Interview with a CEO - Being confident enough to enable and empower others

Richard joined Butterfield in 2000 as Head of the Guernsey investment management business and was later promoted to Head of European Asset Management, responsible for discretionary management for private client portfolios. He then moved to his leadership role within banking, joining the Butterfield Group’s Executive Committee  

Throughout his time at Butterfield, Richard has had the opportunity to change roles on several different occasions which he states has allowed him to face new challenges and new responsibilities, and embrace new learning. When meeting and chatting with Richard, it is evident that he is totally committed to what he does and he emanates real sincerity and authenticity. It was fantastic to catch up with Richard and learn about his leadership at Butterfield.  

NLG: Over the years, what do you feel is the greatest leadership lesson you have learnt? 

RS: Prioritise culture. At times, it can be hard to define your culture but you definitely know when culture is not right.

Ensuring that you are true to your and the company’s values is of utmost importance.

It’s not just about what you bring to the organisation’s culture, but also knowing that the behaviours you allow and tolerate have a huge impact. Taking the time to focus on culture, however, isn’t always easy when you have so many competing day to day priorities. It’s easy for it to be sidelined but if the culture that is being created is ignored, the values instilled will be detrimental to every other aspect of the business in the long run.

Ensuring that you’re staying on track and in line with strategy is also really important. It’s easy for colleagues to want to quickly move on to the next in vogue thing but you have to ask yourself ‘Is that thing the right thing, does it fit with the strategy?’ Because if not, it may just be a costly distraction.

Conversely, if things really aren’t working, it’s critical to take a step back and really analyse whether the strategy is wrong or if the execution of the strategy is wrong. In my experience, the answer is often the latter.

NLG: How do the values of Butterfield impact and influence the culture and leadership of the business?

RS: At Butterfield, we have four core values - approachable, collaborative, empowered and impactful - and these run through everything that we are and do. We hold ourselves accountable to our values in all decision-making processes.

They are emphasised throughout the induction programme and, at the selection process, we no longer just look for technical skills but we look to see whether someone will be a cultural fit and align with the values of the business.

The values are consistently used within our feedback and evaluation processes, and employees will demonstrate how their work and conduct align with the values.

We have a quarterly focus on one particular value and within the company, there is an awards system for employees who demonstrate this value above and beyond the normal. To win an award, employees will nominate one another and outline and explain why this person has been put forward.

This is a great reflection of how the values are being lived and worked out daily and I am constantly impressed by not only the people being nominated but also by the time and effort that their colleagues take to submit the numerous nominations that we receive every quarter.

NLG: What do you enjoy most about your role as managing director?

RS: I love to see people creating great solutions. There’s real satisfaction in facilitating a team of excellent people coming together to run a business and produce inspirational outcomes.

It’s extremely worthwhile to put structures in place that allow people to embrace challenges, find interesting and insightful solutions and execute them with precision.

I enjoy the challenge of who should be in any particular conversation or be brought into a specific project and then watching more junior team members get on board, develop and progress. I feel I have the privileged position of being the conductor of a really great orchestra.   

NLG: Do you have a top strategy for maintaining a work-life balance?

RS: A work-life balance comes when you surround yourself with great people that you know you can, and are willing to trust. The people around me are all more capable than me at what they do and I trust them to do a brilliant job.

This enables me to leave things with other people, not to get involved in everything, and be confident that I can take time out when I need to.

Empowering others and allowing them to make decisions is so important for them and it releases you, the leader, to focus on the longer term success of the business.

You must realise that your worth doesn’t come from transactional achievements in the short term. Once you realise this, you stop feeling that you have to be in everything all the time. It allows you to release control.

The key to being happy as a senior leader is really aiming to make yourself redundant, and surrounding yourself with great people is the way you achieve that.

NLG: What is the biggest motivating factor behind your leadership? 

RS: Seeing the growth of the business is extremely motivating because you can see what you’re putting back into the community.

That’s not just through the financial services we provide but also with things like sponsorship and the charitable trust that we are about to launch.

The success of the business and the development of people is the motivation.

That success means improvement for people who work for us as well as the wider community. 

NLG: What do you believe is the most important piece of advice for leaders today? 

RS: I’ve said this already but it is not to shy away from having people around you that are better than you, more talented than you at the things they specialise in. Sometimes a leader’s insecurity won’t allow them do this, but it was only by having a fantastic team around me that I was able to transition from asset management and take on the leadership of the bank.

It’s about being confident enough to enable and empower others.  

It was an absolute pleasure to interview Richard and whilst I was there, I was also able to enjoy a tour of the newly refurbished office space. With this, I witnessed firsthand the values of Butterfield being outworked and outlived.

He showed me the best part of the building, overlooking the east coast and across the islands which has not been allocated to a director’s office or board room but has been given over to all staff as a communal area to sit, relax and have coffee.

As well as this, Richard spoke about how rather than being shut away in an office, he joins staff on the floor to forge better connections, have greater interactions and be more approachable as a director.