Last year, I turned down tickets to the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. While many might think I was crazy to pass up such an opportunity (I definitely wasn’t, considering the washout on the day), this is just an example (though perhaps a more high-profile one) of why it’s important to get comfortable with the word no if you want longevity in investor relations.
The IR octopus
People who have been IR professionals for years can only have succeeded by being very effective at time management. In most companies, IR is in contact with all corners of the business, from board and management to finance, legal and business – or potentially R&D if the company works in an innovative sector – and often also operations and affiliates abroad.
And these are only the internal contacts: add to that what IR is really supposed to do, namely taking ownership of contacts in the market, sell side and buy side, plus sometimes also credit, including rating agencies. If you take a step up and help manage IR as head of IR, new responsibilities kick in. Whether based in finance or communications, you are part of a leadership team which is often comprised of managers, but not always doers.
All this leads to an explosive calendar of commitments. What I have come to realize is that IR is not that difficult – but you can only succeed if you can handle a large volume of work! Show me a head of IR who is not deep in preparing documents, press releases and presentations. Most of our days are time-crunched.
If you want to make IR a career, you need to figure out how to manage priorities. Some people do IR as a career step and then need to worry less about balancing for the long term because the plan is to move on – perhaps not from a perfect house – as someone else will take over. IR professionals making a career from the profession need to eat their own soup, however. They need to implement documents and work processes that are built to last, not for a few quarters but several years, perhaps a decade. Faced with this, prioritization is key.
The power of no
In most larger companies, you’ll sit in multiple internal meetings every week. While some are real meetings, many are nearly meetings. If there is no urgent or important reason to have a meeting, please excuse yourself and focus on doing what only the IR team can do.
Obviously, you cannot cancel all meetings, as you also need to build bridges and get to know people in the organization. So it’s about striking the right balance: help protect the IR team by being a role model in prioritization and work-life balance – and remember that as your key internal contacts may change jobs more regularly than those in IR, they need to make sure a proper handover takes place, not you.
So, a ‘no’ is OK.
Another area of potential use for a kind ‘thanks, but no thanks’ are the many vendor meetings you get offered. There is a stream of vendors offering everything from data systems to consensus management or perception studies to the support of events and websites. If your current setup is not broken, perhaps don’t fix it and kindly say ‘no thanks’ to another vendor offering a service you already have in place.
Finally, if you happen to work in large companies in particular, the IR job can also come with some extra perks and benefits. My company was a sponsor at the recent Olympic Games and we were offered tickets for the opening ceremony in Paris.
For me, it would have meant another night away from the family – a Friday night too – and after having delivered a strong Q2 result the day before, I chose the family. The Olympics are great, but again, there is also an important life at home and for me, my life as a dad and a husband is the most important of all. So, a ‘no’ to tickets was relatively easy. Even though others would have asked are you crazy? It turned out I was not, as it also rained the whole day!
Team development
As you become more selective in your time, you also make space for the development of the IR team and other colleagues around you. When you cancel events that may not move your IR program or the share price, you could consider whether the event may still be a great development opportunity for your colleagues – inside or outside the IR team.
So, consider if an invitation can be delegated and offer a new development opportunity for someone else. Helping other people develop their professional skills is the most rewarding experience as a leader.
As you improve your ability to say ‘no’ and focus on what only the IR team can do, you release time: time for personal growth and studying new trends and developments that will be important for IR in the future. You will also have more time to think about who you meet on the sell side and the buy side.
In 23 years of IR, I do not remember declining a single investor meeting. If investors wanted to meet with me, I was always ready. And that is something that matters years down the line.
One of the most important contacts on the buy side in my current company used to work at a tiny London hedge fund. Because we met when he worked there, we now meet at his new company, a trillion-dollar US investor. It was having the time to take that meeting with the small hedge fund that allowed that relationship to develop.
