Transcript
Please note that this has been transcribed by AI/Bots so there may be typos and the occasional strange things happening.
Richard Holmes
0:00
Welcome to the numbers people podcast in partnership with HPR consulting a leading Sydney executive finance recruitment firm. I'm your host Richard Holmes.
Richard Holmes
0:12
On today's episode, I'm talking with Byron Bassett. Byron is a Senior Finance Director at Johnson and Johnson, a large multinational healthcare company prior to J&J. Byron has worked for Dyson, Woolworths, Activision and GlaxoSmithKline and Senior Commercial Finance and Operational roles. He has a broad background covering marketing management, operations, supply chain logistics, warehousing, business planning, transformation, analytics, sales, commercial finance, accounting property, and retail. He is a proactive and passionate business partner.
Byron Bassett
0:46
Byron, how are you? Good, man. How are you? Yeah, very well, very well. Thanks. Thanks for being a guest on the podcast.
Richard Holmes
0:53
How’s this year gone for you?
Byron Bassett
Yeah, look, I think, talking to you in late December 2020. It's been an interesting year, for a few different ways. But I think look, as I keep reflecting back on,
Byron Bassett
1:08
I feel deeply grateful, actually, is how I feel coming to the end of the year thinking about spending time with family and all the rest is, you know, whilst there have been challenges, I mean, we're very, very lucky here in Australia at the moment to be in the situation we're in. I think we're the envy of a lot of places in the world, which is fantastic. So look, I think, you know, either term, all things considered, to have a happy, healthy family and everyone heading into Christmas, I think not too bad. Not so it's true, isn't it? And I think, yeah, that word gratitude. It's kind of sums up Australia at the moment, isn't it? I think we're, we're called a lucky country. And we certainly are. And I've known Byron for a number of years now and seen his career progress. And I think he's got a really interesting story. Byron, would you like to tell us more? Okay, so look, I'll do the whistlestop tour of the background. So that I grew up in the country, New South Wales in a town called Inverell. So I grew up on a mixed farm about 40 kilometres north of Inverell, in a farming family, and my family had always been farmers. I think I'm the first eldest son in seven generations not to be a farmer. And so you know, that was a really great upbringing to have, I mean, we can come back to that, but I grew up in rural New South Wales, and then
Byron Bassett
2:26
actually got a scholarship out of high school to then come to Sydney to you, NSW to study electrical engineering, and came here to do that. And, you know, having a background in math and science, which is something I was really passionate in is that's the part I chose for myself.
Byron Bassett
2:43
And ultimately, it just wasn't for me, I think, you know, it never really clicked for me, and never really was what I expected it would be. And so then found myself thinking I needed to make a change, actually, and decided I'd started reading a little bit about, you know, psychology and other bits and pieces and got really interested in economics. And you know, this kind of pre behavioural economics becoming a big piece. And so decided I was going to change into economics. And there was a friend of mine who said to me, look, maybe do a double major in accounting as a backup, because accounting is a nice backup to have, right? And at the time, I had no interest in accounting on the wall, that's fair enough like a backup makes sense. give myself some options. So anyway, progressing to that. And then in my final, final summer, before I finished university, I didn't have a job, I was kind of living my last summer as a student and enjoying life. But a friend of mine has said, Look, you probably really need some work experience. So civil, okay, I'll get some work experience over the summer. And he was interning at British American Tobacco at the time because he was on a paid scholarship there. And that was something I thought was interesting, I kind of didn't have anything to lose. And so went into that organization as a summer intern to do your end and learn a huge amount about that process and went into that culture and you know, you kind of preconception of what the tobacco industry is, and what it would be very, very different. Right. So went in there and had a great year and then got a graduate offer to go back, decided to go back there as a graduate. So I spent the next four years there, British American Tobacco, so did the grad program, spend a little bit of time in South Korea, working over there on the continent and then came back and then progressed through kind of p&l accounting, and then moved into commercial finance working with the sales team. And that's kind of where I really nodded my passion, I guess the commercial finance and business offering,
Byron Bassett
4:37
learn a lot of great foundational skills there, but then ultimately decided that morally that didn't job for me that wasn't something that I wanted to do in the long term. So then made a big pivot and move into healthcare. Then what went to a quick GlaxoSmithKline GSK big British corporate day in healthcare, and help those guys set up commercial finance for the first time with that team.
