Welcome to the fifth instalment of our new interview series Leadership Insights: 3 questions with… where we ask the same three questions to each of the exceptional leaders we interview, revealing some very unique and insightful answers.
This month we spoke to James Hewes, who is the CEO of PRCA, the world’s largest and most influential PR professional body. James has a strong track record of driving growth and innovation, both in the UK and internationally. He’s worked with some of the world’s most iconic media brands, such as Top Gear, BBC Good Food, and Lonely Planet, as well as leading media and trade organisations in the UK and the UAE
And here’s what James had to say…
If you could rewind the clock to when you started out on your leadership journey, what advice would you give yourself?
I would tell myself to be patient. It’s easy to get frustrated about a perceived lack of progress when you’re young and just starting out in your career but good things will come in time. That advice that everyone gives about always volunteering for everything is also a good one to follow, so much of what I achieved was by being prepared to do the things other people didn’t want to do.
I think I’d also tell myself to embrace life-long learning. Again, there’s a tendency to think that you know more than you actually do, yet as your career progresses you realise that continuous learning is really the only way to progress.
What is the best advice you have been given about creating a positive team culture/being a leader?
I love the advice that my friend Professor Lucy Kung gave in a report she authored a few years ago : “be high thinking, low ego”. The old model of the top-down, all-knowing, all-powerful leader is dead, you have to be comfortable pushing power down into the organisation. I firmly believe the most powerful phrase you can say as a leader is “I don’t know”.
Another good phrase somebody taught me was “speak less, listen more”. I even used to write it on the top of my notepad before starting meetings!
What is the one book that has most influenced your approach to leadership?
It’s hard to pick out just one book. I am indebted to Kevin Lawrence, aka Coach Kevin, for introducing me to the Rockefeller method, which has changed how I develop and monitor strategy. The former England cricket captain and psychoanalyst, Michael Brearley, wrote a fabulous book called “The Art of Captaincy”, which I’ve always found useful.
But, as with so many things, there is no magic book here – you have to read widely and listen intently, as leadership is something that is always changing.