Carl Fennell, General Manager at Serco, is a seasoned professional with over 20+ years of experience in operational leadership. An advocate for mental health, Carl focuses on building a work culture of open communication and mental well-being under his leadership. He holds a Level 5 Certificate in Leadership and Management and affirms that continuous learning and improvement are key to growth and development.
His area of expertise notably includes cost reduction, profit and loss responsibility, emergency preparedness, technical services, performance metrics, client relations, budget management, quality assurance, and others. He believes it is essential to stay updated about industry practices as it aids in leading teams to achieve new milestones in operational excellence.
Leading with Integrity, Empathy, and Accountability
Carl highlights integrity, empathy, and accountability as the principles that have consistently guided his leadership journey throughout his career. For him, integrity is non-negotiable as he believes in being consistent in his words and actions, regardless of who he is dealing with. In an industry where managing multimillion-dollar contracts and thousands of people across cultures, trust is everything. Without integrity, people lose trust, and without trust, leadership fails.
Empathy has been central to his leadership. Over the years, He has learned that people respond not only to words, but to actions, behaviour, and intent.
He openly shares his experiences with mental health because he wants people to know it’s okay to talk, to ask for support, and to not always be okay. When people feel safe and valued, they bring their best selves to work.
Finally, accountability is what binds these principles together. He believes in setting high standards and holding himself to them before he expects them from anyone else. Whether it’s meeting client KPIs, delivering safe operations, or supporting staff development, accountability ensures that promises turn into results.
Supporting Teammates
Carl shed light on a defining moment for him in his leadership journey, and it helped him witness the difference empathy could make in someone’s life. A member of his team, usually reliable and capable, was struggling, and rather than addressing it purely as a performance issue, he asked the member if he was okay.
That simple act of listening led to a very human conversation about challenges he was facing outside of work. From that moment, Carl understood that leadership is not just about driving results or managing operations, it’s about recognising that people are at the heart of everything their company does. Supporting him through that period didn’t just restore his performance; it strengthened his trust and set a tone within the wider team. They saw that he cared about them as people, not just employees.
That experience permanently shaped his approach towards members. To this day, he reminds himself that operational excellence starts with human connection. Processes, systems, and metrics matter, but people deliver outcomes and people thrive when they feel supported, valued, and trusted.
Balancing Professional and Personal life
Balance is something Carl had to work hard to maintain, especially in an industry like facilities management, where the demands are constant and often unpredictable. For him, it comes down to two things, i.e., trusting his team and saving time for himself and his family.
He has learned the importance of building capable, empowered teams that can make decisions confidently without his need to be involved in every detail. This not only improves their leadership but also gives Carl the space to focus on strategic priorities and maintain balance.
On a personal level, he commits time to relaxation and reflection. It helps him manage the pressures of leadership and ensures he remains grounded. He also makes it a priority to spend time with his family, as those moments remind him of his true purpose. He also encourages his team to spend time on self-care and family.
He affirms that a leader sets the tone, and if he works nonstop without boundaries, he will inadvertently create a culture of burnout. Balance isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity for resilience and sustained performance.
Empowering The Team
Commenting on what empowerment looks like within his team, and how he fosters a culture where individuals feel confident to lead and innovate, Carl states it’s about creating a trustworthy space.
Empowerment is more than giving people tasks; it’s about creating an environment where they feel trusted to make decisions, supported when they take risks, and confident that their ideas matter.
At Serco, he tries to build that culture in three ways. First, by ensuring psychological safety. People need to know they can speak up without fear of criticism or failure. He makes it a point of inviting input from everyone on his team because innovation often comes from those closest to the front line.
Second, through mentorship and development. He has always invested time in coaching people, helping them build not just their technical skills but also their confidence. Sometimes, leadership is simply about reminding someone that they already have what it takes.
Finally, by recognising and celebrating contributions. When someone steps up with a new idea or takes ownership of a challenge, they ensure they are acknowledged. Over time, this builds momentum and confidence across the team. Empowerment creates a culture where people don’t wait to be told; rather, they act, innovate, and lead.
Overcoming Challenges as a Business Leader in the MENA Region
Carl also reflected on several challenges he faces as a business leader in the MENA region and how he navigates through them. The MENA region is one of the most dynamic and diverse business environments in the world. One challenge is the diversity of the workforce itself, where teams often comprise many nationalities, cultures, and professional backgrounds. This requires leaders to be highly adaptable, sensitive to cultural nuances, and able to build unity within diversity.
Another challenge is balancing local and global priorities. For example, the UAE places strong emphasis on nationalisation and aligning with government visions such as Emiratisation. This requires them to not only deliver operational excellence but also contribute to the country’s long-term social and economic goals. At the same time, they must integrate global best practices, ensuring compliance and competitiveness on an international scale.
The key to navigating these challenges is alignment and adaptability. He focuses on creating shared goals that resonate with both local priorities and global standards. By fostering respect, clear communication, and cultural awareness, they turn what could be challenges into opportunities to innovate and deliver value.
Importance of Communication and Collaboration
Furthermore, Carl explained how they align Serco’s strategic priorities with client expectations and the operational delivery of services.
For him, alignment begins with clarity and translation. It’s not enough for strategy to sit at the corporate level; it has to be broken down into objectives that are meaningful for the people delivering the service day-to-day. He spends time ensuring his teams understand how their work connects to Serco’s broader goals and to what the client values most.