Byron Bassett
5:00
And that was a great experience as well, kind of really honing down on those commercial skills and really learning a lot about change management, you know, how do you bring a team on a journey who's never had on IT support who's never been used to being told no, you can't do that promotion, etc, etc. to build that up from there then got the opportunity to go to Woolworth’s and Woolworths is kind of one of those classics, you know, iconic Australian corporations that everyone thinks about and, and my wife at the time, she wasn't my wife, but you know, she was working there as well. So I thought that's one interesting, why don't we give that a go and went towards? And I think I had a pretty short set of words. So that was in 2014. And I think, you know, that was a very challenging year for anyone who was there at that point in time.
Byron Bassett
5:48
And, you know, there was a bit of turnover at that point in time of people as well. And I think I realized pretty early on, that wasn't for me,
Byron Bassett
5:56
sort of the culture that existed at that point in time in the organization wasn't going to be what I was looking for. But then I was a bit of an inflection point, because I thought, well, what am I missing? What do I need on my CV and the really glaring thing I didn't have was any kind of financial or technical accounting expertise. And again, if you thinking that one day you want to be finance director or one day want to be CFO, is you have to have that, right. Some people cringe at the thought of it, but you have to have that. And so I thought, well, I need that. So I need some kind of controllership role that will help me with that. And then the stars magically aligned to then I found a role at Activision Blizzard, who is the world's largest third-party, publisher of video games. And so I had the opportunity to cover off some skills that I was missing, but then also work in an industry that had been a passion of mine since I was a kid, right? And so that that grounding that I got in that company in that role, to then really be able to drill down on the p&l understand a balance sheet, cash flow, p&l, you know, first experiences us reporting, which is always a nice, nice change for people that haven't had that before.
Byron Bassett
7:05
But the organization locally is very small. So after a period of time there, and we were talking about starting a family is moving internationally wasn't an option at that point in time. So then I had an option to go to Dyson. So I moved to Dyson, to run this strategy and analytics team for the first time, which is my first step outside of finance, which was a nice challenge for me as well. And then I spent, I spent four years at Dyson and Looker was a great experience moving from running the Australian analytics team to them becoming head of finance, and then ultimately, finance and Operations Director. And that was an amazing role because it was responsibility for all finance, but also for supply chain for it for property and for legal as well. And so that breadth of kind of the engine room of the business taught me so much about the end to end ways that a business runs about the full chain from source to a customer taking a product off the end of the shelf, learning agility, how to jump into things that you've never had experienced or exposure to before and really do that. And that was a fantastic time and a great organization growing very, very fast. My first time working in a private organization. So you know, there are different pieces that come with that in terms of not having those listing requirements, you can move very, very fast, but then you know, tends to be less corporatized as well. So a really different environment to learn and cut my teeth in and then ultimately, you know, as people tend to find working in big multinationals is there comes a time when locally in Australia is you know whether you can do anything locally whether you need to move abroad. And for us again, expecting our second child at that point in time is moving internationally wasn't something that we were able to do at that point in time. And then I had the opportunity to join Johnson and Johnson consumer healthcare, which is an organization that I'd seen from a distance and had some exposure to on the other side of the fence when I worked for GSK, once upon a time. And so then moved to Johnson and Johnson, as finance director for the consumer business and have been here for just under 12 months now. And being in healthcare in the pandemic has been a very interesting time writing that the ebbs and the flows, but really happy with the first 12 months so far, and look the way you go through that story.
Richard Holmes
9:26
The self-awareness you've had in your career is evident with that example you gave there. I'm just gonna ask you, when when you left Woolworths with that advice, Ted on financial controller role, was that something you're aware of doing yourself? Or did you have someone who, who kind of guided you to go down that path because we hear it and it's great advice, you've got to have that P&L, FC control that was that just through your knowledge or we kind of guided by someone to do that was actually through talking to people in the recruitment industry, which is nothing new one of them actually at that time, I think
Byron Bassett
10:00
That's, and I think it's really helpful, right? And I think something I tell people all the time is you think about what are the kinds of roles that you want to have one day and other, talk to the people that are in those roles and talk to the people that help find people for those roles? And then ask, What do you need? What are they looking for? And then compare that to your own set of skills and say, Well, what do I have? versus what do I need to find? If I need to find them? Then you be purposeful about going to acquire them? So? Yeah. When you reflect on your career, did you have a career plan or a path to get? Did you always want to be where you are today? Or did you kind of go with the flow? It's a really good question. I think, you know, it changes over time. It's funny, I, I was actually reading my high school yearbook in preparation, thinking about that, right? And at the time, I just read, losing my virginity, Richard Branson's autobiography, right. And at the time, I kind of had all these grand ideas about, you know, being an entrepreneur, and like having this billion-dollar enterprise and all the rest. And, and I think, you know, but why I wanted that and all the rest, I think a kid from the country, New South Wales, that just sounds very sexy and exciting, and all the rest. But I think from the time I moved into finance, and accounting, I think, look, ultimately, wanting to make it the CFO is something that I really wanted to do. And I think, you know, part of that is kind of wanting to test yourself to understand, you know, what are, you know, in life, I've always wanted to kind of test myself and say, Well, what can I do? And how do I pushed myself to achieve? And there's that sense of satisfaction that you get out of that. And I think, just kind of going along with it in general. But in terms of the steps along the way to get there? No, I think I don't think you can ever, perfectly map it out, I think all you can do is say if you're generally moving in the right direction, at any point in time, you've got the opportunity to make a change, or something to put in front of you is all you can do is assess it on its merits and say, well, is this a step further along the path to where I'd like to be than where I am now? And if it is, I think, yeah, being bold and jumping with both feet is something that I've tried to do is definitely the way to do it. And I love when you were telling your story, then Byron that you never intended to be in finance. Interestingly, it's a lot. It's
Richard Holmes
12:15
a lot of guests on the podcast majority did start out in a similar way, kind of fell into it and in no lucky.
