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Yorkshire Building Society sets the scene for leadership

From Infocus Magazine July 2007

Leadership sets the scene...

Roman themed theatre and a number of motivational speeches really set the leadership scene for 200 managers at the Head Office management conference at Braford's Hilton Hotel.

The aim was to give leaders a chance to focus, re-energise and discuss their leadership skills.

"Leadership is the single most important factor that determines the success of the society," said Chief Executive Iain Cornish, as he set the tempo for the day. "Great leadership is about ownership, focus, enthusiasm and people."

Rachel Court, General Manager HR, talked about the qualities that make up the leadership puzzle, such as valuing and developing people and fostering a sense of belonging and community. "Just because we have one inspirational model doesn't mean that we have only one type of leader," said Rachel.

Finance's Mark Elsworth, HR's Clare Gray and Insurance Sales and Operations' Gary Fowler, each spoke about three very different characters. All are inspirational leaders and all demonstrate different elements of the leadership puzzle - Tim Smit, founder of the Eden Project; Elizabeth I; and Sir Alex Furguson.

Head of the MCC, Sarah Jackson, spoke about the journey its people had been on and how a raft of initiatives had helped them engage with staff.

Head of Business Design, Richard Forster, highlighted the work with Customer Savings as part of Business Change.

People's emotions were central to Regional Manager, Steve Flower's, passionate presentation. "Good leaders become better leaders by sharing their emotions with a team. Pay attention and look for things going right and not wrong, good leaders recognise when things are done well."

Throughout the day training company CragRats brought leadership to life by taking delegates on a journey to acient Rome. Charaters Marcus, Titus, Appia and Pepius, depicted how change and new challenges loomed large in the ancient capital but there was a battle to change mindsets.

Break out groups after each scene got managers talking about the leagership in the play and their own in real life.

Before the final curtain fell, Iain Cornish, made it clear that the leadership challenge ahead was no act. "Collegues throughout the Society are led by people in this room. I ask that you go away and do one thing that will make people feel more positive about themselves - it will give you a glimpse of what you can achieve."

Comments from the day:

Alison Gregory, Marketing - "It gave good food for thought, and was the right mix of case studies, leadership theories and participation. What stood out for me was the part on self-reflection, because due to the pressure of work I don't take time out to do this often enough."

Sue Bedford, Service Quality - "It made me think about the kind of leader I am and the kind I want to be... and more importantly how to get there. The managers who presented were inspiring and CragRats theatre was fun."

David Heshon, Pricing & Portfolio Management - "It was an inspirational day and helped me focus on what I need to do to make myself a better leader."

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