What does it mean for you and your organisation?

Date: Friday 2^nd December 2011
Time: 7.30am – 9.30am
Venue: Ramada Hotel, Shaws Bridge.

Opening Speaker: Bill McGinnis, NI Skills Advisor
Keynote Speakers: Prof. Mike Smyth, Economist, UUJ and Alan Montgomery, Policy Specialist, Gilpin. 

Cost: £25

Places are limited and filling up fast. To reserve your’s please contact Stephen Warke on 02890 769900 or email stephen.warke@gilpinesd.com

Gilpin Public Sector Learning is led by the Head of Corporate Development, Alan Montgomery, who has over 20 years experience in all aspects of the public policy environment and will be responsible for the roll-out and delivery of high-calibre training particularly aimed towards the public sector.

Speaking today, Gilpin’s Senior Partner Gerry Gilpin said, “I am delighted that we are
spearheading this exciting and innovative venture in Public Sector Learning. This is an example of how Gilpin is continuing to grow and expand its strong brand and reputation of delivery in a very difficult economic climate.”

“We offer an impressive and unparalleled suite of programmes that will not only challenge but equip and empower civil servants to better deliver on a daily basis. The extensive public sector experience that Alan Montgomery brings to this role will enhance our ability to meet the ever changing needs of the Northern Ireland Civil Service in the 21st Century.”

Gilpin’s Head of Corporate Development, Alan Montgomery also added, “The new Programme for Government and the deep economic challenges we are facing place an unprecedented demand upon policy leaders for creative and innovative solutions and a more entrepreneurial policy culture. Many of the traditional approaches to policy design and delivery are no longer effective in the new global to local context. The Executive is under continued criticism for not being responsive enough in supporting recovery and growth which emphasises the need for urgent transformation of the policy process and the culture in which solutions are developed.”

“This is a golden opportunity, within the context of challenge, change and reform, to modernise the policy profession and to develop a more robust, resilient and responsive public service that really does support recovery and growth.”

Harry S Truman said, “Men and women make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better”.

The challenge of the current financial and economic crisis that dragged us into recession is seriously impacting on the global economy. Right now, almost every country needs a whole new generation of leaders at all levels and in all walks of life.

Undoubtedly there are huge talent pools of potential leaders amongst us. If we don’t encourage them to grow, we do them and ourselves a serious injustice. Harold Geneen said, “Leadership cannot really be taught. It can only be learned.” So, how do you nurture the values, traits and skills in yourself, to become a leader in whatever job you do?

The seven steps to being a leader, explained below, give you an insight into how to develop your leadership ability. These are not easy things to do, but no great leaders ever emerged on the back of an easy life!

1. Build the right values. Start with your inner self and the fundamental values you should nurture to build a strong foundation for leadership. Be open, honest, true to yourself and show high levels of integrity. Be trusting of all those you meet and trustworthy in all that you do. Show respect for all, embrace diversity and uphold equality. Strive to serve others and to work hard.

2. Get the right attitude. Use those same values to develop an attitude to life and work to support your leadership development. Believe in yourself, be highly motivated, and be confident and committed. Maintain high levels of energy and effort. Nurture the desire to learn and grow. Be responsible and accountable, professionally, socially and environmentally. Be passionate and driven.

3. Keep learning, developing and improving.  A good leader will always be seeking to learn, develop and improve themselves, the people around them, and their performance. To do this be self‐aware and keep an open mind and strong spirit. Learn from your experience and focus on growth, not failure. Take time out to be creative, innovative and imaginative. Solve problems with understanding, insight and initiative. Stay focused on improvement and achievement.

4. Build great relationships. Try to recognise opportunities to practise your leadership ability, in team situations. Relationships are built on trust. If your team trusts you to lead them, you can. Remember to always lead by example, but you don’t always need to lead from the front. Be caring, compassionate, supportive and tolerant. Be a team player and a team builder. Consult and involves others, seeking and valuing ideas and opinions. Know your team talents and harness diversity as a strength. Collaborate with others and work through partnerships.

5. Share your vision for change. Leadership can also be about having a higher sense of purpose and bringing people to a better place. Understand the people and the world around you, and care strongly enough to make a difference. Always seek to develop new insights. Think broadly, plan long term and act inclusively. Define, clarify and share your vision. Negotiate fairly and be ethical and moral in influencing others. This, along with the steps you have followed so far, will give you the power and the passion to lead, and will attract the hearts of others, who will follow.

