In today’s leadership roundup, BeeLiving Student and Professional Homes director Katherine Le Provost stresses the need for today’s leaders to lead from the front and be capable of working at all levels of a business. Meanwhile, Imagile Group Limited has demonstrated further innovation of its processes by taking its summer conference online, and Grant-Jones Accountancy explain why numbers should be at the heart of keeping any business running. Elsewhere, Upturn Enterprise MD Anwar Ali calls on leaders to engage and have the ability to take people with them on a journey to plot a course toward eventual success.
BeeLiving Student and Professional Homes
In conversation with Leaders Council interviewer Scott Challinor, the director of property and lettings agency BeeLiving Student and Professional Homes, Katherine Le Provost, challenged business leaders to lead by example through the good and the more challenging times.
Le Provost said: “A leader is a person who has control over anything in many respects. They must be full frontal in their business, and a good leader will lead their team through difficult times and easy times, be professional and approachable. A leader with these qualities who is calm, kind and caring is something everyone would like to see and have in place.”
Reminiscing on her own experiences working under other leaders before running her own company, Le Provost added: “I have worked in other industries and had some experiences of being led by poor leaders and I’ve found the best leaders are capable of working from the bottom to the top.
“These are people who are not afraid of working alongside the cleaners as well as top-level executives. Leaders that aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty and be personable tend to be better leaders I find, and that’s how I model myself and I find that my staff appreciate that.”
Indeed, it is an approach that has not gone unnoticed by staff during the Covid-19 pandemic, through which Le Provost has been determined to lead from the front.
“From a managerial or leadership point of view, my staff have been petrified throughout this time. None of my staff have wanted to go into people’s homes to do necessary routine visits in our sector, and face to face interaction that is important to the lettings business has come under extreme pressure. So, I have put myself on the front line and made key decisions, including furloughing one or two staff to keep them and their jobs safe and get our business through.”
Imagile Group Limited
With Covid-19 restrictions forcing the cancellations on indoor events such as business conferences, Bristol-based asset management firm Imagile Group Limited has been forced to get creative, taking its summer conference online to bring the company together digitally.
Features of the online showpiece included a virtual escape room for staff to participate in, where teams of workers company wide challenged each other for the accolade of quickest escapees, with a raft of prizes at stake.
Personnel were also provided with gift hampers during the conference period, to help keep the feel-good factor going throughout this challenging time.
Grant-Jones Accountancy
In the tempestuous times of Covid-19, some firms have been in need of advice more so than ever before and Grant-Jones Accountancy, a provider of accountancy, tax advisory, business support and business growth advice services, has been more than happy to oblige.
In its recent online output, the firm has sought to remind business leaders of the importance of numbers in the success of their companies, because knowing how one’s business is performing at any point in time will better enable executives to make the most of opportunities and respond quickly to threats.
Grant-Jones outlines that the key to staying alert lies in business metrics, including Key Performance Indicators [KPIs] and other means of measuring business performance. The firm also emphasises the importance of understanding metrics as a business tool, encouraging entrepreneurs to get to grips with which metrics provide them with the means to operate a company and make informed decisions.
The full article can be found here.
Upturn Enterprise
Anwar Ali, the managing director of fast-growing social enterprise Upturn, made an appearance on the Leaders Council podcast series to share his perspective on leadership.
Ali used the platform to stress that in order to be effective leaders, executives and directors must have the capacity to inspire people by leading from the front, and be able to motivate individuals to buy into a collective vision and embark on a journey with them.
Ali said: “A leader inspires people from the front and is able to inspire people to go on a journey with them. I see my personal leadership style as being very open, and I have come to understand over the years that a great leader is somebody who is clear in their vision and on where they want to go and is capable of taking others with them.
The Upturn boss went on to describe himself as a “peoples’” leader, and reminded listeners of the counterproductivity of allowing a blame culture to manifest within a business, instead encouraging executives to create an environment where people can learn from their mistakes and know that their voices and opinions are valued.
He explained: “I am a peoples’ type of leader. I surround myself with great people, I am open, and I am crucially open to mistakes because the only way you can learn is by making mistakes and moving on and embracing that culture of change.
“In life you cannot do anything on your own, you need to bring people along. So I engage, listen to all types of people, stay open to all ideas and if you can take people with you on your journey, that is the greatest element for me because people need to believe in what you’re doing and know that their voices are heard. The collective is more important than the individual.”
Photo by Adeolu Eletu on Unsplash
