HR Grapevine 2015 Speakers - Claire Jenkins, Non-Executive Director, Sports Direct

Claire Jenkins, Non-Executive Director at Sports Direct, Non-Executive Director at Media for Development and a Trustee at Amicus, will be speaking at this year’s HR Can Change the World conference. She talks to HR Grapevine about her motivations and inspirations…

What have been the highlights in your career journey that have enabled you to sit where you are today?
I’d say the fundamental thing throughout my career and what I would advise anybody is: You will never progress in your career unless you are prepared to go outside your comfort zone. You need to be prepared to take on projects and roles that you’re not quite ready for yet because that’s how you grow. I’ve noticed in business a difference between men and women; men tend to be much happier to do that whereas often women are like “I’m not quite ready yet...”. Actually, what you need to do, if you’re not being offered opportunities, is to stick your hand up and say “I want to work on that project, I’ve got something to offer.”

What motivates you and drives you?
It’s having fun. Life’s far, far too short to be miserable and to be in an environment that stresses me. Hard work and a bit of stress because you’re working on a project and you’re doing 20 hour days for six weeks is fine if you’re still having fun. So it’s having fun and being with people I like.

How do you know when you’ve done a good job, what gives you satisfaction?
That’s a very difficult one because I think you just know. You’re proud of it, you have a smile on your face when you’ve finished whatever it is and you just know inwardly that a box has been ticked. Or else you know you’ve not done as well as you should and you’ve let yourself down - I think you just know it.

Who inspires you?
Peter Wilson, who was the Executive Chairman when I arrived at Gallaher. He has a brain the size of a planet, and gets from A-Z without passing B,C,D. It’s because of the initial exposure from him that my career broadened very quickly. He was prepared to take me through B,C,D so I understood why he made the decisions he made. Then he stepped up to being Non-Exec Chairman. Nigel Northridge became Chief Executive and Mark Rolfe became Finance Director, and they became my immediate bosses and they did the same. I just learnt tremendously from them. The biggest message I have to people is you are never too old to be learning from other people. Today I am learning a huge amount from Mike Ashley at Sports Direct. He’s another Peter Wilson; he’s a genius who goes from A-Z but doesn’t pass B,C,D and you just have to be able to say: “Excuse me Mike, really sorry I don’t actually entirely understand the thinking process, can you take me through it?”. And you learn from it.

Why do the companies you work with matter to you?