Developing authentic and inspiring leaders

We know that leadership is key to engaging our employees and overall business success. We also know that a large proportion of people, around 62%, don’t leave businesses but leave their managers. And yet, when we speak to managers, they have often never had the opportunity for any training to help support them develop into the role. And, frighteningly, only 17% of SMEs invest in any kind of leadership and management development. When funding is available to help with this, it seems a real shame that businesses don’t take up the opportunity.

The great news is that lots of our lovely clients have recognised this and do take up the opportunity and we had the pleasure of the wonderful Louise Anderson on our last cohort of our 7-month experiential Leadership Development programme. And the great news is they managed to access 40% funding too!

Here’s what Louise had to say about her experience:-

“Hi, I’m Louise and I’m the HR and Operations Manager for Rafi’s Spicebox Ltd. As a company we have worked with Pro-Development before and they are always top of the list when we are talking about staff development opportunities. When I first started talking about the opportunities which would best suit me, I was looking for direction from them. I felt like I was always firefighting and didn’t really have any time to focus on what I thought my role should actually look like.

We settled on the Leadership Development Programme. This was an experiential course with other people from other companies at a similar level to me. I was very aware that this is a very interactive experiential course and that some things would be way out of my comfort zone and I can also be quite self-conscious. However, I had just recently made a deal with myself to be braver and get over myself. So I yelled – Sign me up!

Some of the goals I set myself at the beginning of the course were to learn to say No, get on top of my work life balance, free my time up to be more strategic rather than spending most of my time firefighting and to have my role more clearly defined.

I’ve done a few leadership courses and so was somewhat familiar with some of things we had begun to talk about. I felt like it was going to be a lot of old stuff just packaged in a different way. Wow, was I wrong! My breakthrough moment came when we met the horses! The experiential course put us into situations where we could use what we were learning almost immediately. This made me understand what the theory is in action and to let it sink in and stick. The session with the horses was life changing for me.

So, over the programme what did I learn and accomplish?

 I realised that it wasn’t really about me learning to say No. It was about leading my team well enough that they feel they can do it and not have to ask.

 The way I am leading now is different and so my team is feeling much more confident in their abilities. They are not so quick to pass on their problems

 As a result of being more organised, my role has changed. I am definitely feeling more part of the strategic side of the business. More so than I ever have been. I am now able to recognise strengths and skills in my team and be able to help shape the business and it’s people from a place where I can implement real change. I’m excited about my role again.

By far the best development team I’ve worked with. Pro-Development are relatable, warm, friendly and really know what they’re talking about. They are not just regurgitation things from a book. They really do help you discover your own authentic style of leadership. Everyone of us who took this course has grown throughout it. To anyone thinking about or doing this course remember that change doesn’t happen overnight, it takes time, work and commitment. What Pro-Development do is give you the tools to make change happen and happen right. It’s up to you to use them.”

It’s been such a pleasure to work with Louise and see her blossom and develop over the duration of the programme. If this is something you would be interested in, then the great news is that we have another programme starting in September which attracts 40% funding for eligible businesses.

If you would like to find out more, please do get in touch with us on 01904 628838.