2005 Winners & Shortlisted

Public Sector

Alistair Neill, Chief Executive, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough

Winner
Two years ago, Alistair took on ‘the toughest job in local government’ after spending 21 years in the private sector.

He’s worked in 28 countries, turned around multi-million pound international businesses and recovered from malaria, but for Alistair, taking on the role of chief executive at Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council was his greatest challenge.

He said: “I relished the opportunity of leading the council forward into a new future. I knew it would be a challenge to turn around its fortunes, but I was looking forward to it.”

Prior to his move into the public sector, Alistair ran the divisional BP operations in Asia-Pacific and later turned around a failing US multi-national business with annual losses of $35 million.

But after starting a family and becoming increasingly aware of such local council issues as schooling and transport, Alistair decided it was time he got involved.

Bryn Davies, Principal, The College Ystrad Mynach

Scaling mountains as a solo climber in his youth, Bryn Davies learned early on how to make quick decisions and act without hesitation. Now, as principal of a large college, Bryn declares, “the buck stops with me,” and he knows he must be quick-witted to stay ahead of the game.

Still a lover of the outdoors (he has plans to sail a new 21-foot yacht later this year), Bryn ranks his introduction of a massive culture change at The College Ystrad Mynach as his greatest business achievement.

Injecting innovation into the sleepy routines and practices that existed when he joined in 1997, Bryn has succeeded in encouraging and empowering staff at the College to make big changes.

“Together, we have trebled income and the number of staff as well as dramatically increased the number of courses we offer.”

‘Management by walkabout’ is how Bryn describes his leadership style. “Being accountable for 12,000 students and 800 staff is hard to do from the confines of your office. So I try and get out and about, to chat to people and offer
solutions. “.

Not only has Bryn changed the environment within the College, but has literally laid new foundations on which to build for the future. Working directly with surveyors to pioneer a redesign of the College buildings, the new exterior features a large mural depicting the tail plane of a 747 aircraft. “I wanted to feature something bold that shows we are a college of the twenty-first century, a college of the future.”

Bryn is inspired by a self-belief that he can make a difference. He enjoys the challenge of making changes that have a beneficial outcome and a positive effect on people’s lives.

After completing a politics degree, Bryn spent time working as a civil servant before teaching English and communications to people ranging in age from 16 to 40. He then spotted a lucrative gap in the market to co-ordinate training placements for companies. Using his knowledge and expertise in education, Bryn set up a business. His workforce quickly grew to 26 staff operating across five towns, and the organisation helped over 500 youngsters and 500 adults to embark on apprenticeships and employment.

It wasn’t long before Bryn was headhunted away from his own company and lured into academia, where he catapulted himself into roles of increasing responsibility. He believes his compassion for others and ability to laugh at himself helped him progress in becoming a leader.

“I see my role as representing everyone in the College. I must steer the direction and pave the way for people. A good leader develops a vision, and impassions others to deliver.

“Knowing when to stop nurturing people is the hardest lesson in leadership!” Bryn said. “You work with people and encourage them, but you can’t do it all yourself. Leadership is about teaching what you know, and giving people the space to grow to develop ideas by themselves.”

Martin Yones, head of business development and technology, nominated Bryn for the Leading Wales Awards, describing him as an unconventional leader with a left-field approach. Martin explained: “Bryn commissioned a painting of the college which features nearly 300 full-time staff. On closer inspection, you can see that Bryn appears more than once, dotted around the campus. This is a great illustration of Bryn’s dynamic ‘walkabout’ style and shows what a highly visible leader he is to everyone in the college.”

Glyn Jones, Principal and Chief Executive, Pembrokeshire College

Whilst growing up, leadership was never a quality that Glyn Jones recognised in himself. But nowadays, overseeing 12,000 students and 700 staff is all in a day’s work.

“It wasn’t until I started my postgraduate training in education that I realised I was good at motivating people. As a team leader of outdoor education courses, I had the opportunity to work with a wide range of people of all ages and backgrounds, as well as people with special needs. Learning I could inspire others and harness their skills gave me a great feeling of personal growth.”

Glyn’s leadership style is all about encouraging others, and at Pembrokeshire College he has pioneered an award-winning staff development programme*. Team effort is the driving force behind a successful organisation and Glyn believes being a good leader is about being not too demanding and providing rewards as well.

Glyn said: “Keep it simple. Communicate clearly and set straightforward priorities. Allow your staff to get the job finished and don’t create unrealistic workloads.”

Good staff morale is another important feature for good leaders. Staff should be happy and motivated and given praise when it’s due. “No matter what your role within an organisation, we all respond well to positive strokes,” he said.

