Interview with Charles Hotton

This week is International Leadership Week, and as leaders are an integral part of a company’s success, we decided to mark the occasion by asking our Managing Director, Charles Hotton, to understand more about his leadership style.

What’s the best and worst part of being a leader?

Best – Seeing others evolve and becoming new leaders of the future. Worst — There isn’t really a bad aspect of being a leader, but it can at times, be resource hungry if you try and do it alone. You are only as good as your weakest link, and you need to ensure you have the support immediately above and below you to foster change or development effectively.

What do you think makes a good leader?

My preferred style is to empower people and allow them to develop. To be supportive in this role as much as you can by being consultative and constructive. Appropriate oversight is hugely important, but you don’t want to be overbearing or critical to the extent that it suffocates new ideas or the personal development of staff.

As a leader, you will often find yourself in a position of influence because you have learnt your trade through many years of practical experience – it’s inevitable that during this time you will have made decisions that you would have taken differently with more experience. It’s important to remember this and build an appropriate culture that allows progressive development.

If you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?

To be more open with those you report to. Changes can only occur through new ideas and suggestions. Nothing should be considered set in stone.