First Utility CEO: “Authenticity Is The Most Important Leadership Attribute”

This week, Glassdoor announced The Highest Rated CEOs in the UK for 2017. So, we caught up with #16 ranked Ian McCaig of First Utility to discuss what it means to be a top CEO. We asked him about his typical morning routine, how he fosters employee trust and what leadership means to him. Glassdoor: What was your first job? Ian McCaig: Well, I did a lot of farm labouring in my teens (!), but my first job out of university was as a software engineer - something I was deeply mediocre at. Glassdoor: What is your typical morning routine? I get up around 6am, do some exercise, have a good breakfast and then head into whatever office I'm at that day. If I'm not driving, the journey in usually involves catching up on news, calls and emails. Glassdoor: What does “leadership” mean to you? Leadership to me is about guiding and supporting people and the enterprises they work for towards fulfilling their maximum possible potential. When that happens, it's a great feeling at an individual level and for the enterprise because it represents the best possible chance of achieving something special. Glassdoor: What has been your most rewarding moment as CEO? Your most challenging? Shaking up a business model in energy with First Utility and giving people access to savings they should have had all along, and for many who really needed it, has been deeply satisfying.  Seeing what amazing experiences new technology could give people access to whilst at lastminute.com was pretty incredible.  The most challenging time was rolling out the first 3G networks when I was at Nokia - they didn't work very well in the beginning! Glassdoor: What do you do to foster employee trust and engagement? Building trust is about respect, honesty and transparency in your relationships. Engagement at a basic level is about giving people the tools to do a great job and the opportunity to learn and grow, while at a more emotional level it's about giving people a line of sight between what they do day to day and what the company's goals are. If you don't know what part you play and don't see how you make a difference it's really hard to feel engaged. Glassdoor: Your employees love working here as we see the strong rating on Glassdoor - How do you make this a great place to work day in and day out? It's some of the things I've mentioned above about respect, honesty and transparency.  But any great place to work is really good at listening to its employees and acting on what they say. Glassdoor: Good leadership is not just one person - How do you work / your leaders and management teams to make sure employees have great leadership here? Collaboration. The whole always has to be greater than the sum of its parts and people need to feel that. Glassdoor: Any advice for leaders of other companies? Stay true to who you are as a person - people need to know who you are at a human level.  Authenticity is an overused term, but it's one of the most important leadership attributes. Glassdoor: Why do you think you get such high approval from your own employees? I hope it's because it comes across that I care about them and the company they work for. Glassdoor: It’s clear you inspire many of your own employees - who inspires you? I don't have any business 'heroes' - I've learnt from so many people I've worked with it seems churlish to name one or two. In terms of who inspires me, there's only one answer - my family! Glassdoor: What type of people do you like to hire and why? People have to care about what they're doing and be passionate about it. Glassdoor: If you weren’t a CEO, what would you be (in terms of a job or career)? Bartender. --- Does Ian sound like someone you’d like to work for? Apply for jobs at First Utility here.