Driving Growth from Two Fronts

Maximising the potential of people and optimising cost and process efficiencies drives growth and profitability

Ithaka Leadership Development and EPI International announce a strategic partnership to work together to on selected client projects.

EPI works with organisations to identify and eliminate waste, improve efficiency and reduce costs. Their software and consultancy service is called iCEO or Intelligent Cost and Efficiency Optimisation. iCEO combines EPI’s proven expertise and consulting methodology in an innovative software platform called CEOportal. This was developed in collaboration with Warwick University and it has achieved impressive results. For example Computer 2000 saved more than £1.3 million, dabs.com £500,000 and TNT Logistics more than £180,000.

The EPI team consists of vastly experienced business improvement consultants with many years global experience working at IBM, AT&T and Profit Focus Group. They also have a strong track record in Finance, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Retail and the Public Sector.

Managing Director Peter Sturrock said “We like the EPI approach because it’s based on decades of proven experience and we feel it will add significant value to our clients.  Because it’s a holistic process, iCEO considers business process efficiencies and cost reduction strategies as part of an overall programme of continuous business improvement. This has many parallels with the Ithaka model and we share similar values on how to drive and sustain improvements in an organisation.”

 Ithaka has a unique approach to developing excellence in organisational leadership, management, sales and marketing. Their Leadership Development Model is based on decades of experience, and it defines the best practice processes and strategies that deliver  exceptional results. Ithaka provides coaching and training to clients across all sectors.  Their key programmes are ‘Leading a Business Through Growth” and “Drive Sales Growth”. This is complemented by “The Leaders Forum” a group for Managing and Senior Directors to share experiences, ideas and resolve issues in a confidential environment. 

EPI Managing Director Nick Close said “Ithaka has a very impressive track record. Their work on leading a business through growth and their holistic approach to sales and marketing development is unique. The fact that they are also approved coaches under the GrowthAccelerator* scheme makes their services even more attractive to some of our clients and we look forward to developing this partnership.”

More information:

Nick Close (nick.close@epi-international.co.uk)

Peter Sturrock (peters@ithakaleadership.co.uk)

(* GrowthAccelerator is a scheme that offers matched funding for management training and coaching to organisations in England who employ fewer than 250 people and have a turnover less than £40m)

Is Leadership and Management the same thing?

These terms are often used interchangeably but they really are distinct and very different.

• Leadership is about creating a vision and strategy which inspires and attracts Followers. 
• Management is the process of taking action to achieve results.

Every organisation needs Followers who can be clients, citizens, students, patients or anyone else defined as your audience. And you attract Followers by being a “Thought Leader” - someone with a unique viewpoint which makes you stand out from the crowd. 

But attracting Followers is the first step; you really want to create Advocates who continue to follow you and spread the word, because this attracts even more Followers.

Leadership must be woven into the fabric of an organisation, because it covers everything from how you create the environment to attract the brightest talent, to the way you develop products and services and how you describe and communicate these to your audience.

Some Leaders also have the capacity to be great Managers, but are the best Leaders really good at the detailed stuff? Some are, but the best of the best know what they are good at and they leave the detail to others. They delegate and make it their primary goal to attract Followers - or at least they should!

Maybe we need a new metric of performance, a new KPI called the Fi or Follower Index? It may sound slightly odd but that's the basis on which many businesses were built. In the dot-com era that I was intimately involved in, it was all about attracting 'eyeballs'. Maybe it wasn't such a crazy idea after all!

Are Great Leaders Born ... or Made?

A CEO recently asked me if I thought that great leaders were born or could be developed through training and experience.This is a pretty loaded question to someone involved in Leadership Development and Training!  

This is interesting though, because I’ve worked for some incredibly inspirational  leaders and others who were completely out of their depth. Obviously personality plays a part, so what parallels can we draw from the  nature versus nurture debate, which is one of the oldest issues in psychology.

The debate has raged for centuries on the relative importance of genetic inheritance and environmental factors on human development. 

Great thinkers like Plato and Descartes suggested that certain things are inborn, or they occur naturally regardless of environmental influences. Others like John Locke believed in what is known as “Tabula rasa” which is a Latin term that roughly into ‘blank slate’ and it believes that personality and social development comes from experience and perception. 

Both schools of thought were partly right because today we believe that both have an influence. There are many examples of people who come from poor, disadvantaged backgrounds and still achieve great things.

What we do know is that great leaders create the right lens through which to view the world. They see things differently and this allows them to motivate others to see the same thing. They help the team see the ultimate goal and then challenge their brightest people to build strategies to get there.

There are many examples from famous explorers who ventured where no-one else had been to inventors and businesspeople who changed the world and created entire industries. But they didn’t do it alone. They had collaborators, supporters and stakeholders who also believed in their vision of what was possible.

So my answer to the CEO was that whilst I do believe that good leaders are born, truly great leaders study and emulate the best. She shared my view but that's just our opinion, what do you think?

What is leadership really about?

Leadership is one of the most used words in the business world today because most people are aware of how vital great leadership is to the success of any organisation. But what is the essence of great leadership ?

That's a question I posed to Mike Shinton, Director at Ithaka Leadership Development. Mike worked for many years in a global pharmaceutical company, so he saw at first hand the profound difference that leadership has on an organisation. 

Mike said, "I believe leadership is essentially simple. It’s all about people, and getting the best out of everyone within an organisation.

They model the attitudes and behaviours that they want everyone within their organisation to adopt, thereby creating a culture where employees can thrive and grow and be the best that they can be. They do not seek power, but they take responsibility. They use their positional power to empower others. 



" Great leadership is not about lighting a fire under people, it’s about lighting a fire within them."

They also create a compelling vision for the future, a vision that inspires and excites others to join them on the journey. They communicate this vision loud and often, and invite contributions from all, in the knowledge that real success comes from everyone pulling in the same direction, and feeling that they are a vital part of the team.

They also challenge the status quo. They constantly strive to look for better ways to do things, to implement positive change within their organisations, to improve process, efficiency, and the bottom line. But they don’t challenge in isolation. They are also very happy to be challenged, and will always listen to the thoughts and ideas from others, whatever their position.

One of the most forgotten attributes of great leaders is also in my opinion one of the most important – support. Great leaders will support their staff to do their work more effectively. They will enable them rather than get in the way, and then stand back and give their trust that the job will be done well.

Finally, for this article anyway, great leaders will always recognise the good things that their teams do. They will recognise in a way that is appropriate for the individual or team, and encourage them to do more of what they are doing. Most people go to work to do a good job, and to make a positive contribution. Just a simple pat on the back and “well done” can be so important.

Leadership is the engine that drives any organisation. Great leadership provides the power and acceleration to put an organisation firmly and securely on the winner’s rostrum. And that's what it really should be all about."

(Mike Shinton is a Director at Ithaka Leadership Development)