I was able todrive the Continental GT speed
around Silverstone as fast as Ipossibly could.
Well, I was well back into itthen.
So, yeah, it was an amazingopportunity.
So, I think, just to pushyourself as well and do as much
as I can.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
And well, that sounds like fun.
And how do you strike thatbalance between maintaining the
professionalism butincorporating the fun into your
work and the world of work?
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Yeah, I mean, if we go in terms of Bentley, part of
our culture journey is to ensurethat we drive the right
behaviours being more purposeful, innovative, but also making
sure Bentley is an enjoyableplace to work.
This is really important and wespend such a lot of time at
work that it would be wrong notto bring fun into the workplace.
And we're so lucky.
I think I've mentioned earlierthat we have the opportunity for
(18:43):
thousands of our colleagues toexperience our products.
We have an event at Alton Parkon a regular basis and this is
all about belonging at Bentley.
That is's not just forcustomers.
You can feel and really see andunderstand the product.
We hold family events.
We have free fairground rides.
Which parent wouldn't want thatin their lives?
Where the kids can just go onanything for free?
(19:03):
Even this week, our boardmembers were out on the plaza
celebrating the fourthgeneration Continental GC, and
all of our team were there.
We were all sitting in thesunshine and enjoying festival
food on the lawn.
So we really do and take aproactive approach, and it's not
just about company initiatives.
I think we're all responsiblefor bringing fun in, and so
within my own team, we've got adedicated little team that look
(19:26):
after our social events and webring well-being and we make
sure we've all got the rightbalance.
We have well-being checks inour team meetings as well.
So, um yeah, making sure thatwe're all looking after each
other and having, um yeah,common and common, common goals
and fun as well asprofessionalism and it's
bringing that whole self to work, isn't it?
Speaker 1 (19:45):
I think you talked about that earlier on.
I think that is so important,nick, I don't know where the
time goes, uh, these terms.
Thank you so much for lettingus delve into the world of
automotive, into the world ofworking mum of three, into the
world of mentoring and coachingand your top tips.
Thank you so much for joiningus on today's podcast and thank
(20:06):
you for letting us come out andplay.
I want to get to Alton Park now.
I want to be on that list nexttime.
But thank you for letting usinto your home over at Bentley
as well and look forward toseeing you soon.
Thank you so much, nick thanks,thanks, simone.
It's great to join you today andthanks all of you for listening
.
I always think there'ssomething so different we take
(20:27):
away from every individual.
Everyone comes from a differentpath or a different journey and
nobody has that one straightline.
Look at nick.
She started designing her owncar.
The mayor I love that thespanish name, roberta it's
fantastic.
You never know where that'sgoing to be.
You never know what thatinterest is going to drive you
literally drive you.
There was no pun intended inthat, honestly, but thank you so
(20:47):
much for joining and we lovehearing from you, so please do
leave us a review and stayconnected on all of our socials
facebook and linkedin.
We are power tiktok.
Insta.
Twitter.
We are power underscore net.
Thank you for listening.
My name is simone.
This is a we are power podcaston what goes on media production
.
Popular Podcasts
1. Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
2. Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
3. Crime Junkie
If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.