Ivan Hollingsworth is a well known North East fundraiser, former pharmaceutical executive, and now the founder and director of Centric Consultants. The firm was launched in a bid to tackle ‘culture-washing’ and support business leaders to build high-performing teams based on trust and psychological safety. Mr Hollingsworth says his experience training as an elite-level athlete and as chair of CHUF (The Children’s Heart Unit Fund) has allowed him to observe the ingredients for high performance.
What was your first job (and what did it pay)? I suppose we can discount washing neighbours cars in my street for £3 a time aged around 11 or 12! My first ‘proper’ jobs were part-time over the summer right after graduating university – I worked at what is now the Utilita Arena in Newcastle selling hotdogs and nachos, coached kids at a summer athletics club and was a fitness trainer at a health club – it was a busy summer!
What is the best advice or support you’ve been given in business? My close friend Jo Feeley, founder and managing director of TrendBible, gave me the best professional advice around a month after setting up Centric Consultants. I was feeling like an imposter and having a bit of a wobble, so I asked if she was free for a chat. She said yes immediately and told me to ‘build my raft one log at a time, focusing on the areas I was most passionate and skilled at first’. I will never forget the faith that she showed in me and the confidence I felt after that lunch.
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What are the main changes that you’ve seen in your business/sector, and what are the challenges you're facing? The biggest changes I’ve seen is the increasing focus that organisations are placing on their culture and the investment in making meaningful change. For years it’s been talked about, but little action has followed. The organisations I’m working with are dedicated to improving their culture and supporting their leaders to achieve more. The challenge is how institutionalised some senior decision makers are, and the resistance to change that can exist across organisations.
How has the pandemic changed the way you work? The pandemic forced people to take a look at their company culture, how we lead remote or hybrid teams and the importance of trust during times of adversity and change. I initially thought post-pandemic teams would lean more towards online workshops and delivery but in-fact the complete opposite has happened. People are desperate to be in the same room and interact on a human level with their colleagues. Teams are using our sessions to reconnect with each other and as a vehicle to re-energise workplace networks that have had a major knock over the past three years.
Who is your role model in business? I would have to say Jo Feeley, 100%. She is an incredible business person, a wonderful human being and an inspiration as I look to grow Centric.
What would your dream job be? After 47 years, I’m lucky enough to be doing it. I am fortunate enough to be paid to do what I love. The driver to launch Centric was to combine my knowledge of 16 years in the pharmaceutical industry with my lived-experience of being an elite level athlete and Dad of a Heart Hero to make a difference to other people – that I have the chance to do that every day now really is a dream job.
What advice would you give to someone starting out a career in your sector? Each person will have different experiences and knowledge to share when it comes to company culture. The best advice I can give is to get three sheets of paper and write in the middle of each sheet the following words – Research, Results and Respect. Then write all of the things that apply to you for your specific topic – when you’ve finished, look for the words that appear on all pieces of paper, they hold the answer to what you need to do to get going.
What makes the North East a good place to do business? Business is all about the people you surround yourself with, the North East is full of incredibly collaborative, generous and skilled people. When I first moved to the North East for University in 1993, it was the people here that made me know I never wanted to leave. These same people are the ones who make up our business community 30 years later and I couldn’t be more grateful that I get to work with them every day.
How important do you think it is for business to play a role in society? I think it is everything. We need to commit to creating environments where people can genuinely thrive, which affects who we are and how we behave with each other in and outside of work. Currently we spend too much time as a society in work and we’re not taking the responsibility to adjust this seriously. Evidence supports the fact that thriving people outperform those who are not, should further support the reasons for businesses to make a commitment to change the way things are done and make a difference in wider society.
Outside of work, what are you really good at? I think I’m pretty good at fundraising. I’m chair of the board of CHUF (the Children’s Heart Unit Fund) and led a campaign that raised over £500,000 for the charity through undertaking different challenges. My athletics background would suggest I’m reasonably good at sport, but injuries mean I can’t run much anymore; I do train six times a week for two hours at a time, so guess I’m still pretty fit!
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