Alan Tyrrell, Managing Director, Teneo

Alan Tyrrell, Managing Director, Strategy and Communications in Teneo, Ireland. With almost 20 years of experience creating and delivering innovative award-winning campaigns in the core areas of business growth, strategy, change management, corporate reputation, leadership communication, and issues management, Alan helps clients resolve critical business issues with sound counsel grounded in a strategic and results-driven advisory. Alan is a member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) in Teneo, Ireland.

Alan is an SLT sponsor for training and development in Teneo, Ireland. Alan has worked at the senior level in-house and in an agency and understands the needs, and pressures of both client and adviser. 

His sector expertise includes insurance, food, banking, energy, retail, mining, media, and professional services, among others. Alan is a Chartered Director and was, until May 2021, Vice-Chair with the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation.

“Success has many fathers and failure is an orphan!”

Alan Tyrrell

Alan Tyrrell, LinkedIn

Passionate about education, fairness, and collaboration, Alan holds a Masters in Strategic Management and has also lectured at the Masters of Journalism level on the topic of Corporate Communications. Inspired by the beauty and power of words woven well, Alan loves listening to music, reading, and laughing. Alan also looks after all of the laundry, ironing, grocery shopping, weekend pancakes, and DIY for his family.

What is your favourite social media platform, and why?

LinkedIn, I was an early advocate for LinkedIn because it's a place to connect, learn, share, and grow and is also a place where diversity is welcomed, not trolled and where like and unlike minds can communicate and, in some cases, collaborate.

Tell us about you and your current role or area of interest.

Reputation with purpose is how I like to think about my current role. My job involves collaborating and innovating with clients to help solve their most pressing business challenges and trying to create solutions that have a transformational impact on their business. From day to day, I and the really great people I work with help clients with strategic matters like clarifying their business purpose, vision, mission, and values to working more tactically on an immediate and urgent issue related to their operations.

The work we do across areas like ESG, issues management, CSR, employer brand, thought leadership, organisation design, public affairs and more, has a real impact on our clients and more importantly, it has an impact on their stakeholders, be they customers, shareholders, employees or other.

What do you like about your career or area of focus?

I love the fact that it is both immediate and glacial in pace. The immediacy is the fact that on any given day, I can be working to solve a reputation issue in FMCG and then move to a reputation issue in mining or manufacturing.

The glacial is the point that reputation is built on strategic thinking, actions, behaviours and outcomes over time.

Underpinning it all, though, are people and their stories. I've met the most incredible people, some high profile, some just incredible, and worked on everything from state visits to life-changing healthcare, from accounting to aviation and more. The ups and downs, highs and lows, have been phenomenal.

What is the best advice you have ever received?

Always extend the hand of friendship.

What inspires you, motivates you, or helps you to move forward?

That's a lot of questions in one small sentence! In terms of what inspires and motivates me, it's getting to understand the problem, thinking hard about solutions, and then seeing the effect of those solutions in practice.

In terms of what helps me, that's family, friends, and faith. And what moves me forward is the desire to keep turning the pages in a good book... I just want to see what's coming next. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad... but whatever it is, it's coming...

What are you proud of in your life so far?

To be honest, I've never been too enthused about being proud of things... But, I suppose when I think about different work that I've done, the things that stand out for me as really memorable are moments in time when people have come to me with a pressing or precious challenge for them, and they come to me because they trust me to hear them out fairly, give a balanced view, and maybe even help them out.

What is your preferred way to meet new people/network?

I've always found that the most interesting people are the people you meet randomly. Whether it was hitch-hiking around Germany and Ireland when I was younger, in the kitchen at parties, or anywhere else, I've always found that meeting strangers before we were friends is the best way to network.

So, in-person is best... but lockdown enforced virtual networking has been a revelation, to be honest. In our own network in Teneo, I've found that meeting and networking with colleagues around the globe are much more seamless than trying to travel.

What skills or qualities do you feel have helped you?

Stubbornness. Openness. Hard graft. Smiling.

What do you wish you had known when you started out?

Everything!

Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles and why?

That's tough. Well, leaving aside my parents and family, my former boss. Padraig Slattery is a real class act, and I probably should have availed of his insights more. Someone else I really admire is Tommy Tiernan, his comedy is obviously amazing, but when you see him doing non-com, it's his interest in people and their lives and his willingness to put himself into unusual scenarios that mark him out as great.

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 really important to me, so that's where I try to focus... though as all working parents will say, I could do better on that front! I've never really been into sport, and it's simple things that I like. I love listening to music while I mess about (or mess up) the latest self-assembly furniture for the house. I was on the Board with Glencree until this year, and that was a truly fantastic experience and something I got a lot from.

Has the pandemic had a positive or a negative effect on you and/or your business, and how have you managed it?

It has definitely impacted me, our business, and everyone else. In Teneo, we started out by focusing on our people and trying to figure out how we could help them and each other. And once we got that right, the rest seemed to follow... the type of client work we were doing changed, but overall the outcome has been quite positive.

Do you have a mentor, or have you ever mentored anyone?

In answer to the first bit, I don't have a formal mentor, but I do try to learn from people as I go. I've always felt it was a good idea to have a mentor though, so I'm open to offers! In terms of my mentoring other people, I do that as part of the day job in Teneo, where we invest heavily in helping people develop their careers and skills. Whether my mentoring has helped anyone, though, is something you'd have to ask them.

What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work or interests?

Reconsider it! This job is only for the crazy.... so you need to want to move quickly, be Ok with lots of ambiguity and less than perfect information, be able to listen better than anyone else, and be ready to get stuck in with the sleeves rolled up. If you are, call me.

What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?

I don't believe there is a common reason. Sometimes, despite all your best efforts, things just don't work out. And society is too quick to penalise or embarrass the people and things that go wrong.

Is there a phrase, quote or a saying that you really like?

"Success has many fathers, and failure is an orphan!"

What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?

All of my clients!

How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience/readership?

For me, success is sitting down at the end of a day or at the end of a project and knowing that I worked as hard as I could and that I learned something from it. I know that might seem a bit woolly... but working hard and learning from what you are doing is what it's all about.