Why self development needs to be part of your sustainability strategy with Alison Puente, Director, Project Rome

In the latest episode of the Beautiful Business podcast, Yiuwin Tsang caught up with Alison Puente, a corporate communications and sustainable business management specialist for Project Rome. They discuss how, for founders and leaders, self-development becomes part of personal fulfilment. Alison explains why investing in yourself is essential in order to keep developing and evolving your career, regardless of your age or position.

Alison and Yiuwin also discuss how leaders can become change agents, helping to ingrain change management and sustainability in our business thinking.

Alison Puente is an expert in corporate communications, with 25 years of experience working across a range of industries including FMCG, healthcare, retail, technology and utilities. She has led corporate, brand and business-to-business campaigns for organisations ranging from FTSE businesses to start-ups, working with clients including Associated British Foods, Centrica plc, Essity, Grant Thornton, Microsoft, the NHS, Quorn and Taylors of Harrogate/Yorkshire Tea.

Transcript

Yiuwin Tsang: 

Hello and welcome to the Beautiful Business podcast. Beautiful Business a community for leaders who believe there's a better way of doing business. We believe beautiful businesses are led with purpose by people who care, guided by a clear strategy and softly grown. 

Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the Beautiful Business podcast. My name is Yiuwin Tsang part of the Beautiful Business team. And this week I was joined by Alison Puente. Alison is the director of Project Rome which offers strategic advice and practical support to organisations determined to thrive and grow stronger. 

They specialise in the sectors of retail FMCG healthcare and health tech and utilities. They believe in having a net positive impact on the world. And their guiding principle is to give more to the world than they take from it. Allison is an expert in corporate communications and sustainability with 27 years experience working across a range of industries including FMCG healthcare, retail technology and utilities. 

She has led corporate brand and business to business campaigns for organisations ranging from FTSE 100 businesses, to startups and helps companies to develop and communicate sustainability strategies and roadmaps. She works closely with the executive teams of her clients to help them understand how to incorporate sustainability into their organisations and how to use communications to build their reputations and profiles, expand their businesses and maximise value. 

Alongside her project, roadwork Alison is a trustee of leads based charity Behind Closed Doors, and serves on the advisory board for Leeds University Business School. It was a wonderful chat that we had, I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did. 

Alison, let's talk a bit about self development and why self development needs to be part of your own sustainability strategy. 

So talk us through that talk us through why that personal development that you've done, also a quest to fulfilment? 

Alison Puente:

Yeah. So it's really interesting, isn't it? Because founders obviously can be 21 years old, or 19 years old? For me, I wasn't. But you know, it's not really about age. But I think one thing that I've seen, as I've worked within organisations with founders, and also as I've become partner in small businesses, that you almost become increasingly isolated, you know, when you're younger, and you're part of I grew up in agency, so I was part of a big team, I had so much opportunity to learn from people around me, I was fortunate there were learning and development programmes around me, you're doing a lot of skills based training, but as you sort of develop, or make the decision to start a business or become part of the small business, that isn't there for you, for the most part for most of us. 

And I think that can have quite a significant impact. Actually, I think people can end up feeling quite isolated, and sort of worried, are they doing the right thing are they or have they got anyone around them to sort of help them develop. And it can also mean that your skills don't evolve, frankly, one thing that I was part of the leadership team of an agency prior to my current role, and one thing I loved about that was I did a little bit of training and development. 

But actually, mostly I was learning from the young people in the agency, who were incredibly creative, who were brilliant at sort of digital and social media. So I was learning every day from those people. Whereas when I went into the organisation, I'm in now I still learn I learn from clients all over colleagues, but I don't have that kind of constant source of kind of enrichment. So for me, that led me to think, Okay, where do I want to take my career? Where do I want to take my skills and expertise? And if that is the case, where do I need to invest in terms of myself and my learning to be able to credibly do that and be offering clients and colleagues the amount of expertise and experience they would expect, you know, at my seasoned age, point in my career, because I think it can be very tempting just think, well, I can't change now. 

I've been working for golf 27 years now. So you sort of think, well, I'm just gonna have to keep doing what I'm doing. And actually, it's so refreshing when you can change that, evolve it and feel that you're able to do that without completely changing career, which a lot of us don't have the luxury of doing. 

