To win was such a privilege; it really showed me the quality of learning I had received during my MBA, and the benefit that it has brought me over the years
why I chose Manchester Metropolitan University – because I wanted to learn strategy and I also wanted to be able to use what I learnt not just theoretically, but in practise once I had achieved my MBA. What do you think are the most important traits of good leader? People say that you don’t leave an organisation, you leave your manager or leader, and I think that’s very true. When I went to Northamptonshire, I was the fourth chief executive in eight months. I had a workforce of almost 5,000 people who were feeling very demoralised and not inclined to trust the person who’d come in to run the organisation when my three predecessors had left in very short order. I had to gain people’s trust to be able to lead them; I had to make sure that I was honest and transparent with them. I told them that I was likely to make life more difficult and not easier, but that, if they stuck with me, I would see it through to the end. I wasn’t going to leave them, and that was an important personal and professional commitment I made over those three years. I think leading by example would be the first trait of a good leader, in my view. Asking people or telling people to do something is not as effective as them seeing you do it yourself. As I came up through local government, I’ve done every job that I’m asking everybody else to do, so I can relate to them and be seen to be fair. Fairness is probably one of the things that’s most
time to be the best villages that had been experienced by the athletes. Looking back on my career, that was quite a major achievement, and I got to meet royalty and prime ministers, and all sorts. That was a very big achievement. But then I think about turning around Northamptonshire and creating two unitary councils. Was that my greatest achievement? I’m not sure either of them would be. I think about when we got our children’s services in my counsel at the time, to achieve the best Ofsted inspection in the country. That was such a fantastic and major achievement because of the impact it had on children’s lives. I still remember when we were given the judgement by Ofsted, and my team which actually achieved that; we all had worked so hard, and we worked together to get that. It was very difficult to get that at the time. It wasn’t given out easily. What it meant to me was that we were doing a good job for children, the way we should be. We were so proud of that – and whenever I think about achievements, that’s one that really comes back to me every time. I would have to put it in there as probably one of the greatest achievements as a collective team. What advice would you give someone thinking about completing their MBA? I would encourage anyone, young and old, whether you’re full-time employed or not, to think about doing an MBA. I have several reasons for that.
important to me, having come through a system where I have experienced unfairness; 43 years ago, as a woman joining an authority in Ireland, you couldn’t expect ever to get a promotion beyond a certain level; you were almost told not to expect it. It’s not like that now, I’m pleased to say. So, unfairness is something I experienced a lot, and therefore, when I got into a position where I could make a difference, and make changes, fairness was at the forefront of every decision. I think a good leader is always fair; sometimes firm, but always fair. That is another important trait. I also think leaders need to have compassion and empathy. You cannot get people to work for you, and commit to you as an individual, if you don’t care about them. You must care about them, you must take an interest in them – a genuine interest, in their personal lives, and care about them – not just show a passing interest. Those three traits are the three things that I’ve brought with me throughout my career, and they have served me very well. What has been the most significant achievement of your career so far? In a career that spans more than four decades, it’s difficult to come up with the single answer for that one. I was Villages General Manager for the Commonwealth Games in 2002 in Manchester, and it was an amazing experience to be part of such a big machine, and such a big success. I delivered three villages in different locations, and they were deemed at the
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