Introduction
Justin Onuekwusi applied for 60 to 70 jobs in his final year at university before landing his first actuarial role. He moved from Manchester to London for it, sat the exams, and then realised the job was not for him at all.
What he did next is the reason this conversation matters. Rather than staying stuck or quietly resenting the role, he knocked on the door of the head of investment consulting and asked to move. Within a month he was on the investment floor. In this episode of Everyday Leadership, one of the very few Black fund managers in the UK talks to Sope Agbelusi about proactivity, relationships, authenticity and changing an industry that he calls embarrassingly unrepresentative.
The lie that started a career
Justin's route into the City began with a sixth form maths teacher who told him actuaries got paid more than anyone in the world. It was not true, he laughs, but it pulled a working-class kid from Manchester who was good at maths towards the profession. When the reality disappointed, he did not treat the wrong first job as failure. He treated it as information, moved into investment consulting, then fund research at Merrill Lynch, and was later invited by a former boss to become a multi-asset fund manager at Aviva Investors.
The thread through every move: proactivity. Citing The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Justin's view is that you can change your own destiny by being proactive rather than reactive.
Skillset first, passion follows
People are told to follow their passion. Justin's refinement is more useful: there is a lot of mileage in following your skillset, because your strengths tend to be where your passion lies anyway. He was always good at maths; investing turned that strength into a passion he only discovered once he was in the work.
Working hard on relationships is still working hard
Justin is honest that a year-end review questioning his work ethic made him work far harder, and that it cost him in work-life balance. But his sharper insight is about what "hard work" actually includes. Every job move he has made came through relationships. He still has strong relationships with every manager he has ever had; they mentor him and he now mentors them.
Some people dismiss the social side as playing politics. Justin calls it working hard on your weaknesses and in the areas where you are uncomfortable, not just where you are strong. To progress, you have to be liked, and that comes from building relationships with peers, juniors and, importantly, seniors.
His practical checklist from mentoring conversations:
- Do you know what your manager thinks your weaknesses are? Not what you think they are; promotion decisions are made on what others think.
- Have you had a career development conversation with your manager about your vision?
- Have you spoken to your boss's boss, so you understand the wider business and where you fit?
- Are you reliable when things really go wrong? Stepping in at those moments does not get forgotten.
Code switching, microaggressions and why he speaks up
Growing up between his family's world and largely white Catholic schools in Manchester, Justin got used to code switching early. It served him in the workplace, but the workplace was still hard: feeling like an outsider, being mistaken for a cleaner and a security guard, and what he calls some pretty abhorrent microaggressions. At the time, he treated it all as fuel to work harder and prove people wrong. Only through mentoring others did he understand the real impact these experiences have on people.
When his CEO and CIO asked him directly why there were so few Black fund managers, it led him to the Diversity Project and then to co-creating Talk About Black, a platform built on a simple diagnosis: before George Floyd's death, people were so uncomfortable talking about ethnicity that the problem could not even be discussed. Talk About Black normalises the conversation and works on what Justin calls the kinks in the hosepipe, the blockages at community, entry and progression stages that stop talent getting through. Recent sessions have drawn audiences of 1,000 to 1,700 people, roughly half of them white, which for Justin is the point: change needs everybody engaged.
His reason for leading on it is stark: if I have got to my position and I am not willing to have the open conversation, then who will?
Leadership is adapting so others reach their potential
A lifelong Manchester United fan, Justin takes his leadership definition from Alex Ferguson: not the hairdryer treatment, but the ability to adjust to different personalities and provide a platform for people to reach their potential. Leadership, to him, is knowing how to adapt your behaviour so the people you work with can get to their full potential, and you do not need to be senior to do it. You can lead at home, starting with putting family time in the calendar before urgent things crowd it out.
The one place he insists everyone takes leadership: your own personal development. Most people he mentors cannot answer where they want to be long-term. If you cannot answer that, no manager or company can formulate your development for you. They support; you drive.
Authenticity: the core and the mantle
Justin borrows an image from a personal branding coach. Cut the earth in half: the core is the behaviours and principles you are not willing to change; the mantle around it is the adaptation everyone has to do. The difficulty is that the more different you are from the majority, the more you have to adapt. But the core values you hold at home, he argues, should be the same core values you bring to work.
Success is closing the distance to your vision
His definition of success: have a long-term vision, and be closer to it at the end of each year than you were at the start. To find the vision, ask what you want to be remembered for, and what you would want people to say about you if you were not in the room.