Yiuwin Tsang:

Indeed, and the I love that as well. I think I do think that as you summed up really nice that as you either become more senior within the organisation that you are in, or when you found your business or as you said, become a co founder and a business, the opportunity to learn diminishes, is that fair? Maybe the opportunity to learn doesn't diminish, but as you said, the opportunity to learn doesn't present itself as regularly by itself and you need to go seek it to a greater degree than was before but before as you're kind of growing and developing, you need to learn you need to develop those skills, you need to get competent and then become an expert something and there is that yeah, when you become a senior person in an organisation, then it becomes more on you as an individual to seek out that learning. 

Alison Puente:

Yeah, and I guess actually, you know, then it becomes this dynamic where there's an expectation. And hopefully this is, you know, delivered on other people will actually learn from you, which is brilliant, and absolutely is the case. But, you know, the world is changing, we're not in this static and more so now than ever before. 

So we're not in this kind of static world where you just become more and more experienced and learners. And you know, maybe if you were an accountant, or a lawyer, which have not been probably to be honest, even in those fields, because, again, they're changing so much the digital world and everything else. And in the world that I operate in, which is communications and sustainability, everything is just changing month by month, really. 

And so for me, I took a decision that I was really lucky, I was still learning from people around me, the way that our business works is we bring in fantastic associates who are absolutely experts in their fields. So I've been able to learn from them. But what I wanted to do was take the opportunity to step back and almost connect all of that knowledge and all of that as being a bit of a magpie really, and getting pieces here and there and actually learn how all those pieces fit together. 

