Two leaders tell how attending a leadership course improved their confidence.
Managing director Peter Black of Digital Steps
Black founded his business in May 2000 and attended a strategic leadership training course at Roffey Park in 2005.
He thinks it’s important to have support and encouragement from people who have gone through the same experience of building a company.
“I rely enormously on my colleagues on the board, each of whom has a vast amount of business experience. There’s a need for a wider range of networking opportunities for companies that are focussed on growth.
“As a direct result of my attendance on the Roffey Park course my board has established a leadership development programme which takes key individuals who have potential and gives them training and projects to build their leadership skills.
“Our goal is to create the next level of management to support our future growth and I continue to network with new friends I met on the Roffey Park course.”
Dr Neil Wooding, director of public service management Wales for the Welsh Assembly Government
Wooding recently embarked on a leadership programme run by Bath Consultancy.
“As a leader I have to influence how people think and what they do in difficult and busy contexts.
“My view of being a leader is about having a clear vision of what it is I and my team need to deliver. It’s about identifying the best route or path as well as managing the risks associated with not delivering the vision. I have to act with credibility and authority which gives my staff the confidence to go where I want to take them.
“Leadership is often on the line and about not being safe and it takes a high degree of courage as you are frequently exposed. I learnt to adopt a model that’s about inquiry – looking at what it is I need to learn and then how to obtain it.
“This is not about being a passive recipient of development programmes but being much more proactive and instrumental in my own learning. Leadership is a process which is enacted through relationships, rather than simply being the actions of the ‘heroic’ individual.”
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