Strategic Leadership from everywomanClub Member Angela Wakelin

Angela Wakelin Photo

Angela Wakelin has learned to think strategically over the course of a 25 year career in financial services. After starting work in a NatWest bank branch post-A levels, Angela had many different roles with the RBS Group, mainly in corporate banking.

She moved to Santander in 2008 to help set up its corporate banking business as Chief Operations Officer, and then became Director of Product Oversight and Control. In 2012 Angela moved into the retail distribution division as Transformation Director responsible for managing key change programmes to ensure smooth transition to the new, customer-focused, multi-channel bank. Angela was also the inaugural Chair of Santander UK’s Women in Business network. Challenging the perceptions of the male-dominated world of banking, she encapsulates Santander UK’s diverse cultural spirit.

Here she talks about what strategic leadership means to her, how she developed it and why it is vital inhelping businesses succeed.

1) What does strategic leadership mean to you?

For me it is about using your wide lens as much as your narrow lens.  That means having a holistic view that is informed by a vision of where you want to go, and communicating that to your team so that you can take them with you.

2) AT WHAT STAGE IN YOUR CAREER DID YOU BECOME MORE STRATEGIC?

It was when I was a junior/middle manager, and I took on a project in an area of the business with which I was totally unfamiliar. I had to consider whether it was right for the bank to remain part of a joint venture, or sell our share. I had never done anything like that before and it meant I had to really understand the wider implications – the bigger picture.

3) WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT INGREDIENT IN STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP?

It’s about being in touch with what’s going on, and being willing to look beyond your own environment. Are our competitors of today the same as they will be tomorrow?  You also need to anticipate the future but apply the resulting strategy in the business you are in today, while remaining adaptable.

4) DID ANYONE HELP YOU BECOME MORE STRATEGIC IN YOUR THINKING?

My boss at the time, who is still indirectly my boss today. He was willing to push the boundaries and isn’t confined by how we do things or have always done them.  It’s about having a broad view of the world and thinking about the implications for your own business.

He really lives the values that he believes in, and he helped me by demonstrating that constantly.  He refuses to be confined by the past or current events.  Seeing people like this in action can empower you to think in a different way.

5) WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE SOMEONE WHO WANTED TO START OPERATING MORE STRATEGICALLY?

Open your eyes and ears and look around at what’s happening in the world. Learn about other industries and don’t be afraid to seek out new sources.  Be adaptable but stay true to what you believe in.

6) WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DON’T VIEW OUR BUSINESS ACTIVITIES STRATEGICALLY?

I think if you don’t view business in a strategic way you have the propensity to end up like Kodak, which underestimated the power of digital and lost out because of it.

 

 

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