Podcast on Spotify

Podcast on YouTube

Show Notes

Cindy Nicholson is originally from the UK.  Her career started in investment banking.  Cindy has always had the attitude to take opportunities as they come along.  The right attitude is essential.  She has been drawn to business innovation and developing new products for various industries.

In the late 80s, investment banking was focused on developing the derivative trade segment.  Cindy worked across the technology and the business side doing a lot of quantitative analysis areas.  Cindy moved from JP Morgan to Credit Suisse's financial products: high energy and burnout environment.

In the early 90s, Cindy travelled to Australia for a holiday and then decided to move to Australia to live.  She has been here for almost 30 years.

The technology side of business provided the next phase of Cindy’s career.  She joined a Silicon Valley company and set up the organisation's Australia and New Zealand operations.  The significant point for this role is that the hiring manager trusted Cindy and empowered her to succeed.  This company had an excellent culture for a startup.

In 1998 Cindy dared to start her own company, Braintree.  Braintree’s purpose is to bring human elements into the negotiations between banks and software companies.

The common theme across all the roles has been innovation.

Braintree has transformed from a management consulting business into a leadership and coaching organisation.  Braintree has clients from all over the world.  The motto is “break through barriers to achieve your potential”.

Leadership programs sometimes focus on lower-level skills.  The gap fails to consider the external influences that affect the business.  E.g. Diversity Equity and Inclusion, ESG, CSR and Gender pay gap and gender equity, skill shortages and resignations.  The employer and the employee use these external influences to assess each other.

A Humansied Workforce requires employer flexibility, congruent values & mental health support.

Significant transformations in the workplace have taken place to support flexible working environments.  Mental health awareness is now heightened, and many companies proactively support employees.  Organisations are shifting to be more supportive and empathetic with employees.

Younger professionals have diverse careers and, quite often, several roles at a time.

Working across Asia requires being able to work with different cultures.  Having local employees and agents is critical to success.  This facilitates business being done in the local language and culture.  It is more respectful.

The perfect startup culture is one of a family. The environment needs to be supportive from the top down.  Operational systems must enable easy access to information regardless of where the leader is located.  The team must get together regularly to establish trust and familiarity within the group.  Stock options are also an inclusive touch.

Young professionals are looking for “New Age Leadership” by matching their values and principles with those of the organisation and the leadership team they want to join.

In Summary:

What are the eyes you look through when you look out at the world?  Have a positive mindset and be in control of your destiny.

Courage and confidence permit embracing risk.

Look for opportunities.  Innovation creates new opportunities.

Congruence and culture: Technology has to be aligned with the people side of the business.  People have needs, and they make choices.  Some of these are values, principles and mental health.

Startup culture must be a family, inclusive.

Embrace the future!