Ros Robinson comes from a background of working in brand and event marketing, culminating in the establishment of her own successful specialist marketing agency, in which she combined her commercial acumen with brand and marketing prowess to deliver growth.
As a Brand and Marketing Communications Director, Ros has worked with some of the world’s most recognised brands and rights holders such as The Football Association, The British Olympic Association, UEFA, Vodafone, Nike, Nissan and PepsiCo, forging relationships with senior level stakeholders and delivering international projects to boost brand awareness, revenue and reputation.
First things first, Ros, what does the word soul mean to you?
The word soul to me is very much the intangible of a team – it’s something that you can’t quite put your finger on it, but you know it’s always there. It’s something that grows over time. I think you grow it, you nurture it, you develop it. I think you can influence its direction and what it’s made of. And then to that end, I think a lot of it is what I call the softer skill sets that people have and bring to the table. It’s all about your humility, your empathy, but equally it’s also driven by a leader’s vision and how it derives from that.
What are some of the things we need to do in a business team to develop soul? What are the ‘levers’?
Leadership is key. How do you manage the dynamics of the people that bring them all together, to create a climate where people feel they can be themselves? Because I think that’s what helps the soul of the team to be creative, in a way. It’s about: “How can people be themselves, bring all their skills, their characters to the table?” So, I think it’s about the leadership, and again, it’s those softer skills within that. Also, looking at how you empower people as well to do their best work. And of course, working hard at it. When you put a team under pressure to work hard, and you’ve got a hard deadline get to, to be able to deliver that and get at the other end of it. I think this really creates that intangible soul of a team. You probably don’t realize it as you’re going through it, all that hard work and what sometimes seems very relentless, but you get to the end of it and really achieved something. You’ve got that success; you’ve got the recognition; you’ve won an award; you’ve been congratulated by your client; or you just know yourselves that you’ve done some really great work. That, I think is a real contributing factor to the soul of a team. And similarly, I think on the other side of it, the other challenge is adversity.
“I think it’s ensuring that people are enjoying what they’re doing. They feel empowered. They’re doing their best work, and they’ve got that opportunity to do that. That they’ve got the space to be able to grow and develop themselves.”
So, what’s the difference between a team with a lot of soul on one that hasn’t got any?
I think it’s about being on the same page and I think you need to have a very strong collective of people who fundamentally really like each other, get on and are really aligned to the same path, what the leader’s vision is, they’re very much aligned, they all want to deliver it. They’re going to do it in their own ways, but they’re strongly determined, together and cohesive, I think times where I’ve seen I haven’t got sufficient cohesion or soul within a team is probably when there have been people that are, let’s say harder to manage, who just kind of don’t really care, don’t put their heart and soul into it. You know probably fundamentally don’t want to be there, but it’s their job and they’re just going to carry on doing it.
Can it become a rod for your own back? So, for example, I’m working in a team, I love this team, we’re together, we’re 100%. Now there’s a reorganisation, perhaps a merger or an acquisition, and this team has been broken down. What do you need to do in those kinds of situations if you’re the leader?
I think the soul of any one team is very particular and unique to that team. I don’t think you can transition, necessarily a soul of one team into another group of people that have been done. It will be built by all those collective individuals. You’ve got your leadership and that’s important, but everybody needs to do their part to fill the soul of a team. And I think anytime you create a new team through, a breakup of one team to then bring different people together, you’ve got to start again. And you’ve got to recognize that it’s not just merging two teams for instance. This is a new team and saying that and not thinking you’re tagging on a few people to an existing team. I think is really important because actually the people that have joined need to be a part of it and need to have their input, and create the soul of the team that they’re going to believe in.
Nicholas: Can you think of a team or an organization you’ve worked in, in the past that you would say is right up there when it comes to the soul of the team, that was a particular highlight for you?
I’d say it was when I was working in Formula One. I ran my own agency. I had two or three clients that I worked very closely with and then a couple of people from McLaren. And we all came together as a strong team to overall deliver the sponsorship and make the whole thing happen. So, I think that for me, was a team that came together. And so, it wasn’t necessarily that we were always in the same office, but we would come together across race weekends, and that’s when we would all come together and make the weekends happen.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
I think a lot of it goes back to that point we were talking about, is having everybody on the same page. Everyone’s aligned, everyone’s really clear on that overarching vision. And I think it probably comes a bit down to the individuals, where you look at things from an individual level rather than the team, but just to make sure that everybody is on the same page and everyone’s empowered in their jobs. Everyone is doing the job that they think they’re meant to be doing, there’s clarity, there’s communication. And I think it’s ensuring that people are enjoying what they’re doing. They feel empowered. They’re doing their best work, and they’ve got that opportunity to do that. That they’ve got the space to be able to grow and develop themselves. I think that’s probably quite a big thing. When people are stretched out of their comfort zone, rather than stretched physically. And so, get people thinking and get them to grow in themselves. I think cultivating that growth mindset individually is important. It’s important people feel they have the space and know the direction they want to go in and how they want to develop.
This interview is one of 60 I’ve completed this year with a mix of past customers and other leading industry figures. Do connect with me on Linked In or get in touch via our website if you’d like to know more about the research findings and/or explore how to drive your business forward…with soul.
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