Byron Bassett
12:22
Yeah, I think the stereotype of finance is changing so fast, right? And I think, you know, we think about where finance is going. And what it is, is like the stereotype that people have, and I mean, I've worked with people and made a joke about it all the time about you know, the calculator in the top pocket and, and all the rest. And like that's just so far from where finances now and finances really, so far in the industry have done a great job and rebranding funding as mobile can do. But I think you know that that move from being in the back office, and thing right to say, Hey, I'm on the front line, as a strategic partner with the business driving value doing strategy. Like that's, that's where the exciting part is,
Richard Holmes
13:02
I definitely think I think it's quite insulting being called a bean counter, isn't it? I guess I've got to call you something. But that's that it's very much not the case. And what advice would you give to someone wanting to pursue a career like yours?
Byron Bassett
13:16
It's a good question, I think something I've always been really mindful of, is to try and stay. Because I think everyone has met someone who knows someone who specializes quite early. And again, that's not necessarily a bad thing. But I think and again, in some parts of finance, some parts of just general kind of corporate life even as you need that, right. So there are people who are deep functional experts, you know, experts in tax and transfer, pricing, Treasury, whatever it may be. And if that's the path that you want them, that's absolutely something you should go down. But if you want to be a finance director or CFO will have that that breadth that comes with that is I think staying really broad gives you that total business perspective, but it also gives you options, because I think people also have met people who get pigeonholed, you know, and it's something that we talk in the industry a lot about, right. And I know for you guys in the recruitment game, as well reproduced as a piece of people get stereotyped pigeon into, well, you're this kind of person, you've worked in these kinds of industries. So the breadth of kind of role actually bred the industry is something that I've found has been really beneficial because industries are so different. And we're very lucky that finance, there's a large part of the skill set that is transferable across organizations and industries in terms of value creation, cost management, whatever it may be. But the way industries go about things is so different. And being able to take some of those good bits from different industries. You've been in and bring to new ones, I think it's it, you know, gives a fresh perspective on things but it also helps you have that kind of breadth. So I think having as many options available to you at all points in time, I think He's nice. So I would say God is not
Richard Holmes
15:03
working in the recruitment industry where some companies are so hung up on the actual industry experience. I could probably talk about this all day at Byron, but the amount of times where they get someone without that industry and they just kick massive goals, and one of the best achievers in coming from a different lens, it's, it just shows you what's out there in terms of their talent. And that's going to be there. And some reflection on your career is the one thing you wish you would have known at the start like when you did that year and assignment at BAT. It's a when you went through your 20s was the one thing that stands out with you?
Byron Bassett
15:43
That's a big question. I think something that I've only recently come to that I wish I'd known early on, is it's okay to ask for help. Yep. I think that's a, you know, and I think if we think about where the mood is going in general in the world, not just in kind of careers and corporates, but that ability to show vulnerability as an individual, but as a leader, I think is really, really powerful. And I think we depend on who the managers are, you were that you had early on, or the high exposure to is this almost like, you know, a lot of nostalgia, but I'm going to dig in. And part of that is kind of, you know, a male piece as well, without wanting to play too much. The stereotype is I'm gonna just buckle down and like this happened in the last one. But I think that that curiosity, that kind of self-awareness that pays to say, hey, look, I need some help with this. Can you help me? If you come at a problem like that very genuinely, it's, you know, there's not many people that will turn that down, right? But if you come to them and someone who's he who's actually keen to improve, what's my perspective on something I'm not, you know, you're not going to laugh at someone like that or turn them away? Right. So I think, I wish I had known that earlier. I think I wish I'd known that that was okay to do that. Kind of just struggling with things early on. For us to fill
Richard Holmes
17:05
that vulnerability is kind of a respected thing. As you go as you progress through your career. And as a leader, it's being vulnerable is good leadership. But when you're earlier in your career, it's embarrassing. You don't want to ask for help to have that confidence when younger to ask for help and ask those questions. It's an interesting dynamic can mean we can hindsight is a great thing, isn't it? But yeah, interesting, your point about curiosity as well. And I think I think we are naturally curious when we're going through our careers, but it's just a different kind of pressure.
