Strategic Insight

Caroline Stockmann, Chief Executive of the Association of Corporate Treasurers, draws on personal learnings from a full and varied career. The drive behind the podcast series is the belief that we do not focus enough time on personal development outside the ‘technical’ – those areas with which we more often feel comfortable, and which link very directly to our roles and job functions. Our very busy day jobs, as well as culture, tend to have us leave such considerations to the occasional leadership/management training which is not followed up on, nor ‘practised’ sufficiently after the event for its learnings to become embedded. We do not treat our communications and relationship-building skills like other work projects, yet expect somehow for them to be as successful. And we can get frustrated with the world and people around us, leaving us feeling somewhat helpless and demotivated, when by focusing on the things we can change, we will improve our health, happiness and career. By developing our non-technical skills, we can differentiate ourselves from others more effectively, and increase our likelihood of progressing professionally. And although people’s expectations of work are changing, as are their brains (according to neuroscientists), the insights in this series are likely to remain relevant, and in fact, become even more important in the future. Whether it’s about becoming a board member, the value of diverse teams, the power of visualisation, identifying and putting into action our values, or resilience: all these insights can help us manage our careers in the future, whether we change jobs frequently, develop portfolio careers or indeed change professions every so often.