Purpose led leaders Meet Caroline Foster, People Director NAS

Today, as part of our series of Purpose led leaders we are speaking with Caroline Foster , People Director at The National Autistic Society

"What can you expect from me? A strong moral compass and a leadership style focused on both ethics and authenticity, as well as creativity, pace... and results."

Caroline has been Head of HR or Chief of People for over 25 years. The range of organisations with whom she has worked is vast and varied - Phones4U, Genting UK, Boehringer Ingelheim, Lloyds Register, Hermes, EY, Healthcare for Homes. She has even worked for herself as a consultant.

But it is now, a year into her role as People Director at the National Autistic Society that she feels her lifelong passion for purpose is being fully realised.

I have always had a passion for purpose and being purpose led in everything I do; and this is really driving me now in a new role, in a new and different sector.

Caroline shared with us that no matter where she works, she has a high altruistic drive underpinned by a deep sense of justice. It probably explains why she has devoted her time, career and passion to what she believes is the most important asset any business has: its PEOPLE.

"You have to have a desire and hunger to want to enable people to really perform in their roles, be happier at work and more productive.

It just makes sense to try and achieve this because people, most of the time, are your biggest cost, so they should be your most critical asset.

If you take a human-centred approach to how you create culture for your people it also makes business sense - it saves an organisation millions in money and time."

Caroline advocates that the people in any organisation, and critically at a leadership level, should also be diverse with a wide range of skillsets. "360 degree diversity is necessary for leading an organisation well - you need people who think laterally, strategically, tactically, creatively, are agile, and have high of levels of emotional quotient that nurtures and truly engages people." Without this you won't achieve change, progress and engagement with your teams and your customers.

She has learnt that to lead organisations and build teams in this way requires a particular approach: being brave, especially as a woman in a C-suite role. Caroline puts her own success at this level down to being "prepared to go whether others fear to tread."

"My career has taught me that to make real change you need to put your head above the parapet - not maintain the status quo"

Caroline's authentic and energetic style defines her as a leader who gets things done, able to mobilise herself and her Executive teams to get the very best from people.

Her advice to others is that leaders should be just as hungry, really hungry to change things for the better.

But she is clear that this requires resilience and grit. To see change through or navigate a crisis, a good leader needs to face it head on, and this can be hard. In her experience the best leaders are natural, hardworking and authentic disruptors but who balance their hunger with genuine integrity about the purpose of their work.

It all comes back to encouraging, celebrating and mobilising diverse teams. Caroline's reflection on her own career is that some of the big global companies for whom she has worked have really complex needs that change quickly. To make progress in that environment a leader and their team needs to have the ability to think and move from strategy to detailed organisational grassroots operations, and back again, at pace.

This is Caroline's own personal 'sweet spot' and the reason she thinks she has experienced leadership success to date.

"I am creative. I can move from a blank sheet of paper to implementing large scale change through people, quickly".

By speaking with Caroline you also get an insight into the fact her high level of self-awareness makes her a great leader of people.

How does she describe herself? ?

I can only be my authentic, straightforward, transparent, honest, hardworking and diligent self.?

As I enter the final third of my career I am now so careful to be clear about these values and seek them out in organisations and colleagues. I want to avoid mismatches and ensure I am working with those who believe, like me, that we can make real changes"

Founded in 1962, the National Autistic Society exists to help the 700,000 autistic people in the UK and their families. Be it running specialist schools, campaigning for improved rights or training companies on being more autism-friendly, they are dedicated to transforming lives and changing attitudes. They want to transform lives, change attitudes and create a society that works for autistic people.

We support leaders to uncover, articulate and activate their purpose; grow their businesses; achieve high performance through highly effective teams; and have a greater and better impact on the world.?But there is no one type of great leader.?

We have been meeting with inspirational real-life leaders from our network to understand their leadership style.

We have captured their ideas in a series of newsletters, entitled Purpose led leaders.

We will shine a light on different people and their individual approach to leadership.

We hope you find the series interesting, inspiring and valuable to you wherever you may be on your leadership journey.

Subscribe to this newsletter for more features on real life inspirational and purpose led leaders.

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