Episode 26 – Nazir Afzal OBE – Giving a voice to those who don’t get heard

In this episode of Doing the Opposite: Business Disruptors, Jeff Dewing speaks to Nazir Afzal; Chancellor of the University of Manchester, and former Chief Crown Prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service. He was the chief executive of the Association of Police and crime commissioners and is also a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation Complaints Committee.

Nazir explains to Jeff how the driving force throughout his career has been to provide a voice to those who don’t get heard. He reflects on his childhood and the traumatic circumstances that motivated him to advocate for positive change in the world; from the racist abuse he experienced growing up to a member of his family being murdered by the IRA.

Jeff quizzes Nazir on the strategies he has employed to take on the establishment. Nazir confesses to having an extremenly high work ethic (he left prosecuting with 100 days of annual leave left to take!) so how did he find the time to reflect and consider the best course of action?

Jeff and Nazir also discuss the mindset of leaders in the public sector – particularly politicians. What could the public sector learn from private businesses, and is the behaviour of certain MPs negatively influencing our future generation?

Nazir’s book The Prosecutor is being made in to a TV Drama Series so keep an eye out for that very soon!