Barry Walters, assistant principal, has worked with Glyn for five years and admires his open-door policy. “Glyn is a high profile, approachable leader who treats staff with respect and encourages them to grow. He makes time for people and has set up focus groups so that he’s available to offer advice to staff on a regular basis.”

Glyn took an alternative path into academia, initially graduating in Law in the 1970’s and working as a commercial contractor for a large textiles company. Having then decided his passion was to work in education, he returned to his studies and gained a Masters in the subject.

Setting a goal and having the determination to achieve it, together with humility and perspective, are qualities that Glyn believes aspiring leaders need. “You can’t be oblivious to when you’ve upset someone or lose sight of the bigger picture. Having a sense of my own mortality inspires me to lead and I regard my family – my wife and our three fantastic daughters – as my greatest source of pride.”

*2004-2005 Beacon/Elwa Award for College Engagement with Employers.

Dr Sue Hybart, Director of Planning, Cardiff University

Dr Sue Hybart may be Cardiff University’s director of planning, but few would have guessed her career path when she was studying for her PhD in Landslides.

Having worked her way up the career ladder from planning officer to director of planning at Cardiff University, Sue considers her management of the merger between the university and the College of Medicine, a not undaunting proposition, as her greatest business achievement.

Having helped to create a stronger university for Wales, linking academics from both institutions to extend research and compete on an international level, Sue seems a natural leader, but she didn’t recognise her own strength until it came to the crunch.

She said: “I never really thought of myself as a leader until this project, although others obviously saw something in me. Bringing two organisations together involves the work of many people, so it was a complex project to manage – with huge pressures. I had to really focus on the objectives and communicate them well in order for it to succeed.

“I started to recognise leadership qualities in myself and in many of the other people I was working with. Leadership isn’t something reserved for top-level management and that became clear during the project. I think if you can engage and inspire others, their leadership qualities will soon surface.”

Sue defines her leadership style by the way she works with others. Her innovative project management system helped to give everyone a sense of ownership over the project and coaxed other leaders into the limelight.

“I think anyone can play a leadership role in at least some aspect of their work, given the right encouragement. Some of the strongest leaders I’ve seen aren’t at the top of organisations. While those with a natural aptitude obviously have a head start, I think many leadership skills can be learnt and developed over time.”

Clearly a natural project manager, Sue has recently taken on another mammoth project in her personal life too. As well as handling the strategic planning and merger management for the university, Sue is also renovating an old house while living in it.

“That is probably my biggest achievement personally,” Sue said about the DIY venture. “Just like in the business world, you get such a sense of satisfaction from seeing your project take shape, develop and succeed and it’s that feeling of pride in my work that inspires me to lead.”

As well as being sensitive and respectful of others while keeping sight of your target, Sue believes in the importance of a leader being able to generate and maintain a good team spirit – a sense of humour helps!

Louise Casella, the university’s director of strategic development, nominated Sue for the Leading Wales Award: “Sue is a great people-person and has the rare ability to inspire confidence in everyone she works with. She gets everyone involved in the processes and takes them all every step of the way with her.”

Voluntary and not for profit organisations

Lottie Miller, Community Development Manager, Rhondda Housing Association Ltd

Winner
Lottie Miller has always had a way with words. Not only is she fluent in French and Italian, she also speaks the language of leadership, too.

Once a translator working in the vineyards of France, where grapes are transformed into wine, Lottie is now responsible for a team of seven people who are helping to transform communities in Rhondda for its local people.

Following demand from local residents, Lottie took the lead in creating a new department at Rhondda Housing Association, dedicated to regenerating the area and improving people’s quality of life, including education, health and the environment.

“It was very much a team effort,” said Lottie. “I’m lucky to have a very passionate and supportive group of people to work with and together we managed to access over £1m for our local community work, which was a huge achievement.

Lottie describes her leadership style as the ‘principle approach’ which she bases on integrity.

“Along with a lot of energy and enthusiasm for what you do, leaders also need to be honest with themselves and their team. Believing in each other, and yourself, is the key to success.”

Perhaps Lottie’s self-belief and determination have gotten her where she is today. She had a heart operation at four years old and was told she would only live to the age of 15.

“I was told I’d never be able to have children and that I’d have to live my life wrapped up in cotton wool, but I refused to let it get me down and here I am. I have a great career and three children, so I’m living proof that believing in yourself is a powerful tool. And it’s one that applies to leadership, too.

“To be a good leader you need to be really motivated and passionate about what you do. But you also need to be quite ambitious and adventurous, especially when you are pushing through organisational changes or strategies that can have a huge impact on other people’s lives.

