Leadership programme honours its newest graduates

Date: 21 June 2011

A business programme to take leadership skills to the next level has honoured its latest graduates at a ceremony in Liverpool’s Athenaeum.

Twenty one business leaders from Liverpool, who had taken part in the 10-month LEAD programme run by training specialists No Guru, were praised by Max Steinberg, chief executive of Liverpool Vision, for their commitment to developing their business performance.

He said: “This is a really excellent programme and I am very impressed by all of those involved. This is the kind of initiative that can help the city go from strength to strength because it breeds confidence, strong businesses and of course economic growth.

“Liverpool Vision recognises that the ability of small businesses to compete and grow is vital to the economic prosperity of our region and this growth is invariably founded upon the ability of owner managers to provide strong leadership and direction.

“No Guru’s LEAD programme has dramatically improved the competitiveness of a whole range of businesses by helping managers to develop their strategic leadership skills.”

The LEAD programme was initially developed by Lancaster University and then rolled out by the North West Regional Development Agency (NWDA) as a £9.5m programme aimed at small business owners/senior managers from organisations based in the North West looking to improve their overall leadership skills and improve their business performance.

No Guru was selected by the NWDA to be one of 13 LEAD programme providers in the North West.

John Drysdale, managing director of No Guru, said: “The LEAD delegates come from different backgrounds and different types of business and this diversity adds to the success of LEAD as the delegates learn new approaches and insights from their peers on the programme.

“LEAD is unique in that it recognises that the development of the business leader is linked hand in hand with the growth of the business. Participants on LEAD have reported a massive increase in turnover in addition to reporting other tangible benefits within the business and its people.”

During the 10 months the LEAD delegates attend a total of 10 master classes split into two themes.

The first, Business Growth, concentrates on business topics such as operations, marketing, financial planning and strategy development, and are designed with the needs of the small business in mind.

The second, Leadership, is delivered by inspirational speakers who share their own leadership journeys.

In addition to the group activities, each of the LEAD delegates is assigned their own personal coach for the duration of the programme. Working with their coach on a one-to-one basis the delegate is helped to understand their strengths in order to develop them further and to recognise any beliefs which are hindering success and how these can be changed.

For more information please contact Steve Heneghan at No Guru Training & Development on 0151 232 0089 or steve.heneghan@noguru.net or Jonathan Caswell at Liverpool Vision on 0151 600 2946 or jcaswell@liverpoolvision.co.uk

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