Leadership

Leadership development is a moving target. Where in the past the priority was for leaders to make decisions and lead from the front, today a more empowering and facilitative approach is sought. Because product cycles are now fast moving and volatile, service provision and responsiveness are key determinants of business success. The need for flexibility, initiative and commitment to continuous improvement - from all the work force, has inspired a style of leadership based on high trust. Trust is gained through mutual respect and the leader’s ability to involve staff in the whole process - from concept to execution. The Institute for Employment Studies at Sussex University (I.E.S.) suggests that most Management Development Programmes are a waste of money because they fail to make bosses better at their work. This, they suggest is	because they focus more on knowledge and skills than behaviour and attitude. The study goes on to state that the most successful programmes are those that provided feedback and support for people who had been encouraged to learn about themselves. If managers are expected to empower employees to greater commitment and effort, we believe they need to be skilled at building relationships based on trust. Self-awareness and the ability to give and receive constructive feedback is a prerequisite for building that trust. Although this sounds simple, we recognise that it is also very challenging, because it requires managers to be engaged emotionally as well as intellectually. Terra Nova’s Leadership programmes provide managers with the opportunity to look at how they do things, and provides practical ways to develop their skills.
See Oki Case Study
Winner for Scotland of the National Training Award for a long term Leadership Development Programme at Oki