“For example, we recently introduced a scheme that brings trainees from disadvantaged backgrounds into the workplace to help them gain new social and vocational skills, and when you can see a scheme like this going so well, it spurs you on.”

Bev Wheeler is a community development officer who has been working with Lottie for over three years. She said: “She’s a thinker. She always thinks first and doesn’t give an automatic response. She has very imaginative ways of working, too. For example, we were working on a project which tries to involve people of all ages, but were struggling for new ideas of how to engage people. Then Lottie suggested storytelling. It worked so well but she still won’t take praise for it!

“Maybe it’s her Quaker background, but Lottie is very tolerant and believes that everyone should have the opportunity to fulfil their potential. She’s very encouraging, gives praise and always looks for the positives. She has my total admiration and respect.”

Jim Edwards, Director, RNID Cymru

Improving the lives of deaf and hard of hearing people from all over Wales is a major motivator for Jim Edwards. “Knowing that the work that my team and I are doing helps others to be treated with equality in their everyday lives is really what motivates me. I feel privileged to be in a position that enables me to play such an active role in helping to achieve a world where deafness and hearing loss are not barriers to opportunity or fulfilment.”

Jim began his career as a social worker for deaf people and later moved into the voluntary sector. He has worked in a variety of roles for the RNID and then single-handedly set up RNID Cymru seven years ago. “Childhood friendships with deaf people inspired me to follow a career working with and for deaf and hard of hearing people. I quickly learnt my second language, British Sign Language, when I was 10 years old. I then worked really hard to develop my receptive ‘understanding’ skills and the expressive skills followed”.

Jim also believes in championing his 50 staff. “I have a ‘controlled open door’ policy at work. Even though we must work within an array of policies and guidelines, it’s important to remember that our staff are the most fundamental part of our organisation. It is therefore important to me that people are always treated as valued individuals.”

The best leaders aren’t always the most obvious, either. Jim said: “I admire people who take the quiet approach to success and are totally focused on the delivery of what they set out to achieve. Horatio Nelson and Queen Elizabeth I were some of the greatest leaders of all time: they believed in what they were doing and worked throughout their lives to achieve it.”

“I started to recognise leadership qualities in myself and in many of the other people I was working with. Leadership isn’t something reserved for top-level management and that became clear during the project. I think if you can engage and inspire others, their leadership qualities will soon surface.”

Neither is leadership confined to those in senior management positions. “I believe leadership exists in all walks of life and is within people of all ages. The soft and gentle way my daughter handles her friendships at school is inspiring. She has a very subtle approach to getting her own way!”

Being committed to a cause and having passion and determination to reach your goal are pre-requisites for good leadership, according to Jim. “Anyone who has a sense of direction and an ability to express it can become a good leader. If you are enthused by a vision and can inspire and champion your team, you can achieve your common goal.

Jim has plenty of clear advice for aspiring leaders. “Firstly, listen to the people who work with and for you and value their ideas, criticisms and suggestions. Secondly, keep a strong clear focus. And last but certainly not least, keep your antennae up! Make sure you know what’s going on around you at all times. Don’t get caught napping!”

Colin Jones, Chair of RNID Cymru, nominated Jim for the Leading Wales Awards due to his innovative achievements since joining the organisation. “Jim is an excellent and highly committed ambassador for the deaf and hard of hearing community in Wales. As a well-respected and inspired leader of a dedicated team he has consistently achieved significant quality-of-life enhancing benefits for his clients throughout Wales.”

Rob John, National Services Manager for Wales, Terrence Higgins Trust Cymru

Working alongside a pool of volunteers and staff for 15 years, taught Rob valuable skills in counselling, leadership and training. Combined with his arts background, he made creative use of rapid changes over the past year to encourage staff to embrace broader horizons as part of a combined all-Wales team. Rob’s solution-focused approach and willingness to read the “team temperature” helps people learn to live, work and play effectively despite the ravages of HIV within their communities.

Geoff Lake, Chair, Drive

Made redundant from the steel industry in 1978 where he was a senior laboratory technician, Geoff worked at the local learning disability hospital and was soon pushed into nurse training. While training he joined Drive, becoming its chairman soon after. He worked hard to organise it and give it proper direction.

Geoff was convinced that institutional life disabled people further and that it was possible for people with disabilities to live normally and within the community. “I believe a good leader has a clear idea of what he/she wants to achieve and the ability to inspire others to want to achieve it too,” he says.

Businesses with fewer than 250 employees

Ian Hopkins, Managing Partner, Leo Abse & Cohen, Cardiff

Winner
Ian’s arrival helped to transform Leo Abse & Cohen into one of the region’s top law firms and he has been helping them to collect armfuls of awards ever since.