Byron Bassett
17:37
And I think you know, that's such an underrated thing, in my opinion, I think if you think about how you stay on top of things, how you learn how you continue to broaden your experience, based on your skill sets, it's just asking questions of people. And I think, you know, versus kind of reading articles or chasing down external pieces, the way I like to learn to, like, ask people, you know, you kind of, you can, you know, buy time for coffee, or lunch or, or whatever with, you know, someone in a function that's totally unrelated to yours, or a friend of a friend in different businesses, they look, hey, I'm really keen to hear about what's happening in a digital marketing role. I'm really keen to hear about what's happening in supply chain automation in warehousing, or whatever it might be. And that, that's how you get kind of the real meat button. And I think that that, always wanting to learn new things is great, but what a great way to build relationships as well. Because it's, you know, getting to know people on that personal level whilst picking up that knowledge on the way I think is great.
Richard Holmes
18:34
So no, it's great as well. And as we touched on then with your answer, guys, like yourself, you are open, you want people to ask you those questions. Well, I think it's just that fear of asking those questions. When you earlier in your career,
BB
Byron Bassett
18:46
I think we find that people typically do enjoy talking about themselves. You know, I don't think any of us are strangers to that, right. So I think that ability to tell your story in your way, is something people typically enjoy as well.
Richard Holmes
18:58
Yeah. And it all comes with experience, isn't it? You've got a lot of experience and lots to give in your current role. Now, Byron, what are you most curious about? And why?
Byron Bassett
19:08
Good question. Right. So I think, I think what I've been tossing around a little bit is I think everyone's really, you know, big data. And analytics is obviously something that everyone's really digging into. Now, I think that the role that that will play in different organizations is different based on whether you're consumer-facing or not, whether you're kind of a physical product or service, or whatever it may be. But I think the piece I'm curious about is where that will go. And how much of what's kind of currently done will be kind of automated or transformed in that space. But what will stay and kind of what is that balance of where that will level out because I think you've got the extremes and kind of everything is going to be automated and all processed and whatever and finance, you know, won't have a role to play anymore. But it's the same Well actually, there are elements of a kind of what we do the partnering elements Strategy side, you know, which is going to be more important than ever. And then everyone's got a really different opinion on it. And I think, depending on the industry, and when we use it, everyone's different so that I'm keen to see where that goes over the next now, we talked about
Richard Holmes
20:13
data and analytics. And that's the future of Finance. But it's how it's going to evolve, isn't it? It's not like the function of finance is going to change dramatically over the next 20 years, it's still going to have that service mentality, it evolves as well, I think we've done a lot in the last 10 years, from what I've learned, but it's going to people thinking in a couple of years, it's all going to be different. So I'm going to be robotics AI, I think it just, it's going to take time, I think
Byron Bassett
20:38
that's great. And I think, you know, it's different roles and different pieces, I think will move Absolutely. And I think you know, even you think more broadly around kind of how finance skillsets will maintain and all the rest is you'll see, I think businesses are increasingly becoming more complex, right? You kind of end up thinking about, you know, a future state without even wanting to get to kind of futuristic is, an organization becomes a series of kind of black boxes, right, that have inputs and outputs. And it becomes increasingly difficult for leaders, senior managers to know how all the piece in those boxes work, right? You think about a traditional business where the managing director or the GM or the CEO kind of knew a little bit about each of the business units, right, whereas the business becomes more and more complex, that becomes harder. And so then you think that finance is finance moves, more becomes automated, you kind of have systems doing, I mean, we already have kind of very few people kind of manually posting debits and credits anymore, right? If you think about what people are going to need those skills, that's how to break down that complexity. And that's where I see finance going as fun as becomes that partner to say, Well, how do I take something that is very complicated inherently and break it down to then say, this is what you know, your partners, your business partners need to know, this is what's relevant to them. And you don't necessarily they don't necessarily need to know all the ins and outs of the inner workings of it. But then you've been that bridge between that business I think, is really important
Richard Holmes
22:04
ability to story tell. This is what the numbers are saying, but your sales are Mr Sales, and this is sales. And this is what the mean, kind of thing because no one really wants to be shown a spreadsheet. It's one of those,
Byron Bassett
22:17
basically, no one wants to sit in the boardroom, you know, you got a boardroom table, everyone sitting around the boardroom, and in the finance directors chairs instead of blinking lights, you know, it's like, I think that that that human element, I think has, you know, will have
Richard Holmes
22:29
played for a long time. Definitely. I agree, knowing you for a while. Byron, you've worked with some amazing people over the years, it is anyone who has influenced you the most during your career or, or life in general?