So that I could do my job better have the opportunity to kind of have some personal development myself and personal growth, and also then potentially be able to take our business in new directions by, you know, just investing a couple of months, which turned out to be very intensively selected. So into my own development, and it was a massive, it was more of an undertaking than I thought it would be because I went down a sort of academic route. And that was, I've not done that since I was at Manchester University, like, a long time ago. So it was it was actually sort of personal as well as the professional growth opportunity for me. Yeah, I would love to hear more about that. But before kind of delve into that particular course, we went on, because I think is quite relevant to this podcast, everything you said just reminds me of is it the Dan Pink book, Dr. autonomy, mastery, and purpose. And it's feels like, you know, view purpose led businesses or businesses wanted to create good in the world, then we've got our purpose box kind of ticked in many ways, if you were running your own business, or if you're a senior leader within a business, and you have a high degree of autonomy, perhaps it's that mastery part, which gets put on the backseat a little bit, because you get caught up in the day to day of running the business working in the business. And we'll come on to that in a second as well. But it is really interesting. And there's just something about learning when you are introduced to new ideas and new ways of thinking and new ways to approach things, which is incredibly fulfilling, as you say, from an individual perspective, I must say, though, I think the last time I was in academic kind of learning, it's very hazy, I can't remember much of it. So it was probably better for me that we kind of don't go there. So tell us a little please tell us a little bit more about this course, because it's quite a reputable institution that you went to tell us a little bit more about it. Yeah, it was obviously fantastic. So it was the Cambridge Institute sustainable learning at the University of Cambridge. Now, I will stop right now and say, as much as I would love to pretend that I had to satisfy all of the entrance criteria for the University of Cambridge, I did not, it was a professional development course, I keep pretending it's a PhD, but my colleagues are having none of it. So the institute basically offers different courses and sustainability, the one that I did was in sustainable business management. So it took all of the aspects of sustainability that I've kind of learned on the job, if you like, and pulled them all together and talked about, there were eight modules over eight weeks, it's very intense. And it talked about the why this is important. So that it started off, it was really depressing the name of the scale of the problem that we have, and the kinds of problems in the world with climate change and how they are existential threats, but then starts talking about how we as individuals can start to move towards addressing those problems. And the final module was all around becoming a change agent within organisations. And that, for me, was probably the most illuminating because I think a lot of us is we feel strongly about purpose, and we want to change the world and want to help organisations become better, because we see that there is the threat coming down the track. But how do you do that? How do you move organisations incrementally to be better when you know, they don't have the luxury of dramatic change immediately? And I think one of the things that I've struggled with is how do you influence within organisations, particularly in my job where I'm on the outside of those organisations? As a consultant? How do you bring them with you? How do you affect change, and it was so useful, literally a checklist of different things you can do to help ingrain that way of thinking into organisations in a way that isn't threatening and isn't kind of just going to make them go off? You know, here's the sustainability person sort of talking about her fluffy sustainability stuff. And I mean, literally said that, I think that's the the thing you realise, oh, so that's not just me. It's not just me that struggles with that. It's not just me, because I don't know. I mean, I'm not good enough. It made me realise that this is a common challenge that everybody that is doing this faces, I think that kind of camaraderie and knowledge that you're not alone was hugely helpful as well, because I think, I don't know if it's a female thing, but that kind of imposter syndrome and thinking I must just be the I'm not good enough at doing this. So, so I'm rambling. But going back to the original point of founders, I think one of the things that founders and owners of small businesses or operators, small businesses complex is feeling isolated and feeling like they don't quite know where to turn. And are they doing it the right way? Are they doing it the wrong way? Or is there no right and wrong way. And so I think it really helped with that kind of just understanding of other people facing the same challenges that you've faced. That's really powerful in itself, really, you know, that just strip away that feeling of loneliness of isolation, as he say, is incredibly powerful. And as good a reason as any to kind of enrol on some sort of development course, be it academic or kind of professional, there's a couple of things I'd like to kind of pick into what you're just talking about with your experience of going on that course. Firstly, if there was one big kind of takeaway, and that last module that you talked about becoming a change agent just kind of hit you. What would you say it was? Because I feel like, again, we talked about this earlier about, you know, CSR being this, you know, the room done in the corridor, nobody took them seriously, it feels like the tide has changed the movement and right direction, but there are still challenges that are there. So what would you say? What was the kind of the aha moment for you in that course, in that module, when it came to become a change agent? I think it was the idea of incremental change being okay, and bringing organisations with you. And I think also this idea of knowing when to bring ideas forward, and when to actually wait, because I think in the sustainability space, there is a sense of urgency. And obviously, there's a lot of activism. And I think sometimes you can feel certainly I can feel if I'm not pursuing that sort of activist agenda, or am I sort of being, you know, a traitor to the cause, if you like, and my gut instinct has always been, you have to bring people with you. That's kind of how I've operated throughout my career, you're not going to do shock and awe to get companies to become more sustainable. So how do you then get them to move incrementally? How do you help make them change? So I think, you know, a few of the sort of top tips, if you like, we're breaking big ideas down into manageable chunks, something that I talked about previously, which is incorporating sustainability initiatives into their core business plans, speaking their language effectively, and understanding that businesses aren't going to make great big investments without seeing the impact that things can have. So looking for, okay, where are the small incremental changes we can drive here that will start to demonstrate value or that risk is being mitigated so that you build confidence within exec teams, for them to start making those bigger changes. I think the other piece that was really interesting to me was one of the things that I've sort of seen within clients is where you've got maybe the CEO of a big organisation who's really kind of passionate about sustainability, but it's not driving through, it's not landing. And I've always thought, why you know, that the CEO, why is that, and actually, that can be self defeating. So if sustainability is seen as a pet project, then it's too easy to dismiss, even if it is the pet project to the CEO. So working with, again, with that organisation to make sure it's not seen as a pet project, that you're actually kind of communicating it to other stakeholders in the business and showing them how it can deliver value in terms of what they care about, whether that's HR Finance, you know, whatever, really can make a big difference. So it's all of these different elements together, I think it's that incremental change piece that was really, it just told me to trust my instincts and not worry about if it's not seismic change, and it's not worth doing, because I think that can be the message that you sometimes hear from people that are sort of getting frustrated with it, which, you know, people increasingly do who care about this. Indeed, indeed, and I think there's a need for that activism, there has to be, but as you say, it's kind of like, when does it become a barrier? When does it become prohibitive to what you're trying to do to the progress that you're trying to make. And it's an incredibly fine line to kind of tread. But it sounds like you know, that was value in itself attending the course to kind of have that go through that module and build up because everything that you just said, That makes so much sense, even if it's not on the sustainability agenda, even if you're just trying to sell an idea or a concept into client, or into a boardroom, into your kind of leadership team or whatever it might be, that comes back to that thing, people, you need to get them to let go of the status quo. And that's not easy. And it's certainly not easy if you just throw a massive idea at them a huge change. Because with that comes with, you know, this is how we should be doing things, this is a better way of doing things in first that the way that we are doing it now. And the way that we have been doing it is wrong and is rubbish or whatever it might be, and which it may well be, you know, but it's a bit of a kick to the teeth, really, that people have been doing it for however long. So it's breaking it down into smaller, more digestible parts just feels like just a sensible thing to do. So, you know, just in terms of that kind of strategy, that kind of technique. I think that sounds like it was a you know, very worthwhile kind, of course, to kind of come on. Yeah, and it D risks it, doesn't it. I mean, we've all been in situations where you've got this amazing, brilliant, creative idea, and you sort of give it to the client and they're just not interested in you. So frustrating, you know, you bring in the creative director and they're getting really angry, but often it's because either they don't really part See how it's going to be implemented. Or as you've said, it feels too big, or you don't make it kind of pragmatic and practical enough for them. And so I think you're absolutely right. It applies to any kind of significant idea or initiative that you're trying to bring in. How can you have inspired people with it, but then make it something that they can see how it would work in the real world. 

