Hello Everyone! It has been a few weeks since my last Life At Veritas interview post with Abhijeet Chitriv. This week, I caught up with Barry Cashman, Regional Vice President for the United Kingdom and Ireland. Barry has recently joined #TeamVtas and shares his reasons for joining Veritas. He also offers some great advice for getting started in your career, as well as his leadership style and building successful teams remotely. Take five minutes out, grab yourself a coffee and read Barry’s interview below.
Barry: By my mid-thirties, I’d had a reasonably successful sales career outside of IT. I then saw the world changing—becoming more digital—and that's where all the smart people were moving. IT was moving from being a back-office function of the business to the front and centre of a company’s strategy. And I wanted to be in that evolving new business world.
That world has now moved onto another level; any business needs a digital strategy as the foremost pillar of any transformation. Who would have thought that an app would totally transform the taxi business? IT is an exciting place to be, and it is ever-changing.
Zoe: What career advice would you give to those trying to secure their first IT role?
Barry: I would suggest that you start, if possible, in an established IT company so that you can build up work experience. This will give you a base to understand the industry and decide where you would like to specialise and pursue your career further.
Zoe: In your opinion, what leadership traits make a good leader? And what’s your leadership style?
Barry: First and foremost, you are not a leader if no-one follows you! Therefore trust, respect, vision, empathy, intuition, clear communication, and personal standards are critical leadership traits.
Zoe: To some extent, we have been influenced by others in our personal and work lives. Who are your role models and influencers? And why?
Barry: I have been influenced by people I’ve worked for, but also people who have worked for me. I think you should never stop developing, and everyone has different attributes you can learn from.
I had a previous manager who had been a Captain in the military, many of the ideas he brought over to the business have helped shape my management thinking.
Zoe: How do you define success? And how do you build successful teams across your region?
Barry: The success of the business is overall defined by the results we achieve. However equally important is the wellbeing of the organisation and the people within it. I love it when we can develop people internally and promote them; nothing gives me greater pleasure in the business than seeing a person grow and develop into different roles.
Zoe: What motivates you? And how do you motivate remote teams across the United Kingdom and Ireland?
Barry: I like winning, and I really enjoy being part of a team; it is great to sit in a room with a whiteboard and bounce different ideas off each other.
We are all remote at the moment; my view is constant communication and interaction are critical to keeping everyone’s spirits up at the current time. It does not all have to be work; we can take time to have social calls as a team as well.
Zoe: Barry, you recently joined Veritas; why should people choose to work at Veritas?
Barry: I would recommend Veritas for two main reasons, the culture is very upbeat and focused. The people are GREAT too.
Zoe: I know it is early days at Veritas for you, but what’s your favourite Veritas solution or product?
Barry: I am really excited by Hubstor; I think this will give us a leading edge into the larger accounts, it will also allow us to compete in the new business space.
Barry: I like to keep fit—swimming, running, cycling and walking. I also really enjoy eating out with friends and family; I will resume this when we are all allowed out again. If I can combine all the above on a family holiday, then that is perfection.
I also have a season ticket at Fulham. This drives me to success at work because I certainly don’t see it on a Saturday afternoon when the team plays football. :smiling_face_with_smiling_eyes:
Zoe: Finally, what technology can’t you live without?
Barry: I’m worried I have become addicted to my phone; you feel lost when you leave the house without it.
Thank you, Barry, for sharing your career journey, leadership style, and how you motivate teams remotely; some great learnings were shared in this interview. I particularly liked your reasons for joining Veritas: “it’s the upbeat culture, and the people are great.” This is always nice to hear.
If you enjoyed this Life at Veritas blog post with Barry Cashman, then stay tuned as there will be more interview-style posts from other people at Veritas. And if this has inspired you to join our team, check out our job vacancies on LinkedIn and apply here.