Byron Bassett
22:41
Good question. Big question. I think as stereotypical as it would be to answer this, and cliche, I think my parents have had a massive influence on my life in general, I think, growing up on a farm, you know, a long way from anywhere. And you know, I mean, in that part of the world, for anyone that doesn't know, you know, can have some savage droughts and you know, things happen and seeing my parents kind of go through that, you know, growing up on that farm environment, coming down to that after school everyday and kind of seeing my parents go through that go through, you know, things being completely out of your control, droughts, hail storms, commodity prices, all the rest. And But still, through all that turmoil, bring us up, you know, I'm one of four children, bring us up in that environment, give us every opportunity that they could to make things happen. I think that's something I think about a lot. I think now having a couple of kids in my own Is that something that, you know, I think about all the time, I think in general, you know, you're your parents more as parents when you have your own kids, but I think for me that that, you know, that piece of work ethic from my parents in terms of really not having a support network around them at all, but finding a way to get it done and kind of making the best of what you can at all point in time. I think that's probably how I would summarize and that's how I got my parents is that that piece, right? So that's kind of early in life but look in the career perspective. I mean, jeez, I've had some really great managers through that time. And again, if you don't necessarily want to name names because I'll then start leaving people out. But look, I think, you know, the first manager that I had at BAT properly, Emma, you know, if you're out there listening, Emma was great, right? Because I think one of the big things that Emma taught me is kind of, you know, yes, attention to detail I used to joke about, you know, I would hand a piece of paper and she would hand it back to me covered in blood, blood-red riding all over it, you know, attention to detail. But it was the importance of taking the time with people in your team, right? Because again, now having moved into more senior roles myself as you understand the time demands that you've got, so for her to take the time out of her day to kind of sit with me and talk to me and coach me Why was important? Why was important that it was right, this is the right way to do it, etc. You never forget something like that. Right. And it's that selfless kind of leader first piece that I'll forget. So she had a massive influence on me in that space. But I think you know, it's interesting, you know that the old saying that you learn as much from managers that you didn't enjoy working for? It's ones that you do, right. And I think we've all been through those pieces as well, right. And I think that working in an environment that you haven't enjoyed, or with a leader that you haven't connected with, and really sitting back and saying, Well, why was that? Why didn't that worked for me? And what are those things that I want to look at and actively decide that's not going to be part of my style, that's not going to be the way that I'm going to run my team or represent myself or whatever, has been really, really valuable as well.
Richard Holmes
25:50
It's true. I mean, that's, we talked earlier about things being cliche in the scenes, but bad experiences, sometimes you need to have them to learn from them, don't you? And it's not like I want to have my people have bad experiences, but it's, it's how you learn, I don't want to do it like that. That's not how you manage people, it's,
Byron Bassett
26:10
and I think you have those experiences early in your career, right. And you think about whether you've got a leader who's a kind of a micromanager or who, you know, needs every single piece of prep for meetings and whatever. And then when you're in that situation asking for yourself, right, there are two different paths people can take. One is, well, when I did it, that's what I had to do. Therefore, that's what you're gonna have to do. The other is I remember doing that, and I hated it. Therefore, I will never ask them else right. Now, don't think Yeah, it's a difference. The difference in the choice you can make. It's good.
Richard Holmes
26:45
And I think with the generational change of leaders as well, that micromanagement mentality, that's been certainly my generation where I've to micromanage micro-managers, micromanagement managers. It was just horrific been in that space, and you'll never do it again. And it's, it's interesting. It's all for the better there as soon as I let go. And in talking about bad experiences, and which hurdles, if you personally faced and how did you overcome them? Like you mentioned about your parents before going through droughts? And hopefully, you've never experienced anything like that yourself in their in your working career? But what hurdles? Have you faced?
