Business Leaders interview: Mike Williams

Tell us a little about yourself and your business…

As Global Chief HR Officer at KellyDeli, an Asian inspired food company operating in 13 countries, I oversee the people and franchisee strategies and am a member of the C Suite leadership team.    KellyDeli is a really fast paced, rapidly changing and entrepreneurial business, as such our people and franchisee capabilities are pivotal in our success.

What motivates you in your work and what do you find most fulfilling about being a business leader?

The biggest motivation in my role is creating environments that enable the business to operate at its best and deliver against its objectives but at the same time creating opportunities that allow people to flourish and grow to their fullest potential in delivering those objectives.  

How did you develop your leadership skills and how would you define your leadership style?

I’m told I’m very driven, fast paced and have high standards and this defines my leadership style, I've developed my leadership style to ensure I check in regularly on the pace to ensure its right for others, I coach my team and people in the business to learn and grow through pushing themselves out of their comfort zones and taking on interesting and challenging projects that deliver meaningful change

What is or are your biggest career achievement(s)?

I am proud of the legacy left in each of my roles in building people capability and environments that are fun and where people can flourish.  It’s been nice to receive a few awards such from CIPD, Personnel Today and Caterer Best Places to work but the best achievements are where I see people I’ve recruited and coached continue to grow their careers when I’m gone.

What’s the most important leadership lesson you’ve learned?

My biggest lesson is never underestimating the importance of communication, when you might think is enough communication is often not and people need to hear things a few times for it to land and resonate.  

How did you identify and seize opportunities for advancement in your career?

I took chances early on in my career, moving roles for opportunity and progression.  Also, as graduate for John Lewis Partners and having working there for the first 5 years of my career I acknowledged to myself at the right time that traditional culture was not an environment where I was going to realise my full potential.  I could have easily stayed there and kept going but I did an evening course in HR and then 6 months into the course landed my first HR role in a hotel group and never looked back from there.  There's no point trying to put a square peg in a round hole as they say!

Have you achieved everything you wanted in your career so far?

Nearly, there's still more to do.  I really wanted to do an international role particularly as people told me you couldn't go into a Global Chief HR Officer role without previous international experience, so of course, I had to do that and have really enjoyed the challenge.

How important is personal development to your success, and how do you approach it?

Personal development is key to my success, I’ve naturally had a growth mindset and have continuously sought out the next development area, even when I wasn’t clear what it was.  

How do you prioritise tasks when everything feels like a priority?

I pick the things that have the biggest impact on the company objectives and focus on the top four or five things that do that.

What steps do you take to measure your own performance?

I ask for feedback, look at the strength of my relationships and delivery on my KPIs but also find networking a great way to check in on how you’re doing through conversations with my talented peers.

What does success mean for you as a business leader?

Success for me is collecting memories of learning, excitement challenge and delivery but most importantly fun that I will take with me from my roles