Would you rather choose Lord Alan Sugar or Sir Richard Branson as your dream coach?
A survey by the ILM found that out of 1,350 managers 31% would not want to be coached by Lord Alan Sugar, he would be ‘the ultimate nightmare’ for giving professional support. On similar lines X Factor mogul Simon Cowell’s sarcastic style earned him 17% of the vote, closely followed by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson with 16%. The coach who ranked most popular was Sir Richard Branson receiving almost a quarter of the votes (22%), while Karren Brady came second with 11% of respondents naming her their dream coach. Rugby World Cup-winning ex-England coach Sir Clive Woodward got 10%.
The survey also revealed that over three quarters (79%) said they thought their performance would improve if they were offered the opportunity of a coach at work, while of the large number (59%) who had already received coaching at work, 92% said it had improved their performance as a result.
“People learn when they are stretched and challenged and a bit of performance anxiety is no bad thing, but not when it is disabling,” says Penny de Valk, CEO, Institute of Leadership & Management
“A coach’s role is to raise the bar then help people get over it. Developing managers’ coaching skills is the single most cost-effective development investment a business can make, and the wise CEO will ensure coaching is introduced across their organisation to help staff work at the optimum level.”
http://www.i-l-m.com/edge/9602.aspx
I have just been to their inaugural workshop in Coventry today and I can highly recommend the programme for businesses interested working together to spark new innovative ideas of working together.
(Please see website for further details: http://preview.tinyurl.com/6ds8kz2)
Businesses in the West Midlands are being given the opportunity to boost profits and expand into the global market by working together to spark new innovative ideas with help from a new £1.9 million European funded project.
Over the next 3 years, 420 businesses from the region will have the opportunity to access an open innovation initiative which will help their business set up relationships and get involved in new innovative collaborations with large organisations. It is anticipated that this exciting new project, funded through the Regional European Development Fund, will provide major benefits and support SMEs expand their market areas and increase profits. Through collaboration, new business ideas will be formed, helping to boost the innovation levels of the region and the overall economy.
Led by The Institute of Applied Entrepreneurship at Coventry University, the project which is targeted at businesses working in the assistive technologies, niche vehicles and digital media industries, will provide a minimum of a 2 days support and consultancy that will help SMEs raise their innovation profiles and expand their horizons.
Dr Gideon Maas, Director of the Institute of Applied Entrepreneurship from Coventry University Enterprises and Project Leader for this project said: “Statistics show that regionally only 55% of West Midlands firms are considered ‘innovation active’, and with investment in R&D in the West Midlands also falling behind the UK average its time to make some changes.
“The new network will provide an easy and open route for businesses to work together and we will particularly be able to help facilitate new relationships and opportunities between large corporate organisations who would like to collaborate with SME partners. This is an important project that we are delighted to be able to lead for local businesses”.
The project is kicking off with 2 workshops across the region that will equip businesses with the collaboration tools & techniques, skills and innovative thinking that will allow them to accelerate and increase the effectiveness of their innovation process support them in forging new relationships with some global companies. The first workshop will held in Coventry on 1 November 2011 at Coventry University and the second workshop on 15 November 2011 at Staffordshire University.
To find out more about the new initiative, or to book onto one of the workshops, contact Louise Marjoram on 0797 498 4283 or e-mail her at lmarjoram@cad.coventry.ac.uk.
My interactive workshop ‘How to read the people you work with in your business’ at Ludlow WiRE Business network went absolutely brilliantly! Such good vibe and so much fun. Everyone enjoyed it! I was really thrilled!
“Your presentation was excellent and I particularly enjoyed the interactive element. It’s always good to get everyone on their feet doing something as it generates energy and interest. It was interesting learning about the different features in the communications model and then applying it to ourselves and our customers.” Jill M., Building Beginnings, WiRE Member
