The Connect Three family has grown a lot in the last 6 months and with so much disconnection in the world right now, we thought it would be a good time to revisit our ‘Connection Series’ and introduce you to some new, and not so new, faces in the team. Each post in the series shines the spotlight on the work of a member of the Connect Three team, and hopefully gives you a little insight into what we do, and how we can help you.
First one in the newly refurbished hot seat…is Gordon White.
- Good morning Gordon – let’s start with an easy one, what’s your role at Connect Three and what do you do?
I’m the Operations Manager – a new role created in 2020 to help the business get better at managing itself. Like all growing businesses, we spend so much time making sure our clients get what they need and have the tools to grow, that we often forget to ‘turn the lens inwards’, for want of a better phrase. My role is to work ‘on’ instead of ‘in’ the business – ensuring our people have what they need to succeed, and the business has processes in place to allow us to continue our growth for the future.
- Wow, that’s no small task! OK, so what has been your favourite moment in Connect Three so far?
My favourite moment so far has to be the first all-team meeting I attended in January, followed by dinner and drinks. It was great to see everyone in action together in the office (we’re so often out on the road), and even better to get to know people. It clicked with me that night that our team has very much been curated to make sure they are not only the right fit skills wise, but personality-wise as well. So often managers and leaders overlook team dynamics and focus too much on who can do what well.
- That was a brilliant day. Time to get personal – what are you reading right now?
Elton John’s autobiography ‘Me’. There are parts of his life I’d love to experience, in particular this quote “To pre-empt your question: no, I have absolutely no idea how Stevie Wonder successfully piloted a snowmobile through the Rocky Mountains of Colorado without killing himself, or indeed anyone else, in the process, but he did.”
- Love it. How about…which business leader would you like to have a cup of tea with?
Steve Jobs – he was such a visionary, and despite all the negative posthumous comments we may hear, he genuinely did change the way humanity communicates. I’d also love to ask him about the (awkward) period when the company he founded unceremoniously sacked him; what was his immediate reaction? How did he pick himself back up? We often say that failures and rejections are just speed bumps, but how many of us truly behave like they are?
I’d also love to know just how dignified in victory he was when they picked up the phone a few years later begging him to come back when they were on the brink of bankruptcy.
- And to finish, if you could only give one piece of advice to the leaders and future leaders reading this, what would it be?
One word: people, people, people! I cannot stress enough just how important the people in your company are. It sounds cliched, but it is genuinely true. It’s one of the (many) reasons I joined Connect Three – we put people at the heart of everything we do, and help our clients and partners do the same. The old adage is certainly true; look after your people, and they will look after your clients.
Thanks for answering my questions Gordon, I’ll let you get back to keeping us all in line! Look out for our next ‘Connect with’ interview in a few weeks time.