Byron Bassett
27:24
It really good question? Excellent. And I think the brutal truth actually is I've been very fortunate, right? In many kinds of different ways, you know, for the life I've had, and I think one of the things that I think about all the time is how important perspective is, right? Because, again, yes, you know, growing up in the country, or whatever was challenging at different points in time, but I wouldn't change any of it. And so I think, absolutely, I would, I would come back for that. I think, you know, there's been times I've had identity crises in terms of like, which way do I want to go? Do I really love this profession anymore? What is it that I want to do, but then again, like you think that and you can be in a difficult time where you've got, you know, you're working crazy hours, and you know, you're working with a boss that you don't get along with, and all the rest, and then you kind of contrast that to being a parent and going well, geez, like, that's, you know, different, again, being no sleep, and then all those jobs come along? But I think the biggest thing for me that I've learned recently, around that perspective pieces, like those things are all again, overused term. First-world problems. Right. I think one of the great things about working in multinationals is having had the ability to work with people from everywhere, right. And again, you work I've had the ability to work with people that have had to, you know, come from very challenging environments, from Pakistan, from the Middle East, from Africa, from wherever, and you hear other people's stories about what they've had to go through the sacrifices they've made for their families, the decisions they've made, and you kind of, you know, have to slap yourself sometimes and go, well, geez, like, I'm very lucky in many ways, right? So in that grand scheme of things, I think, I think I've been very fortunate.
Richard Holmes
29:07
That's, that's good. The nature of your job. Byron, you've touched on it a couple of times during this conversation, how do you stay on top of your role? How do you continue to learn? I
Byron Bassett
29:18
think it's, again, asking questions, right, like, just continuing to ask questions. I think one of the great, you know when I took that rolling dice, and I haven't had responsibility for kind of all these parts outside of finance, you know, I was very fortunate, you know, and lucky to have the support of the business to put me in that role. But I also went from being, you know, peers with a bunch of people to then you know, leading that group of people and I think there are two ways that can go as well, right in terms of how that piece works, but you know, really taught me so much about how do you get curious, how do you trust people who are functional experts in what they do, and how do you kind of get advice because If we go back to that piece around, the leaders meant to have all the answers, you know that that's outdated thinking, right? So, so the way I sent up things is, you know, ask people, you know, I'm lucky now to have a great network of people in around the world, across industries across different roles. And you can ask someone, and you can say, hey, look, I'm really curious, like, you know, what's happening, let's talk about what's happening in the automation space, what does best in class look like? And kind of ask someone because, again, you know, different people learn in different ways. But for me, to kind of have coffee or lunch, or beer or whatever it is, with someone who can help with that. I personally absorb that much easier. So I think staying curious asking questions and kind of thinking about what's, what's next? Because, you know, I think we all have an obligation, right to ourselves to stay relevant. But the world is moving so fast, right? So look down the road and say, well, what's coming? You know, what does the future look like five years, 10 years, whatever? And how do I stay in front of that? Because you know, that you've seen a piece where the worlds changing so dramatically at the moment and will continue to change, right. But you've got generational changes happening now, people coming through with different skill sets, different leadership styles? What are the kinds of things that are going to be relevant in the future? And how do you kind of start asking questions about that, and talking to people who know who you whose advice you respect, who can help you with that? So I think that's awesome questions.
Richard Holmes
31:32
That's, it's a really good point. Byron, I was chatting with someone a couple of months ago, and they, this person was in the early 50s. And, and they were talking that we were missing out on opportunities because of a lack of systems it technology. And I posed the question, Well, why why don't you do it yourself? And he goes, Well, that's for the younger generation. And I say, Well, if they learn it as well, why can you learn it you've always experienced, you're probably going to comprehend it a lot easier than what they are. And I said it's user friendly. All this technology coming out. I said you'd be surprised. Seems like all right. It's interesting. It's just that way of thinking, isn't it? But stay relevant? As you said, you know, I've
Byron Bassett
32:11
had someone say to me not that long ago, who taught me about data and analytics and all that something for millennials. And I said, I said, you know, that is, you know, that is exactly what a millennial sitting there wants to hear you say, right? Like, exactly, you know, you need to stay relevant. You need to stay on top of what's happening in changing right
Richard Holmes
32:33
now. Definitely. Yeah. And I should touch on a couple of times. Byron, it's that curiosity isn't it's like, what what's going on out there? And just that constant constant learning
Byron Bassett
32:42
big time? Well, I think we've all met people that have been in the one role, one organization, whatever, forever, right, and the world is changing so fast. And again, way I think about it is, how do I stay marketable as well? Because the world changes this year, you know if nothing else is tourists then right? So then if the worst happens, and you need to look for something different, or need to do something different is how are you then marketable or available already, you know, to stay that you know, you've been, you know, you and I both know, people that have been in situations this year, who have been in an organization, their entire career, and then suddenly are not anymore, and then what they do, right, you're kind of standing flat-footed with nowhere to go. And that's very hard. If you're not always kind of move in just thinking little, and it doesn't mean you have to be killing yourself doing courses after work and all the rest. But I think it's just like thinking about it, talking to people, in the back of your mind,
Richard Holmes
33:39
what's called self-awareness is keeping relevant. It's just checking in with yourself every quarter, isn't it? Because the business gets a hold of a result working, working at the companies you've worked at, and working at good cultures always have good things, good people, what does culture mean to you?
