Trade finance taught me to interrogate everything: where the goods come from, how they are manufactured and delivered, who's actually buying them and whether the margin survives contact with reality. I've lent against everything from cattle to bomb disposal robots. You can't support a transaction without understanding the whole business behind it. That habit never left me and it's allowed me to create lending solutions that actually worked for clients rather than selling "products" where others couldn't.
When I'm in a board discussion, I'm not just trying to understand a governance question. I'm trying to understand the working capital implications, the legal structure, the risks and the people dynamics at the same time. Companies and the people behind them are always evolving and there is never a single right answer.
I have a long history of working with businesses which have issues. Confronting challenges and sometimes losing money is a part of lending. It's where I learned the most.
Running companies can be great fun. It can also be lonely, hard and scary, particularly if things are going wrong. I am used to supporting and mentoring people. I am used to having difficult conversations. That is part of my training as an advocate, but also my practical experience of negotiating with lenders for so long. Confronting issues and finding solutions is key.
The best outcomes I've been part of weren't ones where I immediately had the answer. They were the ones where I helped ask the right questions, difficult topics were discussed with humour and honesty, and everyone in the room felt heard and learned something in the process.