Steven Roberts
a brief summary of my journey
Steven Roberts
After growing up in South Wales with a very happy family and a brother and a sister, I went to Cambridge University. After graduating, I did my PhD in Geophysics there too. That’s where I was lucky enough to meet my wife and mother of my four children, Caroline. During my PhD I founded a company with several colleagues to provide software and advice to oil companies. That didn’t turn out as expected, but I found Barclays, which, over the next thirty-plus years, provided the stimulation, variety and opportunities to match my curiosity and ambition to do exciting things (– at a scale that matched that of Geophysics).
For the first twenty years of my career in Barclays, I followed a traditional route of working up through the organisation, mainly in Operations and change management, overseeing ever larger teams of people and budgets. This culminated with the role of Chief Operating Officer for the UK Bank.
My “light bulb moment” came with the appointment of a challenging new CEO for the UK Bank, Ashok V. Vashwani, who was on a mission to transform Barclays into a digital business. I became the vanguard of that transformation, which, whilst being very uncomfortable in the beginning, was a revelation and what turned out to be an opportunity to re-invent myself - and build on my natural curiosity and eagerness to “do big things”. This was when banking (and many other things) were changing to adjust to a “mobile-first world”, with the use of apps, and smartphones changing everything we did.
During this time, I did a lot of reaching out into the world outside of banking to understand and learn and listen to people and organisations changing the world.
I was new to much of what I saw and heard and had to learn humility and, most importantly, to become a better listener. During this time, I began to realise how important it was to listen and embrace the fantastic potential in colleagues and, through them, get closer to customers. The internet has allowed access to the whole world of learning, but nothing beats (IMHO) “being on the ground”, talking and listening to real customers and colleagues.
This all came together first with the creation of Digital Eagles, and from them to Eagle Labs, and the need to be close to customers, potential customers - and in doing so, to be “useful” to both, beyond just “doing banking”. I realised the importance of connecting emotionally with colleagues and customers – beyond fulfilling transactions. This also led to my thinking about how organisations and colleagues work best with and in communities – meeting their needs and how best to nurture them.
This better connection and understanding drove other new initiatives and projects within Barclays, as well as initiatives such as cheque imaging, which would have significant impacts on how banks operate in the UK.
Most recently, I have worked with people and organisations driving innovation out of our universities and the start-up ecosystems developed across the UK over the last ten years. I am incredibly grateful to the many people in Cambridge and that ecosystem who have given me their time, advice and insights, as well as those at UCL, in Edinburgh (through the fabulous Codebase), in Hull (through C4DI), Cardiff (Tramshed) and many other cities across the UK. The Eagle Labs and the teams that work in the Labs have developed, nurtured, and connected many of these “communities of innovation”. My many conversations with Sir John Timpson and Julian Richer have been foundational in how I have developed my approach to organisational culture.
The many connections I have built over the years of former colleagues, academics, and experts are the trusted “friends” I can call on to help with assignments with you.
Looking ahead, I can bring the life and work experience to organisations to help them grow and thrive through:
Finding ways to inspire and motivate colleagues to be curious and customer focussed
Getting closer and emotionally connected to customers and building communities to make relationships sustainable
Helping organisations listen better to colleagues and customers
I hope my breadth of experience, continuing curiosity, and wish to learn can help you grow your organisation and get the most from your colleagues and customers.