6. Be adaptable and resilient.  Being a leader is tough, mentally and physically. If you are prepared to lead, you must be able to endure. Build the resilience and the adaptability to cope with challenging people and situations. Learn to anticipate, respond to and facilitate change. Seek new business directions, opportunities and challenges. Strive to be emotionally balanced and manage your stress effectively.

7. Get the job done and get results.  In addition to all of the steps so far, leadership is also about getting results through people. Focus on long term sustainability, including energy and resource efficiency. Quickly resolve any conflict, restore balance, and focus on achievement, improvement and growth. Make sure your people, structure, and processes are aligned to support performance excellence. Ensure strategy and plans continuously evolve.

Lastly, have a think about the story of ‘The Chicken and the Eagle’. One day, an eagle egg falls from the nest and rolls down the hill into a chicken pen. The egg hatches and the bird grows up along with all the other chickens. The chickens can never break out of the pen and life is boring and repetitive. One day the eagle looks up at the sky and sees two eagles soaring high above the hills. The eagle thinks, “Wouldn’t it be fantastic if I could soar in the skies like those birds!”

All the eagle has to do is try its wings and it will fly. If it never tries, it will never know that it could fly and will continue to live it’s mundane and repetitive existence, just like all the other chickens.

You can write your own ending to this story. Our advice is to try your wings and soar like an eagle!

One of Michelangelo’s greatest successes was his sculpture of David. He worked on it with such passion that he often slept in his clothes, resenting the time it took to take them off and put them on again.  He repeatedly examined and measured the marble to see what pose it could accommodate.  He made hundreds of sketches of possible attitudes, and detailed drawings from models.  He tested his ideas in wax on a small scale, and only when he was satisfied did he pick up his chisel and mallet.

He approached the painting of the Sistine Chapel with the same intensity. Lying at uncomfortable angles on hard boards, breathing in the suffocating air just under the vault,
he suffered from inflamed eyes and skin irritation from the plaster dust. After four years he produced his masterpiece.

This might be  an extreme example of success but lets try to bring it down to our level by referring to Dr Martin Luther King Jr who said that if a man is called to be a road sweeper he should sweep them as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry.  He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause and say: ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.’   That for him was success.

For many it is survival rather than success that is the name of the game, and this means holding down that job or getting back into employment following redundancy. But surely to survive is to succeed provided of course you make the right decisions.  And to a large extent whatever situation you are in today has been determined by the decisions you took in the past. So if you want to change the future you need to learn to make better decisions. Here are some guiding principles on how to make better decisions:

1. Don’t make permanent decisions based on temporary circumstances. To take the first job you are offered in a redundancy situation could be a big mistake
2.  Don’t let your emotions blind your reasoning. Weigh things carefully and base your decisions on mature judgement, having weighed up all the “pros” and “cons”
3. Seek the advise of others. Draw on the experience of people you can trust without being intimidated by them
4. Take time to consider all options. Remember what looks inviting today may not look so good tomorrow. So don’t be flattered by the first job offer you receive.
5. Take time to get all the facts: Too often career decisions are taken without carrying research on the potential organisation’s culture and management style with disastrous outcomes
6. Consider the consequences of each decision.  Having looked at the options and got the facts make sure you are ready to live with your decision
7. Be realistic about your competencies. If you can’t count don’t apply for a job in the Finance Department. Focus on what you are good at and have experience of.
8. Time is of the essence. This is your most limited and valuable resource. So don’t wait for the job to land on your lap as the chances are this will take some time given the numbers applying for each job

So what is the dividing line between success and failure? I believe it is the amount of preparation that you make. Think back to Michelangelo and David.  Had he not prepared he would probably have failed.  The late Arthur Ashe (one of the great tennis Champions) said: ‘the key to winning was self-confidence and the key to self-confidence is preparation.’

Asked how long it would take to bring his ship to a stop, the captain of the Queen Mary replied: ‘A little over a mile.’  Then he added: ‘A good captain thinks at least a mile ahead.’

Your success as you consider your future career is determined by how important it is to you, and your ability to prepare for it. And this is built around wise planning, based on common sense and keeping abreast of the facts.

One of the founding fathers of the United States once said: ‘Men give me credit for genius, but all the genius I have lies in this: when I have a subject to hand, I study it profoundly.’

We are fast approaching the summer season so why not take stock of where you are on the career ladder, and do what all successful people in all walks of life have done – namely prepare well.  So get a good CV written that clearly and concisely states what you have done and achieved.  However this will take time and mean that you will have to ‘think profoundly’ – something very few people do and therefore fail when applying for jobs.  But if you do I this is the best way for you to gain in self-confidence and is essential if you to perform well at your next interview.

