As businesses across the country respond to the current economic situation, the director of Corkills Motor Group spoke with The Leaders Council about the difference between leadership and management. Meanwhile the "Dominic Cummings effect" damages faith in the government.
Leadership in Focus
Sally Fyffe is the managing director of the Corkills Motor Group, a dealer group representing the Volkswagen and Hyundai franchises.
Fyffe’s years of experience in the automotive industry, having worked with Toyota GB plc, Nissan Motor GB, Honda UK, Citroen UK and PSA Peugeot Citroen over the course of 15 years, including in director roles have developed a nuanced approach towards leadership.
She notes: “Management, to me is about actually running a business day to day, it’s the decisions you make, it’s managing cash flow accounts it’s the fundamentals.”
For Fyffe, there is a clear difference between management and leadership. She continues that the latter is “about working with people to deliver those things, it’s about the direction, the clarity, and bringing people with you.”
Mid-last decade, Fyffe made the decision to found Innovation, a coaching company specialised in supporting automotive leaders and developing leadership within the industry. It is thus her approach to leadership can provide invaluable guidance to other industry professionals.
She concludes: “I think I’ve grown and changed as a leader over the years.”
Both Fyffe’s ethos and acumen provide inspiration for leaders across the country.
Leadership today
New analysis has shown that the "Dominic Cummings effect" has resulted in a loss of public confidence in the Government, which is yet to be recovered.
Reports on May 22 indicated that the prime minister’s chief adviser had breached lockdown to travel 265 miles from London to Durham while exhibiting coronavirus symptoms.
According to Dr Daisy Fancour, the lead author on the study: "Trust in Government decisions and actions relating to the management of Covid-19 is a major challenge globally, and these data illustrate the negative and lasting consequences that political decisions can have for public trust and the risks to behaviours."
Meanwhile, chancellor Rishi Sunak has said that the government will not hesitate to add more countries to the quarantine list.
Sunak said: “If we need to take action as you've seen overnight we will of course not hesitate to do that.”
Sunak’s statement follows the rise in Covid-19 cases in France, reaching 1,695 positive tests – the highest number in the past two months.
Leadership in history
Just under a century ago today, the US Court of Appeals upheld the lower court ruling, preventing the government’s attempt to ban James Joyce’s Ulysses. The novel, banned for allegations of obscenity was contraband for over a decade following its publication.
The 1934 case enabled the book to be published freely once more.
