Anthony's Story

Anthony Rafferty started his new role as MD at Origo with more questions than answers: “How was I going to make all these decisions? Could I live with the consequences if I made the wrong ones?”

Like many first-time MDs, Anthony found the role came with a new level of pressure. No stranger to high-profile roles —  he was head of proposition for Aviva's award-winning direct to customer investment platform — it was the absence of immediate guidance or advice that struck him most. 

But by starting a conversation with the right people, it quickly became clear pressure and stress in the role isn’t inevitable.  Anthony found that 15 minutes with the right person was worth more than weeks of internet searches and head scratching.

An informal chat that turned into a great relationship

He explains that, “Early on in my role at Origo, I met Catherine Bell. Catherine was MD for a financial advisory firm and quite vocal about HR practices on Twitter. As a company that has lots and lots of financial advisors as customers, I thought I’d go and meet her. So, we chatted around HR and financial advice and after about an hour, in which unbeknown to me she’d obviously been interviewing me, suddenly she lit up and said. ‘You’d love to join our Vistage group.’

The timing was brilliant. Having just started at Origo as MD, I was keen to learn as much as I could and do my job well. I’d never experienced true accountability until I became an MD. Prior to that, there were always several layers of authority above me; now, there was no-one there when I looked up. The buck ended with me.” 

Building confidence in his new role, by sharing strengths and experiences with peers

Anthony is keen to point out that everyone has something to bring to Vistage meetings, saying “Prior to my first meeting, I remember thinking all the members of my group would be more experienced than me and that it would be a one-way street of learning. But at the end of the day, we all run into difficulties, despite our experience, and at Vistage, there’s always someone with the skills to help. 

I also thought the meetings would just consist of a bunch of senior execs getting together and having a chat. But there’s so much more to Vistage than that. I’ve learnt to trust the Vistage processes as I’ve seen they really do work. 

By following the advice and support Vistage has given me, I’ve acquired a lot more confidence in the last three years. As a non-exec director of Scottish Financial Enterprise, I recently held 1-1 meetings with chief execs of financial services organisations, some of which are FTSE 100. It occurred to me then that I have no doubts about my abilities as a managing director now.”

As a group, we’ve been able to navigate the challenges of Covid-19 together

‘As a solutions-driven tech firm, we’re especially well placed to help others deal with some of their pressing technology needs. For example, we’re helping to protect the business communications and data of businesses and their clients by making our secure email service free to users of our Unipass product. There’s never been a more important time to protect email traffic. 

Managing remote employees now and in the future has also been a topic of interest within our Vistage group. How flexible does an employer want to be? Despite worrying about how my Vistage group would also survive by not being able to meet face to face, it’s flourished. We have weekly check-ins on Zoom, and the WhatsApp group is great at sharing information in-between get-togethers. 

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed as an MD and lovely to have the group’s ongoing support. Yes, it’s a big commitment being a Vistage member, but boy is it worth it. You get access to great experiences and listen to some great minds. At the beginning of each year, I make sure all my Vistage meetings, and 1-1 coaching sessions are pencilled into the diary. Nothing comes between me and Vistage events!’