Episode Description
This week I had the pleasure of speaking with Shaun Smith – Sales Director of Birds Eye UK & Ireland.
Birds Eye is owned by Nomad Foods, the largest Frozen Food Company in Europe with a 14% market share and generates over £2Bn in revenue. Shaun, who also sits on the European leadership team, started his journey at Warburtons before progressing through Arla Foods, Northern Foods and Aunt Bessie’s before joining Birds Eye in 2019. Now managing a team of over 65 people, we can gain a real insight into Shaun’s incredible journey to leadership.
In this episode, Shaun and I cover a wide range of topics, including his hugely successful career in the Food Industry. We talk about what first drew him to the industry, what kept him in it and the key attributes he believes have helped him along the way. Shaun emphasises the importance of putting people at the heart of the business and embracing change by working collaboratively. We also touch upon how having a clear career development plan can be extremely beneficial to help visualise and be in control of your future.
We discuss the challenges Shaun and the business faced during the pandemic – Shaun mentions how being open to receiving support helped him and the team during this crisis. Lastly, we couldn’t let Shaun go without talking through what he believes makes a great leader. He tells us that learning through periods of change has helped him become a better leader and he also gives some great advice and tips about being authentic and staying true to oneself. An insightful episode no matter where you are in your career, give it a listen today!
Here are some key topics we discussed through the episode:
7:20 Career Reflection and Key Attributes for Success
10:22 Tips for Creating a Career Development Plan
13:30 Business & People in the Time of Coronavirus
20:55 An Insight into Shaun’s Journey
27:34 Adopting a Learning Mindset
29:50 Shaun’s Take on Good Leadership and his ‘Why’
33:57 Career Advice
Enjoy!
As ever, if you’d like to get in touch you can reach me at Jonathan.ohagan@leaderexecutivesearch.com