Cumbria Businesses Pick Winner

29 April 2009

MORE than 100 business people attended a special evening designed to help local employers not only to survive the current economic down-turn but also to thrive when it is over.

And they managed to pick out the winner of a round-the-world yacht race from a couple of minutes of video footage showing the skippers’ management style.

The evening, based on lessons learnt by, and research on, competitors in a round the world yacht race, was a joint venture between Kendal College and VA consultants.

The event, on Tuesday, April 28, was hosted by Kendal College in its purpose-built conference and presentation suite.
The keynote session was a joint cabaret-style presentation by Jane Cranwell-Ward, visiting fellow at the world-famous Henley Business School, and Rob Kelly of VA consultants.

Ms Cranwell-Ward was the joint author of Inspiring Leadership: Staying Afloat in Turbulent Times, which examines the lessons learnt during the BT Global Challenge round the world yacht race 2000/1 as a metaphor for understanding the way business leaders must operate in challenging, turbulent, uncertain and highly competitive environments.

The research and the book, which has now been re-printed six times and sells all over the world, were sponsored by BT, who in 2000 were in the same position as most businesses are now, with technological advancements happening so quickly that the company realised they needed to do something special to equip its leaders for the new highly-competitive world.
Ms Cranwell-Ward showed clips of the skippers involved in the race, and the audience was invited to say by whom they would like to have been led.
The overwhelming favourite was Conrad Humphreys who focussed on team building. He skippered the yacht LG Flatron, which did indeed win the race.
“It’s amazing how people’s characteristics come across so quickly in the short clips,” said Ms Cranwell-Ward.

The audience was then invited to measure themselves against ten characteristics of leadership.

The event is part of the college’s drive to reach out to businesses in its catchment area of South Lakeland, North Lancashire and Eden, to provide leadership and management training.

The college has built a formidable reputation providing NVQ levels 2 and 3 education for 16 to 18-year-olds and apprenticeships, and has been highly successful in delivering higher education programmes up to NVQ level 4.
College principal, Graham Wilkinson, outlined how the completion of the £12.9 million refurbishment of its Milnthorpe Road site has provided the facilities for extending its link with local industry, with fully equipped conference, presentation and seminar rooms, which are ideal for high profile and specialist bespoke training at senior management level.