Today’s guest, Nicholas Cheffings’, passion really shines through in the area of disadvantaged populations. Nicholas is a Senior Counsel and former Partner and global Chair of the international law firm Hogan Lovells, leading in social mobility. He is the Executive Chair of PRIME, a UK charity with over 60 law firm members committed to promoting wider access for school-age students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds; a Trustee and past Chair of the social mobility charity Making the Leap; Chair of the British Paralympic Association's Parallel Club; and a trustee of The CareTech Charitable Foundation.
Let’s get right into Nicholas’s story as he shares his insights on driving social mobility and creating equal opportunities.
In this Episode:
[00:01 - 07:16] Opening Segment
- I introduce and welcome
- What we will be talking about
- Social mobility and driving opportunities
- Nicholas shares how he came to his global chair
- Early life
- Figuring out what to be
- University of Lester
- Experience in Industrial law
- Private practice in real estate
- Began leading teams
- Elected as global chair
[07:17 - 14:00] Leading with Diversity in Mind
- Nicholas’ approach to leadership
- Lead by example
- Transparency
- Building trust
- Confidence in your ability but with humility
- Consulting with diversity in mind
- Looking to empower people
- Empathetic but firm
- Using humor to your advantage
- How does leadership change based on culture
- How humor is affected
- Offices in 50 locations
- You have to adapt
- And example from experience
- Ways to adapt
- Picking up language differences
[09:24 - 24:32] Diversity, Inclusion, and Equality; Social Mobility
- Nicholas shares about his work with diversity and inclusion
- Promoting wider access to certain firms
- Opportunities for work experiences
- Supporting and encouraging each other
- Story from his experience
- Led by minorities
- Nicholas talks about driving social mobility
- Creating equal opportunities
- We don’t all have the same choices
- Raising aspirations for success
- Opportunities shouldn’t be driven by your zip code
- The keys to creating social mobility
- Taking a look at our education system
- Equipping young people for adulthood
- The importance of outreach
- Engaging with children
[24:33 - 30:26] The Importance of Driving Networking Among the Disadvantaged
- Nicholas talks about the difficulties of networking at an underprivileged level
- Limited talent pool when you exclude people
- What to do remedy the issue as someone...
