6 Leadership Insights From The Acumen Business Law Convention 2013
I attended the 2013 Acumen Business Law convention at the Grand Hotel in Brighton yesterday. It was the second time and once again delivered great value.
A big theme of the convention was an area that is of great interest to me, which is leadership. So what did I learn about leadership from the convention?
Purpose Matters
Penina Shepherd MD and Founder of Acumen Business Law talked about happiness and success. She highlighted how historically she associated happiness with achieving certain milestones and how now it is all about purpose. Having a clear purpose makes all the difference to the results you achieve.
You Have To Get Insight
Leaders are ultimately measured on results. To deliver results you have to understand your customers, clients or service users. Grant LeBoff highlighted how successful businesses are using the power of the web and social media to tap into what matters to customers of the organisation.
You Never Grow or Improve Without Innovation and Discomfort
Steve Ridgway who recently retired after 24 years as CEO at Virgin Atlantic stressed the importance of getting out of your comfort zone regularly. He also made the point that confident and capable people don’t worry about others being better than them. Instead they learn to utilise effectively all of the skills and expertise at their disposal.
You Have To Challenge The Stereotyping
Nikki King MD of Isuzu Truck UK told the story of being a leader in a male dominated industry. She talked about the prejudices she initially encountered both in the UK and in Japan and how she broke down the perceptions.
This really struck a chord with me being an accountant in large organisations for a large part of my career. Let’s be honest if we had £100 for every time we hear people say accountants are dull and boring we would probably be millionaires. Yet every profession has its labels or stereotyping. You can either accept it or challenge it.
Delivering Something Significant Takes Team Working
One of the most noticeable things about this convention was the importance of team working to making it a success. Of course the team at Acumen Business Law did an amazing job. However the team extended way beyond those from the firm. There were photographers, people doing videos, the staff at the event venue, the sponsors and so much more.
It was collective team working that delivered success.
Mindset Matters
This was the 4th Acumen Business Convention. There were 150 businesses in attendance, which is rare for a business type event in Brighton. One would think that to deliver this you would have to be the biggest company or firm in town. Or maybe that is just what we tell ourselves.
Clearly Acumen, who are a small but fast growing law firm have the mindset that anything is possible when you focus and aim to deliver a great experience.
This blog post was written by Duncan Brodie is Managing Director of Goals and Achievements Ltd who work with professional people and organisations in the health sector to help them deliver great results through people.
About the Author Duncan Brodie
Since 2006 I’ve worked with in excess of 8,000 accountants and professionals in workshops, seminars and one to one helping them land their next jobs and become better leaders, presenters and business partners. Before that I spent 25 years in accountancy climbing the career ladder from Payments Clerk to FD. I’m a CIMA Fellow, Certified Professional Coach and Team Coach Facilitator.