Paul Douglas, VP of Rigid Haulers & Managing Director of Terex Trucks at VOLVO, led our session on how our current problems are brand new to us all – Dealing with COVID.
People: Looking after your people- dealing with human nature in unfamiliar territory & maintaining motivation alongside issue such as furloughing staff, etc.
Product: Prioritising product and / or service delivery
Process: Implementing changing regulations applying to hygiene, social distancing and homeworking
Christian McNeill, previously a lawyer and tribunal judge, now executive coach and author of the freshly published: Addiction: One Cause, One Solution led this session on 30th June 2020
Addiction is progressive: skirting around the issue only increases the problem. Addiction destroys businesses, relationships and lives To achieve change, you need a new approach. Failure to deal with it (at the very least) demotivates your team. Christian shared some really useful techniques and ideas to apply in tackling this difficult & sensitive issue at work, with or within your social circle. In co-authoring Addiction: One Cause; One Solution with Barbara Smith, Christian and Barbara bring their extensive personal and professional experience in addiction recovery to the reader. They share a clear understanding of an evolution in the field of addiction treatment which can unlock the elusive serenity and peace of mind to be found on escape from the trap of substance abuse.
Atholl Duncan, the highly respected and experienced Leadership Expert and businessman joined us to lead a tremendous Leadership Day at Volvo on how to overcome barriers to success and explain what stops good people from becoming great. Atholl ran through the importance of focussing on the right things; brevity, clarity & impact; understanding people – adapting to styles; positioning on the spectrum of command & control & how to empower; self awareness; mindset and personal impact. We enjoyed an invaluable day of essential leadership messages and fantastic interactive sharing of practices, leadership & business dilemmas. Many thanks Atholl – you were an inspiration and fantastic company for the day.
Alex Yellowlees demonstrated many different types of difficult personality types and the very best winning strategies for dealing with them. He shared how to prevent difficult people holding back team success; how to deal with tricky Board Members blocking your initiatives; problematic personalities which were causing stress and conflict and how to prevent employees negatively affecting productivity. It’s all about human nature and psychology; and it’s fixable!!
Stephen led a superb session at Lenovo on how to persuade and inspire to create a better impact on the behaviours, attitudes and opinions of others. He shared a really insightful and practical set of models and concepts designed to equip us with an essential toolkit for applying in order to enhance the capability and capacity of your business.
We were delighted to welcome Dr Iain MacRtchie of MCR Holdings and MCR Pathways back to CfEL to address our business audience.
Iain’s unique passion and single minded determination set the pace and energy level for the day. He discussed how to review your business with fresh eyes, the importance of placing appropriate value on outcomes, how to deal with failure, time management, how to build a team and achieve sustainable teamwork, scenario based business plans and the power of consistency.
Iain’s understanding of human nature is vital to all of his business success and he shared skills in dealing with people, the past and the future with positivity, trust and empathy. The same ideas, solid base and insightful building blocks are behind the huge success of MCR Pathways – a Scotland-wide (and growing) mentoring organisation which has achieved extraordinary success in turning around the future educational and employment opportunities for many care-experienced teenagers. We were privileged to have Iain share his time, experience and learnings with our CfEL audience once more. Many thanks indeed, Iain.
Kevin Cowan, Scottish entrepreneur, Business Advisor and Managing Director of X10 Solutions, shared his incredible experience of fighting for opportunity, the corporate world vs going it alone, burnout, the highs and lows of believing in an idea, harsh lessons learned and ultimately the wonderful joy of success. The message of the importance of attitude, having the guts to start something fresh and the tenacity to keep going and keep trying, recognising developmental problems, alongside statistical data which informs on change and opportunity was just invaluable. A super day!
We were privileged to welcome Martin Stepek, the well-known and highly respected Mindfulness expert, founder of the Scottish Family Business Association, poet and author to our CfEL Leadership Day at the Corinthian in August. Martin provided a fascinating insight into the power of Mindfulness for business leaders. By focusing your mind on the present moment, you can access a haven of peace and appreciation, which is profoundly state-changing – fully refreshing you and enabling you to take on the next challenge with a new calmness and focus. Invaluable. This session was very much appreciated by all. Thank you Martin!
Dr Alex Yellowlees led a terrific Leadership Day on Building Resilience, helping delegates to recognise some fundamental and long held beliefs which were holding them back and to develop new coping skills for working under extreme pressure. We explored how to identify positive new role-model, language and self-esteem behaviours and how to change the working climate to increase productivity for the entire team – an excellent day.
Anne Ledgerwood, General Manager of The St Enoch Centre in Glasgow kindly hosted, and shared her leadership journey, with the CfEL business audience in April this year. Online shopping having changed the face of her business, and retailers facing constantly changing goalposts, Anne has had to call on all of her business skills, experience and resilience to successfully lead the St Enoch Centre forward. Some of the issues which she covered were how to build a strong brand, optimise operational support and develop and sustain really valuable business relationships.