At this morning’s event the GROW NI representative Eamon Donaghy said, “Today is not about the detail of implementing a reduced rate of corporation tax. That debate can take place, and indeed should take place, once the Assembly has the power to vary the corporation tax rate. Today and the next four weeks are about achieving the ability to vary the rate, then we can have the detailed debate about rates and timescale.”

The GROW NI campaign is widely supported and involves a comprehensive range of business organisations and deserves congratulations on achieving an historical and unprecedented amalgamation of support organisations and private companies.  It is clear that there are potential benefits to the economy in NI of reducing CT with some saying it could lead to up to 90,000 new sustainable and well-paid jobs over the next 20 years.
But the spin offs to the wider economy and increase in sustainable wealth across Northern Ireland are harder to measure but equally tantalising.

Gilpin encourages clients, suppliers and followers to support the campaign and to respond to their MP, MLAs, and in particular to the Treasury outlining what CT variation would mean to your business in terms of profit, investment, employment, and export potential.  The document can be downloaded here and it requires everyone’s assistance to inform the Treasury to ensure that NI is granted the ability to vary tax rates here.  Please send correspondence to: 

Richard Williams
Room 2/N2
HM Treasury
1 Horse Guards Road
London SW1A 2HQ

Programmes are as follows:

• An Introduction to Developing Policy (2 Days)
• Evaluating Policy Outcomes & Impact (2 Days)
• Consultation, Engagement & Communication (1 Day)
• Equality – Introduction to Section 75 and Schedule 9 (1 Day)
• Conducting an Equality Impact Assessment (1 Day)
• Statutory Requirement – Conducting a Regulatory Impact Assessment (2 Days)
• Access to Information – Data Protection, Freedom of Information (1 Day)
• The Main Sources of Law in NI (1 Day)
• Legislating at the NI Assembly (1 Day)
• Appearing Before a NI Assembly Committee (1 Day)
• Combating Fraud (1/2 Day)
• Introduction to Investigative Skills (1/2 Day)
• Introduction to Bribery Bill 2010 (1/2 Day)

Places are restricted to 16 on each course to provide maximum participation and transference of learning to the workplace. Available on a ‘pay as you go’ basis we are confident these courses will become  extremely popular across the wider public sector. For more information visit http://www.gilpinesd.com/services/executive-corporate-development/programmes/ To register against any one of the various dates http://www.gilpinesd.com/contact/  or simply contact Gillian at 02890 769900.

Organised by the IoD, the visit to Titanic Quarter presented a superb demonstration of a blend of history of a golden era in the industrial history of Northern Ireland with a vision of the future of the landscape where once thousands worked.  The Titanic Quarter includes already established developments such as the NI Science Park and.  When completed the whole area will be transformed and include living space, retail outlets, hotels, work space, a financial services centre amongst other attractions and landmark buildings.      

Artist’s Impression of how the Titanic Signature Project will look from the north.

Titanic Signature Project Belfast under construction taken from the old H&W HQ to the south.

The presentation from key executives involved was delivered with pride in the past and passion for the future; emotions that were quite infectious as the plans were outlined and during the subsequent tour of the building (under construction) and surrounding area. We were then provided a tour of the area which started with a tour of the old Harland & Wolff HQ.  Sadly this  historic building is in a state of disrepair although the tour guide, who is a self-proclaimed “Titanorak”, enabled those present to grasp the enormity of the business that was being done in 1912 and the feats of engineering expertise that  marked H&W out as a world-class shipbuilder.  This experience was all delivered with an understanding of how the great and the good like Ismay, Pirrie, Andrews etc entertained guests like Kaiser Billy in the Boardroom prior to the launching of the Olympic  mixed in with tails of what working life at the yard was like for the thousands who laboured on the great ships.    

Harland & Wolff Drawing Office where Thomas Andrews and his team of experts designed the world's greatest ships at the time.

The Titanic Dock Belfast (formerly the Thompson Dry Dock, a name with less tourist appeal) which holds 21 million gallons of water to float ships like RMS Titanic into it.

Titanic Pump House Belfast, which had the capacity to pump 21 m gallons of water out of the dock in approx 90 minutes so that work could be carried out on Olympic Class Ocean Liners

For any person interested in the martitime history of Belfast and how the future lanscape of Queen’s Island it is highly recommended to visit the area and take a tour with the excellent guides at the Titanic Dock & Pumphouse. 

Will there be a recovery? Will there be a double dip?

