Nottingham Business School’s Business Leaders’ Podcast

Episode 81

Kate Butler – Leaders must be curious

SUMMARY

Kate Butler is the deputy managing director of Via East Midlands. She is also an expert on the complex challenge of maintaining Britain’s crumbling roads.

As a senior executive at Via, she oversees an £87 million turnover and a workforce of 700 staff dedicated – among many other things – to filling Nottinghamshire’s potholes.

In episode 81 of the Nottingham Business School’s Business Leaders’ Podcast, she offers a candid look at the "sharp end" of public service, managing a daunting £400m maintenance backlog amidst tightening financial constraints.

Reflecting on a career that has spanned more than a dozen different roles at Nottinghamshire County Council, Kate explains how she transitioned from an international banking graduate training scheme, to become a cornerstone of local infrastructure planning.

She tells Honorary Visiting Professor Mike Sassi that effective leadership in the public sector is defined by transparency and the ability to assess competing regional needs.

Perhaps her most striking message is that leaders don’t need to be technical experts to succeed in engineering – what they need most is curiosity.

"Luckily, I’m incredibly nosy," she says.

INTRODUCTION to Kate Butler

• Kate Butler is deputy managing director at Via East Midlands, a company with 700 staff and an £87 million turnover.

• Via is a Teckal company – an arm's length organisation where local authority Nottinghamshire County Council is sole shareholder and at least 80 per cent of its work is for the public sector.

• Kate manages critical infrastructure and roads in Nottinghamshire.

• She previously worked for Nottinghamshire County Council. Her project management expertise meant she played a big role in the creation of Via East Midlands between 2014 and 2015.

• Kate earned a degree in geography before starting her career on a graduate management training scheme at a London-based. She moved to Nottinghamshire in the early 2000s.

• She attributes her success to her being able to maintain enthusiasm, utilise mentors… and be "incredibly nosy”!

LEADERSHIP TAKEAWAYS from Kate Butler

1 A leader need not be a technical expert to manage large, specialised teams:

"My background in project and programme management is one of the reasons I was developed into this role."

2 Curiosity is vital for understanding how places work:

"I'm incredibly nosy anyway, which I think helps."

3 Maintaining enthusiasm is essential for driving and motivating other people:

"My enthusiasm is still here, undimmed, after twenty years."

4 Aspiring leaders should proactively take every opportunity presented to them:

"No opportunities should ever be wasted because, at some point, ten years later, you might think – I'm sure I understood something from that!”

5 Mentorship plays a critical role in professional growth:

"I've had some mentors in my career… and some managers that weren't so fantastic. You learn as much from them as you do from the good mentors!”

6 Leaders should develop "soft skills" and an interest in the wider political and social landscape.

"I'm interested in politics. I'm interested in the way it works… so that helps."

7 Transparency is the best way to handle high public expectations

"We’re developing a new customer service strategy which has got communications written right through it..."

8 Leaders must balance the need for immediate reactions with the ability to take a longer view:

"I think it's about having a medium to long-term vision..."

9 Celebrating success is most effective when it is shared across an entire team.

"It's just a wonderful way to work."

10 A wider purpose can be as sustainable a motivator as financial gain:

"I had a good job with a bank… I just felt I needed to do something that would involve more giving back to society."

RELATED LINKS

Find out more about Kate Butler…

• Through her LinkedIn profile

If you enjoyed this episode of the NBS Business Leaders’ Podcast with Kate Butler, listen to previous episodes with…

• The MD of Boots UK Anthony Hemmerdinger

• The Global Head of Emerging Talent at engineering giant Rolls-Royce Ellie Long

• The former Chief Exec of the Financial Ombudsman Service Caroline Wayman

• The BBC’s Deputy Chief People Officer Sarah Gregory