Q&A with RedZed’s new Managing Director, Calvin Cordle
What drew you to RedZed and the role of Managing Director?
It has always been important to me to work at a company that has a clear purpose, and is committed to living it every day. RedZed has a terrific reputation for supporting self-employed borrowers with achieving their ambitions, and this admirable purpose was definitely a drawcard for me. It’s also great to work at a nimble organisation that can act quickly and constantly lift its game.
I look for two things in the jobs I do; a purpose I am passionate about (it’s hard to bring the energy levels you need without this) and a role where I will be challenged and learn new things. My position at RedZed definitely ticks both of these boxes.
You have been working in financial services for more than 20 years. What inspired your career path?
To be honest, I was an accidental banker! When I left university I was broke and needed a job. I had heard that banking was a solid career choice, so I sent out some applications. After several rejections I managed to get a job at Barclays in London and I’ve never looked back. I can honestly say that I’ve loved (almost) every minute, I’ve learnt so much and have been able to make a difference to many of my clients and colleagues over the years. My career planning needs work, but I’ve been lucky enough to find a career that I love.
What will your key focuses be over the next six months?
Our most important focus is to continue supporting our self-employed customers through a challenging economic environment. Aside from that I will be spending lots of time listening and learning about the business, getting to know my RedZed colleagues and our many broker partners. I want to spend as much time as possible hearing from customers and brokers about what we do well and what we need to work on. This will remain a regular part of my operating rhythm and I would like to ensure that the voices of our customers are central to everything we do at RedZed. We will be making a range of changes to our product and service offering which will improve how we support our customers, so stay tuned for these.
What goals do you have in your sights for RedZed over the next five years?
Some of our goals haven’t changed since the company was founded 17 years ago; we won’t compromise on our support of self-employed borrowers, nor our commitment to ensuring RedZed is a great place to work.
These things are the foundation of our future goals, and they will enable us to grow. I am a big believer in the 2.4 million self-employed people in Australia and it’s our job to help them realise their ambitions.
We will be very focused on our technology platform to ensure it creates great customer experiences, we will ensure our product suite is designed to suit the needs of the self-employed, and we will strive to deliver the very highest service levels, so that we are easy to do business with.
We will also remain committed to finding solutions for borrowers who might not otherwise be able to access finance and will continue to ensure we are easily contactable when our customers need us.
How would you describe your leadership style?
This is a question best asked of others, but I can tell you what style of leadership I aim to embody. I aspire to be a consistently positive and purposeful leader. I really respect truth tellers; people who are prepared to share their perspective, especially when it’s hard. I strive to make people feel that their voice is valued, that they feel supported, and that they are stretched to achieve things they might not have thought possible. If I can manage to be some of these things, some of the time, then I will be happy.
What do you believe makes a great organisation?
A vision and purpose that everyone can get behind, a clear and simple strategy, passionate and engaged people, and a culture of execution urgency.
What do you like to do in your spare time? Hobbies / interests / passions…
My kids are at the age where they are involved in lots of community sport, so that makes up a big part of my weekends. RedZed is a real family company that embraces flexible working, so I’m often able to get to the kids’ activities and catch up on work at other times. Aside from family and friends, one of my big passions is writing fiction.
I did an online creative writing course with my daughter during Covid lockdown and then went on to write a novel, which will be published early next year. I find that creativity is a great way to decompress after an intense day at work because it requires you to use a different part of your brain.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
It’s hard to pick just one because I’ve been given lots of great advice over the years. I guess I’m one of those people who needs lots of advice! ‘Know yourself and find your own way’ was great counsel I received from a good friend once, although it’s a difficult one to follow. My amazing wife Amy also frequently reminds me to stop trying to fix everything, and to just listen without responding.
