In a world of rapid technological advancement, identifying true leaders in the industry is crucial. Our Certified MVP series shines a spotlight on exceptional individuals. Prepare to be inspired, challenged, and maybe even a little in awe of the quiet heroes who keep our digital world working and secure. 

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Reading Time: 5 minutes

Points of Discussion:

• Meet John Underwood
• The Making of an IT Leader
• A People-First Approach to Technology
• Words of Wisdom for Aspiring Tech Leaders

In this month’s feature, we’ll hear from John Underwood, the Director of Technology at Cirencester Friendly Society Limited. John’s passion for technology and his people-first approach have made him a respected figure in the industry. Join us as we delve into his journey, insights, and advice for aspiring tech leaders.

Meet John Underwood:

John’s passion can be primarily found within his career as Director of Technology at Cirencester Friendly. His role allows him to combine his fascination with technology and passion for leadership, all while delivering the best results for stakeholders and clients.

When he’s not spearheading the next technology project, or putting innovative ideas into practice, you will find John at the gym, supporting his team West Ham at home games, or spending time with his nieces and nephews. John is also fond of the sun so you may find him searching for his next holiday abroad, away from the British rain!

Cirencester Friendly:

Cirencester Friendly have been protecting their clients for over 133 years, dedicated to providing income protection to its Members. As a mutual organisation, it prioritises Member interests and reinvests profits to enhance products and services. Known for its exceptional service and transparency, Cirencester Friendly has received numerous industry awards and publishes clear claim statistics.

“John has brought much needed professionalism, up to date awareness and a constant drive to improve to the technology function of Cirencester, combined with lateral thinking of how best to implement innovation in an organisation with limited resources. Over the multi-year transformation strategy that the Society has been implementing since 2019, these qualities have been more important to the technological step change that has been achieved, compared to any one project or piece of hardware or software. He has applied the same mindset to the technology team and wider Society, an approach that has helped to set us up well to deal with whatever challenges the future may present for our Members.”– Andy Morris, CEO at Cirencester Friendly

The Making of an IT Leader

Q: Which three words describe you best?

John Underwood (JU):Firstly, I’m curious: anyone that works with me will know that I’m always inquisitive as to “why” to get to the crux of the issue when working with my team or someone else’s. I’m passionate: I firmly believe in what we’re trying to do as an organisation. I live to work and love what I do, even though I didn’t train for this job and kind of stumbled across it. Lastly, I’m always optimistic that we can do the things we need while bringing people on whatever journey they need to go on to come with us on our evolution.

“You’ve got to have that inbuilt optimism that you can make things better and that it will be better, but also that sense of realism that it’s going to take some work.” – John Underwood, Director of Technology at Cirencester Friendly

Q: Can you tell us a bit about your journey and how you arrived at where you are today?

JU: So, nearly 25 years ago, I was a pension’s administrator straight out of school. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, but preferred work to school! I’d always been interested in how things worked, which instigated curiosity that pushed me to involve myself with other areas of the business. Whilst working alongside Technology developers at a very young age, I got to understand that we can change stuff, and the right technology helps make changes better. I feel that it’s down to my desire to know and learn more, always asking ‘why’, and my love for working with people which have flowed through and helped guide me to where I am today.

A People-First Approach to Technology

Q: When choosing an IT partner, what do you consider and how has this changed over the years?

JU: You’ve got to start with a clear view as to what it is that you want. Too many organisations partner with managed IT providers and expect them to do all the thinking and all the running in the relationship – the effort should be equal.

“My approach [to IT partners] is, you’ll never sell me anything but you’ll help me buy the things that I need.” – John Underwood, Director of Technology at Cirencester Friendly

Q: How do you stay informed with emerging technology trends?

JU: I talk to the business a lot! I interest myself in what’s going on in their world because often that will drive what we need to do. I get to as many events as I can realistically or ask people from the team to and then ask them to play back what they’ve learned. LinkedIn is quite a very good resource, but more from peers recommending things than sales pitches.

Q: What are your general thoughts around AI? Is your organisation using it? If not, do you have future plans to implement it?

JU: We had that discussion at board level a couple of weeks ago. We are using AI in security settings at the minute, as some of our cyber security support tools have AI built into them. We’re starting to use it in our development work by code reviewing and copiloting developers, but we’re not using it in a production environment.  There are several use cases that we are interested in though. AI for me at the minute, has a lot of hype, there’s a lot of talk going on around what you could do but we’re preferring to start with identifying our own problem or opportunity and build from there.

“We’re aware of AI and talking about it at board level, but we’re not rushing in just to be a part of the crowd. We’ll take our time and look to get it right.” – John Underwood, Director of Technology at Cirencester Friendly

Q: How do you measure your success as an IT leader, which metrics or KPIs do you find most valuable? 

JU: I’m probably quite lucky in that as I work for an organisation of 100 people, I don’t necessarily need to fall back on things like SLAs. It becomes quickly apparent if someone’s not happy about something! At The Society I tend to gauge the mood of the business and the mood of the users. If they’re happy and not escalating to me and things are going OK, we’re doing what we need to do.

Words of Wisdom for Aspiring Tech Leaders

Q: What does it mean to be an MVP within your organisation?

JU: You’ve got to be trusted by the organisation. You’ve got to be trusted by your colleagues, particularly in the business tech support space, to work with them on things. It’s all about building relationships. You’ve got to be proportionate with the things that you’re suggesting.

“You’ve got to balance everybody’s objectives and priorities. [It’s about] being present [and] seeing Technology as a business enabler – not as an empire or a profit-making initiative.” – John Underwood, Director of Technology at Cirencester Friendly

Q: If you were to offer one piece of advice for future IT leaders, what would you say to them?

JU: Probably back to the three words that we started this discussion with. You’ve got to do it because you love it. Don’t do it solely for a pay packet, be curious not only about technology and what technology can do, but about the business and what the business can do.

If you want to get on in Tech leadership, you need to consider yourself part of the wider business team – don’t stand alone. You’ve got to understand the problems and the opportunities that your business colleagues have, even if you want to work solely for a company that just delivers software or services, you still have to understand your customers!