It’s all about the value-add for our guest on this episode of Leaders With Ambition. Andy Cowie, a Partner at James Cowper Kreston, exemplifies the fact that you don’t have to have a lofty credential to rise to the top in professional services. What you do need? Energy, innovative ideas, a collaborative spirit and flexibility. Having a massive network doesn’t hurt, either!
Andy shares with host Nicky Acuna Ocana his peripatetic journey to becoming a leader in the field of marketing and business development for professional services. Pioneering his practice at a time when the ROI was not yet fully understood, he has nurtured teams built on hard-won lessons, adaptability and communication.
You’ll learn how an early mentor influenced the course of Andy’s career and why it’s so important to pay it forward by supporting and connecting others in the workplace.
A perfect example of that mission? Launching the James Cowper Kreston Foundation, for which Andy serves as a trustee. Find out how his vision and constant pursuit of value-add through relationship-building have enabled Andy to grow throughout his career, breaking barriers again and again.
“The value that I add internally takes me through that glass ceiling,” says Andy. “It doesn’t matter what you do. If you’re great at it and you’re adding proper value, then you don’t have to be an Accountant to reach Partner.”
If you enjoyed this discussion, please click here to find previous episodes of Leaders with Ambition.
Key Takeaways:
Starting out:
From Staffordshire to studying geoscience engineering at the Camborne School of Mines to surveying to accounting, how Andy’s eclectic early career wound its way to recruiting.
Recruiting is a fit:
What Andy enjoyed in the process of essentially mentoring people through understanding their motivations, skill sets and possible career paths.
What it takes:
How recruiting (both today and in the pre-internet era) comes down to building relationships with candidates and clients, understanding what’s needed and finding matches.
Course adjustment:
Why the opportunity to migrate into marketing and business development for a professional services firm felt like a good fit for Andy’s goals and strengths.
Cultural change:
About entering a Partner environment and the work of educating people on the role of marketing as a legitimate (useful!) tool within a fee-based professional services context.
Core competencies:
What Andy brought to his new marketing-oriented role was key skills, including: an outgoing personality; innovative thoughts on promoting services and brand value-add.
Paying it forward:
How Andy was inspired by a mentor who exemplified marketing and business development value-add through massive networking, internal and external championship.
A joint venture:
About the insights that came out of Andy’s entrepreneurial foray into co-founding his own marketing agency – a top-to-bottom challenge that has informed the rest of his career.
Bridge back:
Why the autonomous, collaborative and creative aspects of the marketing function within a professional services context provided the perfect next step in Andy’s career.
Cracking the code:
How Andy navigated his first year at James Cowper Kreston, a workplace culture in which the marketing/BD functions were not at that time (15 years ago) fully integrated.
Leaning into leadership:
Why Andy combined an inclusive attitude and emphasis on mentoring to the process of forming his team and inspiring them to be the best they could be.
Secret sauce:
What qualities (positive attitude, energy and adaptability) for Andy far outweigh in most cases professional or educational qualifications offered up on a CV.
Passion project:
Why the James Cowper Kreston Foundation, for which Andy is a trustee, offers a win-win-win in terms of charitable service, support and inter-disciplinary development.
Post-pandemic assessment:
How communications, workplace culture and relationships have been reshaped by remote and hybrid conditions.
Trusts builds value:
About the relational piece and networking that Andy believes are foundational to solidifying brand loyalty, recurring business and long-term alliances.
Building bridges:
Why Andy is committed to providing younger team members tools, opportunities and clearly communicated expectations around the importance of networking.
Biggest challenges for professional services:
The immediacy of communications post-Covid; promoting the value of in-person networking after hours; and implementing new technologies.
Words of wisdom:
Work hard! The harder you try, the luckier you become. Have fun! You’ve got to enjoy the work and people you’re doing it with. Set your goal – and push through!
Key Quotes:
“In order to help people get where they want to go and to identify their skills sets, you’ve got to know them. It’s all about that relationship. It’s all about talking and understanding what motivates people … to help them develop a career path.”
“Outright sales wasn’t for me. The pressure of wiping the board every four weeks wasn’t necessarily something that I wanted to do … I wanted some sort of security.”
“When you’re working within an environment where everyone is selling their time and you aren’t necessarily selling yours, it is a little different and difficult to make your own way. What you need is very much the buy-in of the people around you to give you the chance to develop.”
“Value is the key to everything we do within the marketing-BD function, not just in professional services … It’s such a personal sale. You’ve got to believe in the services your offering and the people delivering it.”
“Mentoring and sponsorship put me in front of the right people … It was invaluable.”
“A mentor can be internal or external, but a sponsor really has to be internal. They’re the person that believes in you and... and can push you to the higher echelons of the firm”
“Marketing and business development are inextricably linked. You can’t do one without the other. The marketing backs up BD and the BD gives the ROI for marketing.”
“That culture, that fit, that attitude is far more important when you’re building a high-performing team than the qualifications on a CV.”
“As soon as you’re transactional, then you’re working on a cost basis and a value basis. (But) relationships build trust and trust builds value. It’s that simple.”
“No point in having hundreds of people connected to you if you’re not really doing anything with that. You’ve got to really think about how to take it forward and nurture it and also pay it forward.” (Nicky)
“The value that I add internally takes me through that glass ceiling … It doesn’t matter what you do. If you’re great at it and you’re adding proper value, then you don’t have to be an accountant to reach Partner.”
“People are used to having a better work-life balance since starting to work from home … but we need to make sure that employees and employers are showing each other flexibility.” (Nicky)
About Andy Cowie:
Andy joined James Cowper Kreston in 2009 and was appointed Partner in 2024 having worked within professional services marketing and business development for over 25 years. Over that time, he was recognised for developing strong professional relationships and new business opportunities across the Thames Valley and Solent region.
Andy’s day-to-day responsibilities include client acquisition and retention strategies, development of marketing strategy and implementation of plans, management of the marketing team and working with people to help develop their business networks. He is also a Trustee of the James Cowper Kreston Foundation.
About Nicky Acuna Ocana:
Nicky has led high-performing recruitment teams for over 25 years. As the Regional Managing Director of Ambition UK, Europe & US, she leads a team of highly-skilled recruitment consultants who specialise in Business Services functions within Professional Services and are experts in their niche specialist areas.
With an extensive network of senior and board-level contacts, she is also heavily involved in Executive Search, focusing on Director level appointments across Business Services for a range of Professional Services firms. Follow her 'Leading with Ambition' newsletter here.
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