Howard Greenwood – Co-Founder and Director at Jump Advisory Group

Recruitment Advisor and Business Coach. Leadership development and mentoring

I help business owner grow and scale, we focus although we are not limited to the Recruitment market. I have clients spread across the globe and our mission is “To create a world of outstanding leaders who shape the future of modern recruitment.”

Q1. Did you always want to become a consultant or did you fall into the role?

Not sure I had “consultant” on my radar when I first moved into recruitment. However, once I moved into managing people, my natural style was to coach rather than manage. I found that the buzz of being the catalyst that ignites others, helping them achieve beyond their expectations, became a true calling for me.  

Q2. What makes a good consultant?

What a great question, and I am sure you will get numerous different answers. To me, it is not one thing but several combined. Listening, to me, is vital, and it is not listening to ask a question; it is truly listening to understand. Often I have found that the mentee knows 90% of the answer they are looking for but needs help going beyond. Encouraging them to open you is very important, so listening to understand is an art. I often say I don’t know all the answers, and I don’t; who does? Knowing the right questions to ask to get better answers comes from listening. To ask better questions, you need to listen to what is being said, and equally important, what is not. You need to see the mentee’s situation from many sides and make the mentee feel safe that you are there for them to help them move forward. Coaching, mentoring is all about consulting with the mentee using their knowledge and then providing your expertise and experience to get the mentee to come to the correct conclusions while building their confidence and skill base. 

Q3. Do you feel you manage yourself well or is it a case of ‘the cobbler’s shoes’?

I love that expression “the cobbler’s shoes”, if you had asked me before lockdown, I would have said, yes, I manage my time well. However, lockdown taught me several lessons, with the most important one, take plenty of breaks. In today’s world, you can often get swept away with work, and before you know it, the day is gone, and your participation in your own life has suffered.  Having defined boundaries between home life and work is essential. During the lockdown, there were times when I was not sure if I was working from home or living at work. My days are now compartmentalised, which means I can apply 100% of my focus to the task allocated to each part of my day to ensure I give myself the most significant chance of success while maintaining an outstanding work-life balance. 

Q4. Are there enough hours in your day?

I hear this constantly, and the answer is yes. What causes the issues is not prioritising your day, so if you say yes to something, what will you say no to! I do not write long to-do lists. I write myself a success list, which is short and sweet and focuses on what is the most significant successes I will achieve each day. That might be with a client, it might be about me, so I focus on important and urgent things. You will find if it is important to you and urgent, irrespective if it is work or home, you will find time to do it by saying no to the things that are not important or not urgent, making 24 hours plenty enough in each day. 

Q5. If you could magically stop your clients from making one mistake – what would that be?

Saying, “we have always done it that way”. The world moves on at an incredible pace, technology is moving even faster, so if you can get technology to do the mundane parts of the process, it will create more time for people to do forward-facing tasks.  You have to move with the times; otherwise, you are not even standing still, which means you are going backwards in business. Suppose you remove the mundane, allowing people to focus on the more exciting parts of their role. In that case, you will create a more productive workforce, a happier place to be, increase retention and create opportunity.

Q6. What do you find is the best way to market yourself?

Word of mouth. The world is changing, and people want more from you, so we present free webinars weekly to all our clientele to grow and scale their business. We have found that this has created a faithful following. You don’t have to grow a huge following, just the correct number of people to maintain constant growth. But, of course, not everyone will like you or your services so market to those that do.

Q7. What do you do to unwind?

Some years ago, my good lady and I bought a campervan. We love the freedom it has given us to escape our busy lives. One minute I could be with a client, the next I could be travelling to the Yorkshire Dales, the Lakes or the coast. The UK has some unbelievable scenery and places to visit, some great walks, and some great pubs.

Q8. What advice would you give a starting consultant?

Hang on to your hat. It will be a wild ride. Plan for busy periods and barren ones.  Have a sense of purpose, your “why” will be necessary, I use mine daily, every day, my “why” is challenged, and every day my “why” revs me up to succeed. My “why” is to help people succeed beyond their dreams. I love that look on their face when they do succeed. That is what motivates me, but trust me, it will be a challenge every single day.

Q9. What’s your guilty pleasure?

I am not sure I have a guilty pleasure, I think, without doubt, sat in the open air not connected to the outside world, putting the world to rights with my good lady, with the odd interruption from the dog while putting another log as the stars come out is as good as it gets.

Q10. What’s your goal for next year?

To grow, both personally and professionally. Yes, as a business, we set targets to achieve the milestone on our infinite journey. We all have business and personal goals at Jump Advisory; this year, it is to prove our concept to move into phase 3 of building our business. On a personal front, it is about staying connected to my why, being authentic, and ensuring I have a proper work-life balance that benefits both work and home.