Just because you’re an expert in your field, it doesn’t mean you’ll make a great manager. That’s the central message of ‘Why you don’t need to be the smartest person in the room to lead’ – the latest episode of new podcast The Fearless Foodie (online now).
The host is food industry veteran Amy Wilkinson, former co-host of the Oh For Food’s Sake podcast. She’s joined by Danny Franklin, who left school with no GCSEs at age 16. He’s now UK group commercial director of IFP Labs, provider of scientific services to the food and pharmaceutical sectors.
His remarkable career trajectory is held up as proof that qualifications and subject expertise aren’t prerequisites for effective leadership. More important are soft skills – such as motivational speaking – which, as Wilkinson points out, “are really flippin’ hard”.
A good manager should also be able to recognise colleagues’ potential, encourage teamwork and pick the right people for the right tasks, Franklin stresses.
While the message is clear, the delivery is thin. The episode lacks the clear insight and sharp commentary that Oh For Food’s Sake would sometimes deliver.
To be fair, The Fearless Foodie is still in its infancy – and its only other full episode, ‘Building a bolder, braver food industry’, has a little more bite.
The show’s aim is to help listeners in food and retail to “thrive at work by developing real influence, building trust and navigating tricky workplace dynamics”.
It’s an ambitious goal – but, so far, the content hasn’t quite lived up to it.
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