351: Educate Develop Innovate and Inspire with Caroline Bedford

In this week's show, Phil talks to Caroline Bedford, the founder and creator of Digital Minds, an award-winning innovation programme. Her forte is embedding design thinking, future-focused skills and a creative mindset within traditional roles in the insurance and corporate tech worlds. Using her 30+ years of technology and specialty insurance experience, she brings to life discovery, ideation, innovation and cultural change within insurance organisations. She focuses her passion on developing career longevity and digital confidence across all ages and levels. And capability and curiosity in business practitioners of all roles. She has a deep-seated belief that to future-proof your career, an ever-agile Generalist approach to support industry and customer needs is the key to happy staff, happy leaders and happy clients Caroline talks to Phil about the value we can find in being as prepared as possible. She also discusses why it's wise to accept opportunities when they arise and think about how to action them later.   KEY TAKEAWAYS:   TOP CAREER TIP: We often find ourselves in situations that with a little thought, we may have been able to predict. The key to success is to be as prepared as possible for as many eventualities as possible.   WORST CAREER MOMENT While working for a company, Caroline realized that she did not believe in the company itself or their product. This grated against her values, and proved that being congruent with your company's mission is vital.   CAREER HIGHLIGHT The day that EDII was incorporated was one of the biggest moments in Caroline's career. Starting out on her own was life-changing.   THE FUTURE OF CAREERS IN I.T Diversity and inclusion in IT is becoming far more widespread, allowing for a greater wealth of talent and skill sets to enter the sector.   THE REVEAL What first attracted you to a career in I.T.? – It was a challenge What's the best career advice you received? – Don't wait until you need a network to build one. What's the worst career advice you received? – You've started so you have to finish What would you do if you started your career now? – Caroline would delve deep into psychological behavior combined with human and technology. What are your current career objectives? – To create a model and seek partners globally. What's your number one non-technical skill? – Being able to raise great questions, improve energy and respect others How do you keep your own career energized? – Perpetual learning What do you do away from technology? – Caroline is a huge fan of science fiction.   FINAL CAREER TIP If someone offers you an opportunity, always make sure you say yes first and then figure out how to do it later.   BEST MOMENTS (10:31) – Caroline – "You can't be inclusive by being exclusive" (12:24) – Caroline - "Practice your spontaneity" (13:30) – Caroline – "We need to make mistakes in order to learn" (15:10)– Caroline – "An interview is an opportunity for you to find out if they are a good fit for you"   ABOUT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS  Phil Burgess is an independent IT consultant who has spent the last 20 years helping organizations to design, develop, and implement software solutions.  Phil has always had an interest in helping others to develop and advance their careers.  And in 2017 Phil started the I.T. Career Energizer podcast to try to help as many people as possible to learn from the career advice and experiences of those that have been, and still are, on that same career journey.   CONTACT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS Phil can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms: Twitter: https://twitter.com/_philburgess LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/philburgess Instagram: https://instagram.com/_philburgess Website: https://itcareerenergizer.com/contact Phil is also reachable by email at [email protected] and via the podcast's website, https://itcareerenergizer.com Join the I.T. Career Energizer Community on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/ITCareerEnergizer   ABOUT THE GUEST – CAROLINE BEDFORD Caroline Bedford is the founder and creator of Digital Minds, an award-winning innovation programme. Her forte is embedding design thinking, future-focused skills and a creative mindset within traditional roles in the insurance and corporate tech worlds. Using her 30+ years of technology and specialty insurance experience, she brings to life discovery, ideation, innovation and cultural change within insurance organisations. She focuses her passion on developing career longevity and digital confidence across all ages and levels. And capability and curiosity in business practitioners of all roles. She has a deep-seated belief that to future-proof your career, an ever-agile Generalist approach to support industry and customer needs is the key to happy staff, happy leaders and happy clients CONTACT THE GUEST – CAROLINE BEDFORD LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caroline-bedford-a0225212/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/bedfordcj Website: https://edii.group/