David Pich

Lived Experience:

• The nitty gritty of leading a business
• The nitty gritty of leading people
• Becoming a leader – or becoming an even better leader
  

Success factors:

• Empathy. I try to view situations and challenges from the perspective of other people involved
• Perspective. I’ve mostly been able to maintain balance between work and non. Perspective is everything.
• Being from Manchester.  
  

Core values:

• Integrity. Practice what you preach, walk the talk.
• Honesty. Contrary to that famous line in the movie, (by and large), people can actually handle the truth
• Lifelong Learning. I’m never too old to learn something new, to try something different
• Self-Awareness / Introspection. I spend a fair of time analyzing situations and asking whether I could have done things differently
  

Knowledge:

• Sometimes you have to ‘just do it’. It might be a job move, a relocation, a resignation with no move next. Sometimes being brave is best.
• A problem shared can be a problem solved. Asking for help, discussing an issue, throwing ideas around. Coaching and mentoring works!!
• Attitude really matters. Nothing beats a can-do attitude. I tend to think that if you have a long term ‘won’t do’ attitude in a role, it’s time to move on
  

Career highlights:

• I have moved around a fair bit – from the UK to Australia, from HR to Sales & Marketing, from the private sector to not-for-profit, from huge multi-national brands to a tiny medical research start-up. I’ve never regretted a move. Except one.
• I have picked myself up and dusted myself off after that one move I regretted! In the long term it helped me to frame what I value at work. And it’s culture, not financial reward.
• Sometimes I Google people who’ve worked for me over the years and smile when I see what they’re doing now. A few of them I helped along their journey. That’s a nice feeling.
  

Best advice received:

• As a parent, be very wary of so-called ‘experts’.
• As a leader, don’t do anything that you wouldn’t want to see on the front page of a national newspaper.
• As a person, don’t be a "muppet".
  

Favourite business model:

Not so much a business model, but a cultural approach, The HP Way. It was devised in the 1950s and yet it shaped (and continues to shape) business culture today. It revolutionized the workplace.

Book recommendation:

Open by Andre Agassi

He is one of the most beloved athletes in history and one of the most gifted men ever to step onto a tennis court.