Another round of the Developing Leaders course has wrapped up! This program helps Assistant Managers and Managers, and those nearing management levels, across the firm build key leadership skills for their management journey. Pam Whitehead led this session, continuing to inspire growth and excellence in our leadership team. Following the course, we caught up with some of the latest cohort to find out what their one main takeaway was.

Carl Asker (Audit, Derby) – “My key takeaway from the course and will take forward in my role is delivering feedback through the SAID method, allowing me to give feedback in a clear, structured and concise way.”

Joshua Rayment (Audit, Birmingham) – “My key takeaway would be to empower individuals through open and probing questions.”

Lewis Coles (Audit, Birmingham) – “My main takeaway was around feedback, including the SAID model and how it must be timely to be effective.”

Callum Leslie (CF, Derby) – “One key takeaway for me was how using the Simon Sinek Golden Circle model can inspire action with others. The “why” we are doing something is more important than what we do, or how we do it, particularly when trying to get people external from PKFSC to buy into something we are doing.”

Joe Anderson (CF, Derby) – “My biggest takeaway was the importance of understanding how different people’s personality and learning styles affect their day-to-day work so its important to spot these different styles so you can work on a way to get the best out of other members in the team as one approach doesn’t fit everyone.”

Sam Wainwright (Tax, Nottingham) – “I think the key takeaway I have taken is how important it is to fully understand myself before trying to lead a team, for example knowing my DISC profile and how that affects me. I think it was so important to know how to lead myself before I start trying to lead others.”

Marinela Avdia (Business Services, Nottingham) – “Self-awareness has increased my ability in understanding my own emotions, thoughts and values - and enabled me to see how they affect others. This course has also helped me to understand how important it is to communicate clearly and effectively while active listening to others.”

Matt Laurenti (Business Services, Derby) – “One thing I have learned is the importance of effective communication. Everyone has different communication styles and responds differently to text, speech or images. It is important to identify how people communicate to effectively get your point across.”

Georgia Staton (Business Services, Derby) – “My biggest takeaway from the Developing Leaders course is learning how to navigate difficult conversations. Pam emphasised the importance of stepping back, assessing the situation, and considering the best approach for different individuals. This thoughtful approach can help prevent conflict and lead to more productive discussions.”

Kelly Smith (Business Services, Ashbourne) – “Firstly, what an inspirational women Pam is. What a pleasure it has been great working with her over the last 5 months. I have learned a number of useful tools and techniques. The one which I have found very useful so far is managing my workload and priorities whilst eliminating distractions. This has led me to be more aware of time wasters and implement effective ways to reduce them and manage my time more effectively to concentrate on more important and urgent work.”

Harry Godber (Internal Finance, Derby) – “My main takeaway would be how to lead rather than just manage and how to facilitate open conversation with my team.”

Archie Farrell (Business Services, Nottingham) – “One key takeaway from the Developing Leaders course was the DISC profiles and understanding different personality traits. I was able to utilise this in the Business Services Team for Nottingham when giving coaching sessions to 2 team members. I was able to shift my approach when hosting these sessions to get the most out of them but to also provide feedback effectively.”

Stan Bottrill (BRR, Derby) – “My key takeaway was the importance of understanding and meeting the different requirements of individuals within a team and appreciating that often people have different learning styles, so our approach needs to be tailored in order to get the best from them.”

Will Quinn (People, Derby) – “I thoroughly enjoyed/benefited from learning about the 7 Cs and the differences in communication styles depending on the generation in which people were born.”

Philippa Leonard (PKFSC Systems) – “My key takeaway is to adjust my approach for different members of staff and different scenarios and always be sure to continuously self-reflect along my leadership journey, so I can continue to grow and adapt.”