Episode 126 / HSBC / Paul Szumilewicz / Head of Agile, Global Marketing
Embracing Diversity to Become Better People and Better Marketers
As the Global Head of Agile within Global Marketing at HSBC, Paul Szumilewicz considers himself a true “Jack of all trades, master of none” and enjoys this. In his 20-year marketing career, he has stayed away from specialising, embracing breadth and range instead. His Shiny New Object is diversity, from understanding what life is like for people different from him to including as diverse a team as possible around the decision-making table.
Paul has worked in senior roles in marketing across the world, having been based in 7 different countries during his career with Lloyds Banking Group and HSBC. This has offered him incredibly diverse opportunities and fuelled his conviction that breadth and range are great skills to go after in marketing. When I asked him what his worst marketing advice was, in fact, Paul said that specialising is the one suggestion he considers to not work at all.
For him, being able to immerse himself in completely new environments upon undertaking every new role has given him an edge and a continuous ability to learn new things. “Just because someone is more senior doesn’t mean they know more” – is something he’s learnt in the process, developing an ability to identify the right people to ask things when embarking on a new project.
Always in search of self-improvement, Paul’s Shiny New Object is diversity. He describes his experience as “still uncomfortable” and continually learning, as he tries to open up his own experience with a more diverse group of people and the make-up of his teams and decision-making groups. Looking specifically in the banking sector, Paul acknowledges that his first step was one of self-assessment, which led him to realise that he was mentoring a group of almost identical types of people: white, straight men in their late 20s who liked sports. Essentially, a mirror of himself 10 years prior!
From this step, Paul has been looking into mentoring more female colleagues, expanding his horizons by getting involved with the organisation Outstanding and meeting members of the LGBTQ+ community, and reaching out to colleagues from different racial backgrounds to understand their own experience at HSBC.
It’s all part of an ongoing effort and there is no silver bullet to enhance diversity and inclusion. However, ensuring a diverse group of people is around the table when making decisions is a good first step. Becoming an active listener is another. “You need to spend more time with people who don’t look like you” to get over the unconscious bias.
To find out more about Paul’s top marketing tips, his favourite ways to create space to think in his daily routine, and his experience with diversity, listen to the podcast
Subscribe to the ‘Shiny New Object’ Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and Soundcloud.