90 Second Interview with John Woods

Malisha Patel, Manager and Financial Services lead at tml Partners, sat down with John Woods, Chief Revenue Officer at Zenus Bank, to get his thoughts on career development, influential leadership and marketing trends producing opportunities and challenges for business leaders.

Who is your business hero and why?

Tough question, there’s not one single person that inspires me – Over the years, be it through business banking clients or networking I’ve met lots of successful owner managers. Seeing people set-up, run and scale a business from inception is always heroic in my eyes because they put so much on the line. 

What is the best piece of career advice you’ve ever received?

While a grad at Barclays, I was told by a mentor, networking is hard, so when you get in the room with someone influential make sure you leave with something you can action – always ask, ‘Is there anyone else you can introduce me to?’

It’s super simple but has singularly generated the most opportunities for me.

What has had the most influential impact on your leadership skills and why?

Working internationally for sure. Being cognisant and understanding of cultural dynamics, etiquette and communication styles has significantly enhanced my style. Conversing with leaders and leading teams in North/South America, Europe and Asia requires fundamentally different approaches. While challenging, this has also been one of the most rewarding parts of my career. 

What future trends do you think marketing and communications will see in your sector over the next five years?

As with all industries and roles, AI is going to have a huge impact on society and the way we work. Generative AI is already impacting creative ideation and content, while media management and performance analysis is being automated. However, the real paradigm shift is going to come with AI-First practices. These will fundamentally change the way we communicate with and build experiences for clients. Buying and selling is going to become less formal and more personal. While a lot or what marketers hold dear will stand, lots of long-stood practices are going to be challenged.

What has fundamentally changed about your industry since you started working in it?

Over the last 25 years the biggest change has been the growth in complexity of digital channels. SEO, Social & UX/CX roles were unheard of back then, now they have evolved into senior, full-time and essential roles. 

In turn, with all these new disciplines and cross-departmental technical integrations the construct of marketing teams has evolved to be much more tactical, agile and closer aligned with other business units than ever before.

What hasn’t changed is everyone in every other department still thinking they’re a marketeer…

What do you consider to be the biggest challenges for marketing & communications leaders?

With the rate of change ever increasing and the continued creation and consolidation of industries and marketing channels, marketing leaders need to ensure they stay relevant and on top of everything within their control. The challenge here is having half your mind deep in the business and the other half looking outwards for insights, ideas and trends.

If you could go back 10 years, what career advice would you give yourself?

There’s probably lots I’d like to tell myself back then, but most pertinent would be:

You’ll get many “once in a lifetime opportunities”, make sure you pick the right ones!

Who are tml Partners?

tml Partners are Marketing and Corporate Affairs recruitment specialists with access to a global network of Fintech and wider Finance leaders.

Our Financial Services practice work across senior marketing and communications roles on a permanent or interim basis.

To learn how tml Partners can help you, get in touch with Malisha Patel: