Meet the Team – Louise Robinson, Business and Operations Development Lead
29 September 2023
A passion for communication and lifelong learning have shaped Louise Robinson’s career, during which she has successfully led numerous projects, campaigns, and teams in professional and regulatory bodies. Now, joining LOCSU as business and operations development lead, she looks forward to contributing her skills and experience to the optometry community.
Louise is a proud Midlander, hailing from Rugby which, she reminds us, is the birthplace of the eponymous game that marks its 200th anniversary this World Cup year. The eldest of four children, she describes herself as “a very typical ‘big sister’ – nurturing, protective, diplomatic, and when the situation demands I can be directive.”
After her undergraduate degree in English Literature at Leicester De Montfort University, Louise started her career in sales and customer service, before finding her niche in membership bodies. Her first role, with the Institute of Chemical Engineers, saw her developing stakeholder campaigns to drive up interest in chemical engineering careers and build sustainable growth in the sector.
Roles with the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), the General Medical Council (GMC), and Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) followed. Notable projects include conceiving and delivering a campaign to help BACP members engage with the 2011/12 Health and Care Act reforms, and managing the GMC ‘Professional Behaviours and Patient Safety’ project. This took an evidence-based approach to driving culture change from Vanderbilt University in the USA and re-imagined it for the UK NHS system.
Following a stint as Director of Membership and Engagement at the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, Louise is now “ecstatic to be working in healthcare again, where my passion lies.”
Alongside her role at LOCSU, Louise recently became a GMC Associate, delivering training on professional standards to assist International Medical Graduates as they transition into UK practice.
Lifelong Learning and Intellectual Curiosity
Louise sees lifelong learning and nurturing intellectual curiosity as key to developing a fulfilling career. She graduated with a Masters in Public Health from the University of Manchester in 2022, with her dissertation exploring the role of professional regulation in reducing hospital-acquired infection with COVID-19. Louise believes that “all health professionals have the power to help improve public health” and it is incumbent on professional bodies and regulators to support the professions towards that goal.
In work and life, Louise draws inspiration from another intellectually curious person, her Grandmother, whom she describes as a woman very much ahead of her time. “She is 90 and inspires me with her resilience, humour, insight, confidence, and intelligence. She is a great storyteller. Most of her stories are silly and humorous, many are also telling about human nature and the evolving society that she has seen in the decades since 1932. There are many stories of her standing up to authority and calling out discriminatory or bullying behaviours.”
‘Proceed Until Apprehended’
The most important advice Louise has received in her career could easily have come from her determined Grandmother. “Early in my career, I spent a lot of time and energy trying to please people and seeking permission, particularly when starting new initiatives ,” she says. “I think I was trying to avoid conflict. One day someone said to me: ‘Louise, you have listened, gathered evidence and these are great ideas. How about you “proceed until apprehended”?’ The phrase resonated and I started to apply it. I kept my tact and diplomacy chip in full working order and found that, with practice and training, I honed my listening and conflict resolution skills. Now I embrace healthy conflict because it leads to learning and improvement.”
Active listening is key to Louise’s professional approach, and it is an area that she recommends everyone invests in: “The training course that helped me most was my Level 3 Counselling Skills Certificate. I would recommend people consider a listening skills qualification as early as possible in their careers. It was career- and life-changing for me. They are great skills for family life and parenting too.”
Alongside her focus on healthcare, Louise has an interest in employment law and regulation, and she doesn’t rule out pursuing qualifications in this area: “If I had not found a niche in professional bodies, then I think law may have been my thing, and it’s not too late to do more post-grad study. Currently, I am an informed layperson in employment law and healthcare regulation and have been a lay representative in a Tribunal.” She also uses the skills developed throughout her career as a recently elected Rugby Borough Councillor, where she sits on the Licensing & Safety committee.
When it comes to relaxation, Louise loves spending time outdoors, taking road trips in her campervan with her husband whenever she can. Her dream trip is a campervan tour of France to coincide with the Tour de France, taking in some of the region’s vineyards along the way. She’s also an avid cricket fan who enjoys soaking up the atmosphere in Edgbaston’s Eric Hollies stand, which is regularly voted the best party stand in the cricketing world.