Byron Bassett
33:59
I think culture is the glue that holds everything together, right? And it's kind of there's a lot of ways you can describe and it's kind of how things get done, you know, the how that the why or whatever, maybe it posts the word, but it's kind of the glue that binds people to an organization is kind of maybe how I would describe it, right? And I think culture is everything in an organization, right? And culture, if you've got a great culture, there's a lot of other things that you can make work, right, because I think in an ideal world, you would say all of us would love to have all the right people in all the right roles in an organization at the right time that are that right. But the reality is, that never happens. I think there's a leader as well is you very rarely come into a role or even to the time you in a role necessarily have every single person in every single role the way that you want. But it's around to say well, even if you don't have that, even if you don't have the right people in the right roles if you've got a great culture around Those people around the organization at large, you can kind of make things happen in the wrong way. So I think culture, culture fit, you know, whenever I think about recruiting anybody is that the first thing I think about is, you know, you can, you can teach people skills, capabilities, all those pieces that has someone who fit into that tapestry that you have already and how you can use that to achieve the outcomes of the business
Richard Holmes
35:27
is so important. Culture is everything criminal industry, where culture doesn't come up in conversation. During during job briefing, you just think when I talk about culture, what is your culture, some, some hiring managers struggle with it, and you just, like, get that right first, then in the rest will fall into place. But hey, that's just my, my opinion. And you get the people, the people, right, and the rest, rest falls into place. And it's
Byron Bassett
35:52
really like, I think it's also a really fragile thing about like the cult, and you know, you talk to people to talk like stars in their eyes, and I've done that, too, right? You're this organization, and the culture was whatever, right? But it's like, culture is a byproduct of a certain group of people in a certain organization at a certain point in time, right. And you change any of those things. And it can kind of change really dramatically. And so it's understanding how precious it is and recognizing, and I think you don't realize that until you have the benefit of hindsight, to look back and kind of you know, you have that grass is greener concept, but to say where what we had there was really great, was really special. And then you think about building teams in the futures world, why was it special? And how do I go about trying to recreate that again? Yeah,
Richard Holmes
36:41
it's a fascinating topic, culture. I was chatting with the CFO, and he said, the culture within finance different to the culture they have in it in the division, both different cultures, both very high performing teams. But if the finest people were into it, and vice versa, it's just different, and you probably won't like it. And he was saying his HR director was trying to create the culture for the company. And his point was, well, we've got a great culture, they've got a great culture, trying don't try and make it something. We're both not. Yeah. And it's a really good point, isn't it? Like it's culture, it's a fascinating topic, but it comes down to the people and the leadership, and just how they treat people. But it's, it's interesting, where I can't say to you by right, your culture is this? And you say, yes, rich? All right. That's what it's gonna be. Because that's where you are. It's you breed your own culture, and looking back at your career bar, and what's, what's your most favourite thing? When you look back at your career?
Byron Bassett
37:34
That's a big question. I think having had the ability to work across really different industries is something I'm really proud of because I think I've been able to take parts from different organizations and implement them in others, to varying degrees of success at times. But I think, that ability to understand the different perspective, you know, what good looks like? And to understand, you know, I think, you know, we're talking about systems before, right? I mean, one of the things I don't know, anyone in any organization, particularly in finance, who's, you know, who's the first thing they say is, our systems are amazing, right? But again, you know, it's, it's helpful to be somewhere and then go somewhere else, and go, which is actually the system's a really good one I was. So I think, you know, that ability, that that breadth, I think, is something that I've really enjoyed. Because it means that, you know, you can talk about things from other organizations that whilst on the surface up very different, actually, the core proposition of what the organization stands for, and kind of the core purpose is actually the same thing. You know, whether it's providing the best outcomes, you know, the best products for consumers, the patient's, whoever it might be. That kind of common core, I think, is really interesting to think about. So I think I'm, I'm really grateful that I've had that opportunity. opportunity through that.