Equally important is constant communication and collaboration. He maintains regular dialogue with clients, subcontractors, and his teams so that everyone is focused on the same outcomes. This avoids silos and ensures they remain agile in responding to client priorities without losing sight of Serco’s wider direction.
A good example of this is the work he led on nationalisation, where he successfully achieved 40% localisation of roles within a major contract. Nationalisation is both a strategic priority for Serco and a key expectation from clients and government stakeholders in the region. By aligning recruitment, training, and succession planning with this goal, they not only met the client’s expectations but also delivered on Serco’s commitment to supporting national visions. It was a clear demonstration of how strategic priorities, client needs, and operational delivery can come together to create sustainable success.
Finally, he believes in data-driven transparency. Through tools such as CAFM and structured reporting, they can demonstrate performance clearly and consistently. This builds confidence with the client and ensures that operational delivery stays aligned with both their expectations and Serco’s strategic commitments.
Centre of Inspiration
Upon speaking about his achievements, one of the achievements Carl is most proud of is creating the Centre of Inspiration, a technical training centre designed to upskill their workforce. It provided structured training to raise service standards while offering clear career pathways for blue-collar employees to progress into more senior roles. For the organisation, it meant stronger service delivery and greater client trust. For the people, it represented opportunity, growth, and investment in their future.
He is also honoured with the Global Impact Award in the Care Category in 2024 for raising awareness about mental health in the workplace. This recognition is deeply meaningful to him because it reflects his belief that leadership is not only about delivering contracts but also about shaping environments where people feel supported and valued. Both achievements, technical training and mental health advocacy, represent the dual nature of leadership, i.e., driving performance while putting people at the centre.
Building Resilience
Since every firm is bound to face uncertainty or unforeseen crises in due course of time, Carl delineates how he builds resilience and accountability in his teams to face the same. He believes resilience is built long before a crisis arrives. For him, it starts with fostering a culture of trust and openness. During times of uncertainty, he increases communications either through team meetings, one-to-ones, or informal check-ins, because silence breeds anxiety.
Accountability is reinforced through clarity and recognition. People need to know exactly what is expected of them and feel that their contributions matter. He sets clear KPIs and holds himself to the same standards he expects from his team. At the same time, he makes sure to recognise and celebrate those who step up, because recognition fuels resilience.
Having led diverse teams through organisational transformation, he has witnessed that people rise to challenges when they know they are supported. Resilience and accountability come from creating an environment where people feel informed, valued, and trusted.
Mentoring Future Leaders
Mentoring has been a constant throughout Carl’s career, and he sees it as one of his greatest responsibilities as a leader. Over more than 20 years, he has had the privilege of guiding people into leadership roles, many of whom had the potential but needed someone to believe in them.
He approaches mentoring with a balance of challenge and support. He pushes people to step out of their comfort zones, while also giving them the reassurance that he is available to guide them. He aims to help them build both technical skills and the confidence to lead.
When looking for future leaders, he values qualities such as resilience, curiosity, empathy, and willingness to learn. Technical expertise can always be taught, but it is these human qualities that sustain leadership in the long term.
Inspiring with Action
Carl hopes his leadership demonstrates that it is possible to combine operational excellence with humanity. In an industry often defined by metrics, deadlines, and compliance, he wants to show that people can and should come first. By sharing his own mental health journey openly, he hopes to normalise conversations that too often remain hidden. If the next generation of leaders feels empowered to prioritise wellbeing alongside performance, then he will believe he has played a part in shaping healthier workplaces.
He also hopes to inspire future professionals to embrace innovation, to challenge the status quo, and to see leadership as a responsibility to both deliver results and leave a positive impact on people’s lives.
He advises the future leaders to invest in people before process. Build trust, listen more than you speak, and create an environment where people feel they can succeed.
At the same time, never stop learning. The industry evolves constantly with new technologies, new regulations, and new expectations from clients. Stay curious, stay adaptable, and embrace change as an opportunity. Change is the only constant, and accepting change and working accordingly opens new doors to opportunities and personal growth.
Finally, always lead with purpose. When people understand why something matters, they will always find a way to deliver it. Impact comes not from authority, but from inspiring people to move towards a shared vision.
Stay Relevant with Continuous Learning
Sharing thoughts on how he stays ahead of industry trends and ensures his leadership remains relevant in a rapidly evolving business landscape, Carl affirms that staying relevant requires a commitment to continuous learning. He remains connected to global best practices through industry reports, professional networks, and leadership forums. These keep him updated on emerging trends and challenges.
Technology also plays a vital role. He focuses on how digital tools, such as advanced CAFM systems and data-driven reporting, can improve service delivery, enhance transparency, and support smarter decision-making. For him, it’s less about adopting technology for its own sake and more about how it helps people work more effectively and deliver better outcomes for clients.
Equally, he believes in learning from his team. By listening to diverse perspectives from graduates to senior managers, he ensures that his leadership evolves with the needs of the workforce and the expectations of clients. Leadership is not static; it must continually adapt to remain effective.
If he had to summarise his leadership philosophy in one sentence, it would be to lead with integrity and empathy and create the conditions where people and organisation can thrive together.