Last question in this episode is this investment that you made in yourself in your own kind of self development, I think is a really good example of somebody working on themselves as part of their business. So it's kind of like investing the time, the effort, the energy into improving yourself to developing yourself for the benefit of the business. But that would have come at the I don't want to say the expense. But at the time that you spent the effort and the energy that you spent on developing yourself could have been spent on billable projects, it could have been spent on looking after clients and stuff like this. How do you reconcile that within? You mentioned just a small team? There's four of you. Yeah, super important. Obviously, it's benefited. But I think that one of the biggest challenges that most leaders in most businesses have is that they find themselves spending more time working in their business rather than working on the biz. Yeah, absolutely. Well, partly it was, by doing it all weekend, every weekend, I was so happy to get my weekends. Because you know, I'll be really honest, I couldn't sacrifice half my week to doing this. And I did really throw myself into it, I got 87%. In my final grade, I don't think I've ever got 87 or final grade for anything, I was very chuffed. I think as you're sort of older and grayer. And as you're investing money into something you like, I want to do this properly, partly was added sacrifice my own time. Again, I'll be honest, there have been certain points in the last couple of years where there's no way I could have done this. So I did choose to do it at a time where billable work was steadier, where there was the opportunity. And actually, I think, certainly for me, if I don't find sort of things that are on the business that I need to invest time in, whether it's you know, marketing or personal development, or whatever the danger is that I'll just over service billable clients, because that's my kind of happy place in my comfort zone just to do more on clients. And that's great to an extent. But you know, as a small business owner, you do have to spend time on the business, don't you? So I think for me, it was choosing the right time to do it, where I could genuinely invest that time. And that isn't always the case, it was understanding that I was gonna have to compromise some of my own time, and I've got teenage kids who don't really talk to me. So I, you know, again, I don't have little children that are demanding. So the point in my life I'm at, I could do that. And I think it's also a bit of a mind shift for me where in order to really develop your business and take your business in the direction that you need it to go in, you have to work on the business, you cannot just be beavering away for clients. That's a really important part. And actually one of the things that I love about my existing businesses, there's no, that's part of our day job. Whereas in a lot of organisations, as you get more senior, it's almost frowned upon for you to be working with clients. I hate that I love working with my clients. And that's where you learn as well. But I think just having a mind shift of it is not only okay, but actually the right thing to do to carve out one, two days, whatever it is to be working on the business, whatever that happens to be, if what that happens to be as investing in your understanding skills development as a leader that can only then serve the business better and your people, the people that you work with better, I think third as much as just having that mental shift. But it's not easy, especially when you are just in those crazy busy times. But you're not always crazy busy. And I think it's trying to get out of that kind of hamster wheel mode where you're constantly in, oh my god, I'm so busy. And it's like there will be times like that where you're just 100% working with clients or firefighting. But recognising the difference when you're not only taking that time away at those points, which that's something that I've tried to do as a sort of personal development thing as I've got older and greater. 

Yiuwin Tsang:

Thank you so much to Allison Puente from Project Rome for joining us on this week's Beautiful Business podcast. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, your ideas and your experiences.