At Gilpin we are not economists.  We are not soothsayers either.  What we are is leading providers of Executive Search and Development in Northern Ireland.  During this holiday time we are experiencing strong levels of activity in the Executive recruitment market and we are being asked to source senior executives in areas and sectors which last year were frankly depressed.

Why is this?  Our observation is not a view on the economy or its recovery or otherwise.  However, it is clear that whilst businesses are shedding roles they are still in the business of making profit.  NI businesses are changing direction and looking for new opportunities.  With that come new career opportunities.  Even in the slowest recruitment month (July) in Northern Ireland we are currently searching for talent.  Some of which include:

- Business Development Executive: £40k for a specialist manufacturing business
- Construction Director: £100k+ for an international construction company
- Senior Estimator: £40k for a major structural steel company
- Head of Communications: £40k for a public affairs organisation
- Business Director: £50k for a professional services company
- Business Development Manager: £35k for a private membership organisation
- Operations Manager: £45k+ for a nation-wide service sector business

In addition to the above we are retained to source the senior management team for a manufacturing company that is bucking the trend in the sector and expanding rapidly, whilst we are constantly on the look out for top entrepreneurial talent to lead organisations across a range of functions for investment companies.

If these roles are of interest to you, or someone who you know, get in touch (in strictest confidence) with our Search & Selection team on 028 9076 9900 or email roger.gilpin@gilpinesd.com

If you wish the Gilpin Executive Search team to source your future leaders please get in touch immediately to access Northern Ireland’s senior execs who aren’t knowingly in the job market.  We have a track record of successfully attracting skills and experience from both within and outside NI for companies operating here.  Telephone 02890769900 for a confidential conversation about your business resourcing requirements.

In this time of looking for savings and smarter ways to things on of the best move small and large companies can make is to train front line managers in how to manage more effectively and efficiently, doing more with less, while at the same time exploiting new opportunities. This includes managing people as well as tasks and processes.

We at Gilpin recognise how difficult it is to balance resources and to allow staff time to develop for the betterment of the business. That is why we have come up with an innovative way to offer a ‘business friendly’ First Line Management Qualification that will not mean serious downtime for managers and that will balance their personal investment with the company investment. For just 3 hours per week over 10 -12 weeks you could see serious improvements in the way your buisness is handled.

This is great news for managers who struggle to make the savings and improvements without the know how and for companies who would love their managers to manage better but cant afford the time. Interested? Contact us now for details.

Qualifications in First Line management

ILM Level 3 Award in First Line Management

• Learning assessed through work based assignment
• Local flexible delivery
• ILM approved professional tutors
• Additional tutorial support

Duration: The course is usually completed over 10 – 12 weeks. This allows for the implementation of the course back in the workplace between training sessions and for reviewing, during the course, learners results after implementation.

The ILM Level 3 Award in First Line Management is a qualification that has been specially designed to give practising or aspiring first line managers a solid foundation in their formal development as a manager. The Award is a concise qualification which gives an introduction to the basic skills, knowledge and understanding required by today’s first line manager.

Course Overview 

This practical course focuses on providing practising or aspiring first line managers with a recognised qualification whilst sharing insight and learning on the fundamentals of management. The course, which is accredited by the ILM, can generate significant payback for you and your employee in terms of cost savings and quality improvements in your workplace. The course provides a toolkit of techniques to apply upon return to the workplace. In addition each delegate will receive one-to-one trainer feedback, on the course, to help them action plan how they will apply their learning back in the work-place.

The mandatory unit ‘Solving Problems and Making Decisions’ is designed to develop practical techniques for tackling managerial problems and making decisions from gathering and interpreting information through to the effective communication of outcomes. Other Units include: 

• Introduction to Leadership
• Developing yourself and your staff
• Organising, allocating and delegating work
• Managing Projects, processes and tasks
• Managing performance, innovation and improvement

Course tutors are all ILM approved and come from a current commercial/business background and have operated at senior / middle management level.

The course content is practically oriented, covering essential leadership and management theories, relevant case studies, and practical exercises. Participant’s complete action plans to encourage the transference of learning into the participant’s workplace.

The course is delivered through a highly interactive mix of presentations, syndicate exercises, interactive discussions and tutorials.

Pre requisites: Participants will normally be either practising or aspiring first line manager.

Course Dates & Locations

W/C 16^th August 2010, Airport Road. Belfast.

Costs: £425.00 + VAT, including registration and ILM studying membership.

For further details please contact Ray Mc Cabe at 02890 764946 / 0779580212 or email ray.mccabe@gilpinesd.com or Gillian.fleming@gilpinesd.com.