If You Want Some Good Advice Ask An Expert
The following is an extract from an article in The Sunday Times published on January 10, 2010, based on an interview with Mhairi McEwan, co-founder and MD of Brand Learning by journalist Rachel Bridge.
Mhairi McEwan, co-founder and managing director of Brand Learning, a marketing consultancy based in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, is a firm believer in finding the people she needs by watching them work their way up through the business.
She and Andy Bird, her co-founder, took on four partners who had started out as directors at the company.
“I believe that leaders emerge in a business,” said McEwan. “You don’t put a gold star on somebody’s head. It becomes very clear who has the vision, who can see the future, who is good at engaging other people and who is good at delivering results. I would never bring somebody I didn’t know into a senior position.”
The company, founded in 2000, has grown from two staff to more than 100 and turns over £10.5m a year. McEwan said: “It is incredibly important to surround yourself with great people because it is people who make the decisions and take the initiative. It is people who have the ideas and bring the energy that propels the businesses to success.”
She added: “We have grown from nothing to a medium-sized company but we have really tried to keep our culture. It is like the DNA of the business and it lives only through the people you hire. As you start to expand the business you have to delegate and if the people you are delegating to don’t share your passion or vision or the values of the business, it can become incredibly difficult.”
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