Each month, we turn the spotlight on the leadership teams in our portfolio to find out what drives them, who inspires them, and the biggest lessons they’ve learned.
This month, we chat with Richard Hanscott, CEO of Commify, a global portfolio of leading business messaging brands serving local enterprises. Since joining Commify in 2020, Richard has brought a wealth of leadership experience from roles at Orange, Yell, HP and NEC, alongside a people-first approach to transformation and growth.
Richard shares his greatest leadership lesson, what motivates him, and how he fosters innovation across multiple regions.
Q: What is the greatest leadership lesson you’ve learned in your career?
It’s all about having a great team. The most important lesson I’ve learned is the value of recruiting the best people I can. This takes time and energy, and it has to be people who are great at their job and also a strong fit with your culture. When you get the right team in place, the difference it makes is extraordinary.
Q: What motivates you? And why do you think that’s the thing that drives you?
For me, it’s about delivering successful change. I’ve never wanted to work in a business that’s got everything right, but I do I want something that has a big opportunity. I want to deliver some form of change that moves the needle and creates value.
I enjoy the process of solving problems, navigating different options, and figuring out the best way forward. There’s something incredibly satisfying about reaching the other side of a challenge and seeing the results.
Q: Which rule do you expect your employees to abide by?
Treat others how you’d like to be treated. That’s the principle I try to live by, and I expect the people around me do the same.
Of course, not everyone gets everything right every day – at the end of the day, we’re all human – but I think treating people with respect and integrity, whoever they are, is non-negotiable.
Q: What would you say has been the most significant key to unlocking Commify’s growth?
There are two main drivers, keeping close to our customers and focusing resources on acquisitions.
We’re organised across eight countries, and while we’ve got a consistent model, each market is a little different, as you can imagine. What’s been key for us is empowering our local teams, giving them the tools, trust and autonomy, so that they are able to meet the needs of the local market really well. Whilst an overused expression, acting local, thinking global is critical for us.
We have also executed well on acquisitions, putting great deals together and then integrating as effectively as we can. We have seen great results by committing specific resources to focus exclusively on acquiring and then integrating acquisitions.
Q: How do you foster innovation and collaboration?
Collaborating across functional and geographical boundaries is critical and is something we work on constantly. I think it is important to ensure that our leadership team spend time together to collaborate and lead by example. In our case the management team is not all based in one office or time zone and so we need to spend time on the road working with the whole organisation. We are building a culture that supports and encourages people to contribute and work together. People need to feel they are in a safe environment and that their voice and ideas will be heard and respected. We are also trying more ways of connecting individuals together, over the last year or so we have been using “coffee roulette” – a Slack tool that randomly pairs you with someone in the business for a chat and to build a connection which has been fun. I don’t think success here is about any single step, it needs constant encouragement.
Innovation is one of the Commify values and so we have set out to recruit and develop people who embrace the need for innovation. Every quarter we select and reward a handful of our team as ‘Value Legends’, people who have gone above and beyond our expectations for Innovation or one of our other 3 values. We use town halls and other communication events to showcase these examples of innovation.
I also encourage best practice sharing, which works particularly well across our different country commercial teams who can compare their productivity against each other, try different ideas locally and then share the results. Of course, they are a competitive group which I think really helps the good ideas to flourish. In our technology and product teams we have used hackathons, which also become very competitive and generate some great results. A degree of competition seems to improve people’s focus on innovation whether they are in a commercial team or a technology team!
Q: How do you switch off from work?
I don’t think you ever fully switch off as a CEO as the job is always there in the background. But I don’t mind that, because it’s a great team to work with. That said, if I really want to unwind, I travel. I love city breaks and longer trips, and I’m lucky to have a second home in the south of Spain where I can properly relax. That’s the real switch-off zone for me.
Q: Last message you received?
A restaurant booking confirmation. We’re heading to one of my favorite local spots this weekend, a great pub that serves really good food.
Q: Favourite film?
That’s a tough one, I find favourites hard! I’m a big Tarantino fan, so I’d probably go with Pulp Fiction. It’s just one that I love.