Richard Holmes
38:51
Yeah, it's, it's good. And as you said, before, you you feel fortunate and grateful to have had the creative hard. It's, it's good. And, again, reflecting back on your career, if you could go back in time and change something, what would that one thing be
Byron Bassett
39:04
dangerous, like, you know, being a science fiction buff, and I'm sitting at a modern Revlimid, right. But look, I think I do. I do sometimes wish will frequently actually, that I finished my engineering degree, you know, it's kind of I changed three-quarters of the way through, which is crazy in hindsight, right. And I think I wasn't engaged in it. But I think if I'd done it, and if I'd stuck it out, you know, then I could have had that piece as well. And I think, you know, that's something I think about that at times I've missed, you know, having that kind of that other because, you know, I still have a deep passion for science and technology and all those things. I think having that piece would have been great to make that change. But I think it's interesting, you know, if I think about the way that I am now is that's a byproduct of the way that I you know, the way that I've come through so I always think about, you know, one of the things that Thinking about it, you know, I really didn't try hard enough at university, right? I, I tried hard ish in high school, you know, but I kind of relied on the ability to carry me through and then came to uni and was kind of blown out of the water by people who were both incredibly dedicated and incredibly talented. And so I really didn't dry out enough in university. Right. And and that's something I think about all the time is if I've kind of applied myself really hard, then would I be in a different position now, but the byproduct of that is because I was that way then is I'm so paranoid now about leaving opportunities on the table about procrastinating is the opposite of that I get an each, you know, if I've got something I haven't finished, and so and I can't relax until I have that. So I think I may be that way without it. So, you know, I'm grateful for the things that have happened to me to bring me to this point in time.
Richard Holmes
40:51
Yes, I mean, hindsight is a great thing as well. But look, I mean, you've done all right, despite finishing your degree, three quarters away through here in Australia, choose your degree at a young age, and you follow that career path, like in the UK, you know, basically, I don't think I think maybe 10% of my friends actually went into Korea that was in correlation to the, to the university degree majority didn't
Byron Bassett
41:14
in-depth. And I think you're right, like, we choose him so early. And I think one of the things that I, you know, growing up where I did is I really didn't have exposure to so many things that are out there. And you've got, you know, country High School, and you've got a careers advisor, but so many roles, you know, even then that you didn't know existed, you know, go have your traditional paths, you know, teaching or being a doctor or whatever it might be, right, but there's just so many other things, right, that exists. And so when I think about my kids, and kind of what I want for them is I don't want to give them anything on a silver platter, right. But I'd like them to have exposure to things like them to be able to sit with a friend who is a doctor or a lawyer or whatever. And say like, this is actually what it's like, this is my experience. This is my whatever. And I think that that's what I really want to give them that exposure to those things to understand what is out there. But also that, you know, if you get it wrong, you know, in the first point, it's not the end of the world
Richard Holmes
42:17
thing, the educational system when when you get to a year 1012 here, I think too many people are too young to decide. I remember I had a careers advisor when I was 18. And one of the questions he asked me at all was do you like being outside? I was like a a 17/18 year old guy. I'm like, yeah, anyway, you go through this, these number of questions. their career for me was telecoms engineer, the ones that got the post-work on the electrical boxes, just like, haha, like, why? Cuz it's because I said, I like being outside. I mean, doesn't anyone I'm just, it's just such nonsense at an early age. But it's I think, I think we need to do more in terms of explaining the options. And because we all because I think, I think we're at the start, you just you just there and that's it that's, you know, for a career, but I think that's definitely changed somebody. And knowing what you know, now, Byron, you've experienced a lot in, in your life on Korea, what would, what would you tell your younger self
Byron Bassett
43:15
is that they that's really they, I think that it's all gonna work out, probably would be the first thing. I mean, where and maybe to come down a little bit to you know, I think, you know, my depends how young you want to go. But there's definitely part of me, you know, that was very driven by ego, very kind of, you know, needing to prove myself to everybody, and all the rest. And I think, you know, like, it's just having evolved that time again, would kind of maybe to just be relaxed, right? But again, if you kind of think about it and say, Well, actually, would I be where I am if I hadn't had that approach, maybe not so, but I think that kind of part of it comes with age and experience or whatever is but that kind of calm piece around that it's gonna work out and that you as an individual, I think identity, Okay, to kind of work through so.
Richard Holmes
44:16
Yeah, I love that. I think it's, it's all gonna work out. If only we knew that when we start recording because it's interesting. I think we just feel so much pressure. You can feel a bit and we've got to be in that job. We've got to do that and got to purchase this all does work out things happen for a reason. But hey, Byron, I think I think you've been a great guest and really help you've been on the podcast. I think you've given us a lot of insight there and think listening to your journey has been really interesting. And hopefully, we'll, we'll have you on the podcast again soon and appreciate your time.
Byron Bassett
44:47
Thank you very much very con Richard. I really enjoyed it
It’s all about the people.
