Enterprise4All

Sir Chris takes Leaders to New Heights

On Thursday 28th January, Britain’s most famous mountaineer, Sir Chris Bonington met with an audience of local business managers at the University Centre in Blackburn to share with them his thoughts and experience of leadership.

The masterclass was organised by the Lancashire based business support organisation, Enterprise4All, as part of LEAD – an intensive ten-month leadership development programme funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA.)

In all, around 50 local business people participated in the interactive session, in which Sir Chris took them through the planning, history, logistics and decision making processes of his successful bid to reach to the summit of Mount Everest in 1975. As expedition leader, he had to contend with the practical challenges of managing a team of 80 - including climbers, sherpas and support personnel - but he also had to deal with many more human issues such as morale, motivation and conflicts of personality and ambition.

“Sir Chris’s account of the1975 British Everest Expedition was enlightening and inspiring for all of us,” recalls Enterprise4All’s Chief Executive, Ilyas Munshi. “He drew clear parallels between the challenges he faced then and the challenges that business managers face today. His descriptions and his questions to the audience really emphasised the relevance of key leadership issues such as team building, confidence, trust and the ability to be sensitive to people’s feelings.  These are sometimes described as ‘soft skills’ but by showing how crucial these things were in the context of life-and-death decision making, Sir Chris enabled us all to recognise that they should never be overlooked, nor their importance under-estimated.”

The masterclass presentation was well received by the delegates, many of whom have now been working together for several weeks on the LEAD programme, sharing advice and experience and helping one another with their day to day challenges. Other audience members will shortly be taking part in the same programme as part of a second LEAD cohort organised by Enterprise4All, and further cohorts are planned for later in the year.

As part of its work on LEAD, Enterprise4All has arranged presentations by a number of other masterclass speakers including ‘Secret Millionaire’ Kavita Oberoi and motivational speaker Chris Moon who – having survived kidnap, threatened execution and a landmine explosion – ran a marathon less than a year after leaving hospital with new artificial limbs.

Launched in May 2009, the LEAD programme is open to businesses employing up to 20 people and provides various forms of support. It emphasises leadership and strategy and comprises a mixture of interactive workshops, management exchanges and inspirational masterclasses. These and other elements emphasise the importance of being able to step back from the day to day routines and to give thought to how best to grow the business - rather than simply how to run it.

Companies wishing to find out more about Enterprise4All’s work on the programme should call  Business Link North West on 0845 00 66 888 or visit www.businesslinknw.co.uk/lead and select “Enterprise4All” from the list of providers.