Hi, my name’s Dr Paul Brewerton, the strengths guy, Doctor of Organisational Psychology and founder and Chair of Strengthscope. I’m very excited today to have on the show Founder and CEO of Blurred, Nik Govier.
Welcome to the podcast Nik.
Nik is the CEO + Founder of Blurred, a B Corp, which launched October 2018.
Blurred blur the lines between communication, sustainability and management consultancy, combining world class advisory with world class creative, to deliver real impact for clients, people and planet.
Prior to Blurred, Nik co-founded multi-award winning agency Unity, and remained at its helm for 12 years. Whilst at Unity, Nik was named one of the Sunday Times 35 under 35. Management Today also featured her on its cover and in an exhibition of business leaders (eight months pregnant!).
Nik also co-founded/invested in agency Tin Man and has stakes in a number of other businesses including Allbright, the global working women’s network.
She is also an advisory board member of BME PR Pros and a mentor for MSDUK.
Finally, Nik is proudly neurodiverse.
I’m really looking forward to today’s conversation, Nik; I’m hoping that we can touch on your career and what got you to where you are today. And how your strengths may have featured in that (we will be discussing your Strengthscope profile which you’ve completed before today). I’d love to talk a little about why BCorp matters to you and to talk about neurodiversity – your story and also how you feel organisations can do better in helping people with different neurodivergences thrive at work.
1. So Nik, in the intro there, I’ve touched on where you’re at today career-wise and it’s impressive. But would you be able to give us some more insights into how you started out in your career and what turning point experiences you’ve had up to now.
ESG P (Environmental, Social, Governance, Purpose) – what are your passions?
2. I’d love to understand more about how your strengths have played a role in shaping your career and career choices – what would you say are your standout strengths, what have they meant for you and how have they helped you become the leader you are today?
3. What about risk areas – any strength in overdrive risks that you’re aware of or energy drainers that can get in your way? How do you manage these risk areas and have they ever tripped you up? What did you learn/do differently as a result?
4. I’d love to talk more about your personal story with neurodiversity – could you tell me more about this and how it’s played a role in your work life and career.
- What have been some of the benefits and some of the challenges?
- What more do you think organisations (and people in them) can do about neurodiversity and learning differences – to get the best from their people and leverage neurodiversity for competitive advantage?
- Intersection of neurodiversity and psychometrics or in general assessments in the workplace?
- What more can organisations do to make sure neurodiverse people feel included, understood and supported?
5. Is there anything you’d like to suggest by way of further reading or research that you’ve found useful and that our listeners might benefit from?
6. Might you have any advice you can give to listeners based on your own experiences of the world of work? What advice might you give to a younger version of yourself were you to meet that version of you with the knowledge and experience you have today?
7. Thank you, Nik. If people want to get in touch with you or follow you, what are your preferred ways?
