Episode 81 – Tom Hewson – RedCompass Labs

In today’s episode of Climb In Consulting I speak with Tom Hewson, Senior Partner at RedCompass Labs, the specialist consultancy that helps financial institutions accelerate their payments and financial crime programmes. Tom’s journey to where he is today has been rather unorthodox and is a great lesson in following your passion and being attuned to the opportunities that can come from it. Over his career he’s gone from running his own record label, to IT contracting, through to launching RedCompass Labs, which he and the team have built into a consultancy of over 100 financial services specialists with offices across the globe. With such a varied career there was a lot for us to dig in to in this one and Tom and I talk about a whole range of really important topics for any consultant. Many of which I’ve not discussed with any other guest before. We cover everything from his early days in music all the way through to his approach to leading the RedCompass Labs team today, and quite a bit in between. Some of the highlights include: - Why following the money is never the right decision and how to cultivate happiness through finding your passion, whether that’s within consulting or outside of it. - Tom’s advice on building a highly diverse team – having created a team with over 20 nationalities represented – what he looks for at interview and why cultivating the ‘immigrant mindset’ could be the key to your career success. - And what you should think about if you’re looking to give back to your industry, the benefits of overinvesting in CSR and the return that RedCompass Labs have seen from their own initiative, the RedCompass Labs RedFlag Accelerator, the most comprehensive global database of Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking red flags specific for the financial sector. I really enjoyed this conversation with Tom. We cover a lot of different, and at times, deep topics, that I know you’re really going to enjoy. Having been pointed to Tom by my friend James Mitra at JBM, I was expecting a good interview and Tom certainly exceeded those expectations. Whether you’re trying to find your passion and break into the consulting industry, or you’re looking to learn how you can build a highly diverse team in your current firm, I know you’re going to get a ton from this episode. Get in touch with Tom via email at – tomh@redcompass.com Check out RedCompass Labs at – https://labs.redcompass.com/ Specific things discussed in the show Competing For The Future by Gary Hamel and CK Prahalad – https://amzn.to/3dxz87I The Empty Raincoat by Charles Handy – https://amzn.to/3dA4f2x