INSPIRATEES
Mark Easby
Better & High Tide Foundation A man who not only fronts the leading brand agency on Teesside – and far beyond – also chairs local charity High Tide Foundation, which inspires young people to follow careers they didn’ t even know existed.
Asked at the InspiraTees event what makes a good leader, he replied that it was a case of four Cs.
“ For me, it’ s about confidence, clarity, communication and consistency,” he said.
“ I also think it’ s about being brave enough to make bold decisions and stand by them when they go wrong, and empowering people to make their own bold decisions.
“ It’ s also about having strong personal values – building a business with integrity and being driven by purpose.”
And Mark said it was vital for leaders to be inspired by their teams, as he is at Better and High Tide.
He said:“ I see some of the work we’ re doing for clients and it’ s the guys in the studio that inspire me.
“ When we set up 16 years ago, I set a stall out for the type of business we wanted to be – the values, the culture, the people we wanted to attract, the type of clients we wanted to work with.
“ And I’ ve got a team that buys into that vision and shares those values.”
Tribute to Mark:“ Mark’ s a proud Teessider, Better deliver outstanding work to clients across the globe and he takes time to help the next generation through the High Tide Foundation.”- Bradley Johnson, MD, Yellow Box Marketing
MY TOP 3
Bradley Johnson( Yellowbox) |
1. |
Mark Easby |
2. |
Michael Shakesheff |
3. |
Bill Scott |
Lee Hutchinson
Double Eleven Teesside University graduate Lee started games development agency Double Eleven in his back bedroom. It’ s a business that’ s now one of the best known and most successful on Teesside. Double Eleven employs more than 350 people – some in Kuala Lumpur, but the majority in Middlesbrough.
And CEO Lee recently became an Honorary Doctor of Science at Teesside University in recognition of his entrepreneurial vision, strong leadership and outstanding contribution to the games industry.
Tribute to Lee:“ Lee has achieved so much, gives back to the community and massively supports other businesses. Despite his influence, he stays under the radar and doesn’ t look for recognition. This is why he’ s a huge inspiration to us.” – Lou Clover, COO and co-founder, Wander Films
Yasmin Khan
Halo Project The only person to win trophies at each of the first two Tees Businesswomen Awards events, including the individual Inspiring Others category, adopted Teessider Yasmin is the founder and CEO of Middlesbrough-based charity the Halo Project, supporting women and girls facing honour-based violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation.
Yasmin told the InspiraTees attendees that she felt“ being authentic” was a key quality to being a good leader.
She said:“ You can’ t pretend to be something you’ re not. I think you need a human approach to be a good leader and you have to make sure that what you’ re communicating is very clear.
“ But I think above anything else, you have to be kind to your staff. Even when they’ re having a bad day, they get up, come to work and do the best they can.
“ So, as leaders, I think we’ ve all got a role to play to make sure people feel respected, that they belong somewhere and that they have value.”
She added:“ The people you work with, the people you meet in your communities – they really do become your inspiration.
“ And when you see a gap in the area and for women, I think it’ s really important to stand up and address that, but with strong partnerships around you.
“ But I think what makes a truly good leader is really understanding how you can help others.
“ Performance is one thing – bringing money into the organisation, having high standards – but you can do all of that by having a really strong sense of doing something that will benefit not just the purse strings, but also the people you’ re delivering services to.”
Tribute to Yasmin:“ Yasmin has dedicated her life to supporting survivors of abuse and violence, tirelessly challenging the systems that continue to fail them. Her leadership and commitment to fighting for justice and systemic change is exactly why I voted for her.” – Sophie McKenna, campaign manager, Power of Women
Zoe Lewis CBE
Middlesbrough College Group As principal and chief executive of Middlesbrough College Group, Zoe looks after an education budget of more than £ 60m, 1,000 staff and 13,000 students.
A qualified accountant, she’ s a board member of Skills England, a trustee of the Education Endowment Foundation and chair of the Association of Colleges’ funding and accountability group.
Zoe, who last year received a CBE in recognition of her services to education, said it was encouraging to see so many new faces at this year’ s InspiraTees.
“ It shows there are some great new businesses going right up to the top of the tree,” she said.
The voice of business in the Tees region | 23