CV Issue 1 2018

14 CORPORATE VISION / Issue 1 2018 , The Living Leader development programmes have been designed to instigate sustainable and long-termpersonal and workplace change, as well as dramatically lift employee engagement levels. We invited Founder and CEO Penny Fergusonwho tells us more about the firmand its ongoing achievements. Leadership That Lives Beyond the Leader Whilst many leadership programmes merely equip individuals with a workplace toolkit full of skills and knowledge, The Living Leader shifts understanding. It deals with the whole person, so not just as an employee. The diverse and varied industries that the many clients of The Living Leader work within, is evidence that its leadership development programmes are people-based, as opposed to industry or sector specific. The programme itself is designed and developed by Penny Ferguson, who is utterly passionate about developing sustainable leadership at every level and continues as founder and CEO of The Living Leader. Penny starts off by outlining the overall mission of the company, and what steps the firm plans to take in order to achieve this. “Throughout the company, we want to change the thinking of the world and we want to make positive, lasting difference, meaning sometimes we will walk away from work when we do not feel that we can achieve this. “Starting with younger people, we have developed a Young Peoples Programme (YPP) launched to schools and sponsored by The Living Leader to begin to work with young people. We feel passionate about helping the younger generation. It would be a dream to have our Young People’s Programme to be part of the curriculum at entry to lower sixth.” Adopting a personal approach, Penny tells us about the hands- on nature of the team and how they work hard to satisfy and exceed client demands, using innovative and creative companies. “Here at The Living Leader, our programmes are obsessively focused on enabling the behavioural changes that transform culture and lead to lasting, commercial, tangible impact. We do not use PowerPoint, there are no laptops, graphs or excel charts. There is real hands-on learning, purposeful thinking and challenging interactivity, with tried and tested models that transform accountability, confidence and performance. Fast. “Essentially, our programmes examine what constitutes great leadership and the sorts of behaviours that will enable every leader to make a difference in improving morale, establishing the right culture, encouraging impassioned engagement, building strong and productive teams, and delivering superior business returns.” Specific to the HR & Training sectors, The Living Leader provides Leadership Programmes to clients and customers who want to improve the internal culture within their business, enabling the person to improve themselves as well as their work attitudes. Penny discusses the relationships that the company holds with its clients and others, and how they build exceptionally strong bonds with others. “Firstly, we provide many leadership programmes, and our flagship programme is the Personal Leadership Programme. We encourage our clients to take responsibility for the success of any roll out, by using our Masterclass to train their own talent to deliver in- house services. “Secondly, key to our success is the fact that our client relationships are exceptional, we build incredibly strong relationships through living our values of making a difference, listening and appreciation. By communicating well with our clients at the point of engagement, we start from a position of being completely clear about what the client’s objectives HR170028 are and how, together, we can meet them.” Standing out amongst the crowd, Penny explains how these aims and processes, including client relationships, set The Living Leader apart from its competitors. With clients able to have access to this, they can use different aspects of the programme to go through at their own pace. “Additionally, we also have an online platform, Online Living Leader (OLL). Once you have attended the programme you can sign up for the OLL, which drip feeds refresher and development material to promote and hugely increase the embedding and sustainability impact of the PLPL. We use models, stories and exercises taking you through the programme at a deeper level at your own pace over the course of a year. “Furthermore, we feel that, particularly with our Online Living Leader platform, that we are at the forefront of the HR and Training field. With our track record and incredible client testimonials, we continuously strive to build on our strong, solid and successful foundation.” Building relationships with clients and people is clearly an