Episode 127: Lessons from Aviation: The flight path to consulting success with Clare Hill

In this week’s episode, Nick chats with Clare Hill, CEO at Sysdoc. If you’re a regular listener to this podcast, you’ll know by now that we love taking a deep dive into the different routes our guests’ careers have taken. Clare’s story is a fascinating one and shows that you don’t need to start your career in the industry to reach the top. Having spent the first 15 years of her career working in advertising, Clare decided that she needed a career that worked better for her homelife. With two young children at home, the socialising and client events that were commonplace in advertising at the time wasn’t sustainable Through a chance conversation with a friend she learnt about Sysdoc, and decided to make the bold leap into consulting. Over the last 25 years, Clare’s been on a hugely exciting roller coaster ride that’s seen her help navigate Sysdoc through the telco boom and bust of the early 2001s, the financial crash of the mid-2000s and the recent global pandemic. At the same time she’s seen her career skyrocket, going from a brand new consultant to becoming CEO of the UK business, a role that she’s now held since 2010. With so much experience under her belt and a fantastic journey through the ups and downs of building a consulting firm, Nick knew they would have a ton to speak about and Clare shares tons of great advice for you in this episode. We dive into some fascinating topics, including: · Making the move from industry into consulting, how Clare found it and why Sysdoc are just as willing to hire industry professionals as they are experienced consultants. · Sysdoc’s growth journey and how they’ve been able to retain their entrepreneurial spirit, even after 35 years. · And the founding principles of Sysdoc and why aviation thinking is at the heart of everything they do. This fantastic episode covers so much ground. If you’re starting out on your own consultancy journey, thinking of making the leap from industry to consulting, or simply want to find out more about how Clare’s consulting career took flight, you’ll love this episode of Climb in Consulting.   We hope you enjoy the show! Reach out to Clare: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clarehillsysdoc/ Learn more about Sysdoc: https://www.sysdoc.com/ Books mentioned in the show:  Winning! The path to Rugby World Cup glory, by Clive Woodward