Mike Brady

I was reminded recently of one of the more interesting episodes in my career when, for about twelve months, I was fortunate to be seconded to a small car manufacturer as Finance Director (both the cars and the company were small!).  It presented an exciting departure from my normal way of working but was also an opportunity to learn.  Here are the major takeaways for me from this experience: Collective executive responsibility Being part of the executive team meant that we plotted the course for the company and that we all bought into the strategy and the plan to deliver it.  We were making significant changes to the products, to the manufacturing process and to the supply chain and we all had to be clear about what we were doing, why we were doing it and how we were going about it.  Employees, shareholders, bankers, auditors and the press would be asking questions and we had to be consistent and clear in answering those questions but then in the actions and decisions we took. Vis