John Cassidy, Director of EMEA Business Development at Unisys
John Cassidy has held a number of EMEA leadership roles in Security Software, Cloud technologies and hardware solutions. A highly experienced professional, self-motivated leader committed to delivering results.
Working and managing sales organisations, both internal and external with channel partners remotely, focusing on revenue growth, relationship development, coaching and mentoring key talent.
He has transformed and changed management expertise, helping to improve productivity, customer experience and staff retention.
John is an excellent team player with exceptional interpersonal skills which has enabled him to achieve maximum efficiency and effectiveness from the teams he leads.
John has a track record of growing revenue and the capability to develop and execute business strategies that overachieve results and deliver within budget.
A customer advocate John has a strong belief in delivering a superior customer experience through his teams at every customer touchpoint, and believes strongly in coaching and mentoring all staff to achieve this.
John is a sports coach in his spare time and enjoys swapping business goals for sports goals.
Tell us about your current role and what you like about your career/role or areas of focus.
I'm a Business Development Director for EMEA Security. My team and I work across many verticals such as Banking, Telecommunication, Transport and Travel.
We focus on helping businesses understand the 'Zero trust' framework that removes complexity and costs and provides better software segmented security.
What inspires you, motivates you, helps you to make each day count?
Leading is different from managing. I believe today that people want good leadership rather than metric management.
I enjoy mentoring and coaching that helps both the team develop individually and collectively.
I bring drive and passion to my role, and that motivates me to share this energy to help each day.
Outside of your professional work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
Family is very important to me, with two daughters and three granddaughters we are kept busy.
I am a rugby coach, and this is a great way to recharge and clear your mind every Tuesday and Thursday.
I have a keen interest in military history and have a large collection of books on the topic.
When it comes to your life chosen career, is there a phrase, quote or saying that you really like?
"If you are going through hell, keep going." - Winston Churchill.
What are you most proud of in your life?
My family, my daughters have grown to be fine young women and fantastic mothers to our grandchildren. Being a good father and husband makes me proud.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
Trust needs to be earned, not given.
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles?
Kevin Peesker, President of Microsoft Canada. Fantastic leader, a mentor with a wealth of life experience.
Patrick and John Collison, founders of Stripe, which is an American financial service and software as a service (SaaS) company, they created while still at school.
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
KIA Motors, I have had superb customer experience over the past years beyond any other product or service I have used. A lot of companies could learn from them.
The Virgin group continues to champion diversity and equality led by Sir Richard Branson, which we need more than ever.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
The harder you work, the luckier you become.
What drives or motivates you each day in a work environment?
Being a leader from the front motivates me each day. To set the example, work and collaborate with the team, encouraging input and thought from everyone. Sharing and treating the team as my peers drive me.
What are your thoughts on the future of social media?
Social media has become a vast communication channel, which means that the information via it may well be extremely biased.
I am concerned that in the future independent opinion and thought will not exist.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
YouTube, due to the military history content and contributors.
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever been a mentor to anyone?
Currently do not have a mentor, but I use a network of senior people who I speak with regularly as sounding boards and influencers whose feedback I respect.
I mentor on a regular basis and find this rewarding to share experience and advice.
How do you network? What is your preferred way to network?
I don't have a preferred way to network as there are many opportunities to meet people via work or socially that you can connect to.
When I meet someone in any setting, I will ask if we can connect after for both of us to benefit, this seems to work regularly.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work?
If you don't have a degree or technical qualification in the industry, look to join a technology business where you can grow, develop and progress.
This has happened in several companies I have worked. Where someone from a non-technical background joined as an SDR / BDR and progressed. I know one person who went from selling pencils to working for IBM via that route.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
Lack of drive and perseverance, unfortunately, we live in an excuse culture where responsibility belongs to someone else.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience?
Success, today for me, is not a job title or grade level, it's about helping companies and people, that is why I have worked in security software for the past ten years. Each day we try and stop the bad guys.
Lessons learned, never give up, surround yourself with positive, successful people. Learn from them, what they do, how they work. Stay focused, and continue to learn.
What skills do you feel have helped you to become successful?
Drive, willingness to learn, understanding your mistakes and learning from them.
Seek council from good people and listen to their feedback and guidance. The skill of perseverance; Don't give up.
Anything else you would like to share with our audience?
Keep learning, new skills and assessing your own value and what you bring every day.
Is there anything new that you are working on or involved in that you would like to share?
Inspire Diagnostics, Unisys, and Black & Veatch have come together with our respective expertise and resources together to create the best of class end to end solution to meet the industry's new requirements.
This team brings together expertise in healthcare, security and technology, and engineering and infrastructure management.
This team is able to deliver the execution of the COVID-19 testing program as well as the security, data management, and infrastructure necessary to deliver the program locally and globally.