Becoming managing partner in 1997, Ian adopted what he describes as an ‘inclusive’ style of leadership, involving everyone to transform the firm into one of the region’s most innovative and forward-thinking legal businesses.

After getting an MBA, Ian instigated and led the firm through the biggest changes in its 50-year history, creating an environment where “everyone puts the ball in the back of the net.”

As well as entirely restructuring the firm’s management system, he reorganised departments to ensure more effective delivery, and opened the firm’s Swansea office in 2000 to expand its geographical reach.

He also introduced non-lawyers to the firm’s board, including human resources, marketing and finance directors.

And he has taken his staff with him every step of the way. “You can’t be a leader without involving others”, he said. “Leo Abse & Cohen isn’t a one-man-band and, as managing partner, I see it as my duty to motivate the other leaders in the firm to help us achieve our common goal.”

He counts Leo Abse & Cohen’s creativity and success as his greatest business achievements, with the firm and its employees picking up such awards as ‘Small to Medium Sized Law Firm of the Year’ and ‘Legal Executive of the Year’ at The Western Mail Business Awards, and an Arts & Business Cymru Award for its innovative use of art in employee development.

It was also shortlisted for the highly competitive category ‘Best Marketing Campaign’ in the national Law Society Gazette Centenary Awards, run by the UK’s leading legal publication.

Ian’s inspiration to lead comes from the firm. “When you see the business continuing to go from strength to strength and every single member of staff rolling up their sleeves to carry on making improvements, it is inspiring. Everyone gets a sense of professional pride in what they do, no matter what level they’re at. I think that inspires us all.”

Robert Lloyd Griffiths is the marketing director at Leo Abse & Cohen. Referring to Ian, he said: “He’s a very natural leader. He has the ability to listen to others, take on board their views and action them in a way that keeps everyone ‘in the know’.

“The firm has evolved beyond recognition under his leadership. He’s helping to ensure that law firms are finally recognised as businesses.”

With his greatest leader of all time being Nelson Mandela, it’s not surprising that Ian had these words of advice to aspiring leaders: “No matter how well you plan things, sometimes they go wrong, but your ability to bounce back and move forward is what will make you a strong leader. Keep persevering.”

Linda Haggett, Deputy Managing Director and Head of Human Resources, Protectagroup

According to her colleagues, Linda is a woman on a mission – an accurate description when you consider that she is leading the way in a business that has recently been named as Wales’ largest independent insurance broker.

Linda always wanted to be a leader, a quality she says she inherited from her father, and originally chose to influence other people by joining the Metropolitan Police.

After working as a civilian with the Met, heading up a team of 25 delivering fire-arm statistics to the Home Office, Linda returned to Wales in search of a new leadership challenge.

Now Linda is not only the head of human resources at Protectagroup, she is also the deputy managing director.

To date, she has helped the business collect awards including the Welsh Development of the Year Award and ELWa Modern Apprenticeship Award, and is continuing to make sure that people remain the ‘heart-beat’ of the company.

“It might sound strange, but although I’ve always recognised leadership qualities in myself, it wasn’t until the Leading Wales Awards that I realised I was a fully-fledged leader,” said Linda.

“Having someone nominate me for an award for excellence in leadership really brought it all home and I was thrilled. It was great the way everyone got behind me and it made me think about the issue of leadership in more detail.

“I’ve always thrived on challenges and I’ve ploughed a lot of energy into ensuring that people are Protectagroup’s number one priority, both in the shape of customers and staff.”

In just 18 months in both her roles, the company has not only been named as Wales’ largest independent insurance broker, but it has also completed a successful management buy-in, which saw Linda gain a 10 per cent equity in the business, acquired Broker Gateway & Vanguard Insurance and has several new acquisitions on the horizon.

But Linda insists she isn’t an ‘ivory tower’ leader: “Locking yourself away from your staff isn’t the way to lead. You must be accessible and communicate with them at all times.

“I like to think I have a ‘touchy-feely’ approach to leadership, in that I always try to encourage others, listen to their ideas, give plenty of feedback and, most of all, to say thank you as often as possible. It’s a simple thing, but it makes an enormous difference.

“My background in human resources has helped me to put people right at the centre of everything I do as a leader. They can make or break plans, but you must have them on board if you want to succeed.”

Tracey Bryant is a training officer at Protectagroup. She has worked with Linda for over five years: “Linda’s an amazing lady. She’s honest, passionate and committed. She draws on her personal experiences and turns everything into a positive. She also never makes any false promises and always delivers, which, in turn, spurs you to deliver for her, too.”