We recently caught up with our free place prize draw winner Anisha Gadhia after she attended the Directors Development Programme in Chester. Anisha spoke to us about her experience with us and our excellent tutors Tim Evans, Stewart McCombe and Matt Eld.
We asked Anisha for her thoughts about the course, how she found the tutors and her key takeaways from the course.
Read what she had to say below…
What are your thoughts about the Directors Development Programme?
I attended the programme in Chester. It came at a time when my confidence had really hit rock bottom in the workplace. I was experiencing a strong sense of imposter syndrome combined with a sense of not having a clear framework within which to undertake my role and deliver on my responsibilities. It was really helpful meeting a rich and varied group of participants – each with their own stories but also different experiences; and really helpful to see people meeting huge challenges in the workplace with confidence but wanting to learn better ways of tackling workplace objectives in a volatile, changing environment. Although I work in the civil service, many participants were from the private sector. It was interesting to compare challenges and approaches.
What I found really helpful about the programme for the week was the fact that it literally walked you through the fundamentals of the director role, and shared models, theories and approaches to the development of strategy and people; together with insights into leadership and the leadership role. What you are left with is a road map or toolkit to address almost any leadership issue that you might face.
What were your thoughts about the tutors and your learning experience?
The environment was brilliant. A beautiful boardroom at Chester University. The facilitators are all training and industry experts. The whole week was focused on the development of the participants and the facilitators’ ensured that the setting was a safe space to share experiences and take away relevant learning.
The facilitators were generous with their time and advice not only during the week but also post-programme. You feel a strong sense of support and commitment to developing people into effective leaders.
What are your key takeaways from the course?
Underlying the week for me was optimism balanced with realism. The tutors have real life, real time experience as they all involved as industry advisors. They are not relying on anecdotes from a time when they were in the workplace years ago, which not only lends legitimacy to what they say but also means that they are able to help participants work through current workplace challenges. It was a life changing week for me. I returned to work with my confidence greatly improved and a firm sense of my role as leader.
We would like to thank Anisha for her fantastic feedback and hope to catch up with her again soon in the coming months about how she’s feeling and performing within her role with her developed knowledge and skill set.
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