“We were going through a period of change in Arden’s where they were looking within the existing management team to promote people to take more responsibility for the business going forward. This opportunity then led to me being part of the Management Buy Out team.
My colleague suggested joining a Growth Plans Leadership Board® as part of my personal professional development plan. He believed I would find it useful and interesting as an opportunity to experience different perspectives from people outside of our industry. He was right. It also gave me the space to develop a higher level of thinking, to be able to take a step back and look at what was happening rather than being completely involved all of the time.
I was quite surprised actually, you have people who were really very experienced and obviously very successful and they come to the table with issues that we all can relate to. We support each other because we are in a very safe environment. What I quickly came to realise is that no matter what your business or skill set is, we all share real frustrations. I really feel like I’m not on my own in this.
My role at Arden’s is very technical and so I knew that the opportunities for support in that sense are limited. However, what I have gained is above that in a business sense. There is always an opportunity to gain different insights into how management and leadership can be honed and developed as a skill. Always something to think about, to reflect on and adapt to. I found the workshops Liz conducted where we looked at different elements of psychology invaluable in understanding how to get the best out of the people in your team and make the best out of what they have to offer. I have also found the personality profiling incredibly useful in understanding my own strengths, weaknesses and communications style and to adapt these to suit people with differing communication styles to my own.
The value in a Leadership Board® is that it gives you an opportunity to take a step back and think in a safe space, so when you go back to the office you are more effective.”
