Leadership Lessons with… Hannah Barlow, Co-Founder of BB Partners – Advisory for Changemakers

Leadership Lessons with… Hannah Barlow, Co-Founder of BB Partners – Advisory for Changemakers

Standing out from competitors, being curious about change, and how fulfilment is the key to supporting mental health and wellbeing in the workplace. We recently spoke with Hannah Barlow, Co-Founder of communications advisory BB Partners about her comms journey, and how it created a path for her to become a biz founder.

Take a look.

How did you get into comms?

In one word: politics.

During my uni days, I got into Student Union politics and realised very quickly that in order to make change in the country or world you had to engage with political systems. That really drew me into public affairs, communications, and how we can influence discourse.

How do you differentiate BB Partners from competitors?

BB was founded during the pandemic – so if there was ever a time to do something different, it was going to be then.

Myself and my co-founder had a long history of working in various comms agencies, and it often felt like there were defined, tried-and-tested methods, and the pandemic completely flipped that on its head. It shook up the industry in many senses, and different tactics, setups, ways of working all emerged as a result.

 BB Partners leaned into that. We see our clients as our partners (and that’s how we refer to them) and how we see communications in the hierarchy of change is very new. A lot of businesses might make business critical decisions, and then take these to communications and ask, “how do we sell this?”

Our argument is that instead, comms needs to be at the top of the chain in helping shape the business, make those decisions, and lead the way. 

Which is precisely what we do. That’s our USP.

What personal attributes have most helped you succeed?

Always think of the bigger picture.

Getting stuck on a specific problem or issue can trip you up and limit your creativity and growth. When you return to the bigger picture, your mindset focuses on what you’re actually trying to achieve. Building a business is incredibly hard, and having a level of depth and resilience is really important.

The other thing is letting yourself fail. The moments I’ve fallen down have likely taught me a lot more than the moments I’ve succeeded. Being open to failure is being open to growth. Be a risk taker.

What do you think are the key qualities needed from comms leaders in 2023?

Specifically where comms is concerned, it really is all about believing that communications needs to sit at the beginning of the chain in order for it to work. That principle is steadily gaining more traction, and we’ll likely see it more and more.

Also: courage, compassion, connection. They’re three values I define myself by.

What skillsets do you think businesses within the comms industry will be looking for now, and in the coming years?

People who are open and curious about change.

AI will become a part of the communications industry. It’s not going to ‘replace’ us, it’ll help us better analyse and find insights for the overall goal. So people who know how to utilise tech to really harness opportunities and further the goals of their partners will become extremely hireable.

Strategic thinking and analytical skills will still be in demand. At BB Partners, we analyse discourse and political trends in our research, and work out how we can position our partners’ issues within that to drive change.

And to state the obvious, people skills are the most integral thing in this industry. Strip it all back and it’s about relationships. Having a drive to build those relationships and an instinct as to how is really important.

Employee demands are changing beyond salary and benefits: what changes are you seeing, and how can leaders meet these?

People need to enjoy what they do. We’re very clear about who we are and what we do. Not everyone will enjoy working at BB Partners, we know that. It’s imperative for us to find those people that will, for us and for them. A results-driven, impactful workforce is generally very motivated, and will have more fulfilment.

How many times have traditional agencies attracted talent with shiny brands, only for them to get through the door and work on some truly dull accounts? 

So we look at everyone’s interests, skillsets and motivations, and we commit to allocating talent at least two accounts that align with these. We weight those things more heavily than just “do you have capacity for this work?”

There’s an increasing focus on workplace mental health now. How have you seen the industry support the wellbeing of its employees?

Don’t get me wrong, perks are great – the fruit bowls, the drinks on Thursdays. They’re important to helping build a culture, but it doesn’t define a culture. Leadership does. So if an organisation has poor leadership, people will still struggle.

How we allocate work and support our talent is a huge component of how we support mental health, and the ways we define and execute leadership. And then we have the 10% add-ons, like the perks.

There are some things we can’t control, like external factors, and these are all things we’re having conversations around to understand how our policies can support talent in the right ways.

Another key aspect is not having timesheets. We’re a healthy business, and I believe that eradicating that worry that many professionals have of how much time they’re spending on something makes way for greater fulfilment and contentment, and builds trust. But we also see better outcomes as a result.r

How is comms evolving, and what new opportunities are you seeing?

Analysis and strategic execution is going to become bigger.

Something we’re working on right now in a theory of change is what we’re calling “stuck narratives”. In other words, something in the media that’s creating tension around a hot topic.

Take the message around eating meat reduction, for example. It’s a sure-fire way to create tension, which is then fuelled by media and political discourse, and it impacts a variety of different sectors around a shared interest. Eating less meat would interest people in the health sector, sustainability and climate-related sectors, animal welfare organisations, and so on. 

All of these different parties might have different messages within that, but it’s ultimately a shared agenda. BB Partners is looking at ways we can unwind some of these “stuck narratives”, create action and partnerships, and leverage a single message to collaborate wide a range of people.

It’s impactful, and it feels like something that could gain traction.