Doug M.
About me
| Doug M. | |
| Biology | |
| Biology | |
| Undergraduate | |
| Derwent | |
| 1979 | |
| United Kingdom |
My employment
| Sales and Marketing Director, Mercedes-Benz Finance | |
| Mercedes-Benz Financial Services | |
| United Kingdom | |
| Finance and consultancy | |
| Large business (250+ employees) |
Like this profile?
Add this profile to your favourites so you can return to it later from your account.
A day in the life of a Sales and Marketing Director, Mercedes-Benz Finance in the United Kingdom
It's all about your people
My career goals when I graduated
Absolutely zero
My career history
Started in Biology, funding stopped (thank you Mrs Thatcher), moved into banking and finance, never looked back.
What has helped my career to progress
Networking, constantly learning new skills about getting the best out of people.
Courses taken since graduation
Many management courses ranging from Six-Sigma to NLP, from Body language to Black Swan risk evaluation!
How my studies have helped my career
Every course or book or lecture always makes you consider doing at least one thing differently. Leadership is not a natural gift, although people start from different base levels, but can be learned.
What surprised me about my career so far
That every day is different and challenges are very motivating and exciting.
Where I hope to be in 5 years
With my toes in the sea somewhere hot!
My advice to students considering work
Think about what you would like to do in an ideal world. Decide if this next opportunity gets you nearer to that end goal. If it does, go for it. Do not expect a linear progression up the professional ladder, be prepared to broaden your experience by taking sometimes unexpected career moves to show willingness to learn and take risks.
My advice about working in my industry
Be mobile. Be prepared to go overseas for a posting.
Other advice
Be positive, be cheerful, be truthful. We always recruit on attitude, not qualifications. We can always teach you the latter, but not the former. If you are not happy in a job, leave. Life is too short!
Contacting me
I can give practical advice on interviewing techniques, management, leadership and mentoring.
What I do
I run a large Sales & Marketing Division for Mercedes-Benz Financial Services in the UK. This covers sales, marketing, training, internal and external communications, data analysis unit and campaign planning.
Skills I use and how I developed them
Leadership, coaching and mentoring and the building blocks to individual, team, divisional and corporate development and success. It's all about your people. Period. I have learned this in management and Director positions over the last 30 years
What I like most
Helping people blossom and succeed. Assisting them in identifying and using their strengths and talents whilst showing how critical the success of the whole team is and each persons unique role in that.
What I like least
Prima Donnas
What surprised me most
Understanding that it doesn't matter if you are selling widgets or making combine harvesters, the principals of good management and leadership are exactly the same.
Next steps...
If you like the look of Doug’s profile, the next steps are down to you! You can send Doug a message to find out more about their career journey. If you feel you would benefit from more in-depth conversations, ask Doug to be your mentor.