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As executive in a multi-national FTSE 100 company, I have lead teams in all key aspects of marketing function. • Brand Management • Marketing Research • Strategy and planning • Communications • Sales management Throughout these roles I became increasingly interested in career development and personal growth. Early on these interests were purely motivated by self-interest: • How do I enhance my promotion prospects ? • Can I get on an important project? I like most employees was acuity aware of the metrics as key rewards in any company. As I became increasingly responsible for leading project teams, then departments I became passionate about people development. In the early days I focused on skill development, but soon adjusted my thinking to invest in growth for employees as whole people. This meant that not all development was focused on the job, and sometimes the job seemed almost tangential to the development. I saw dramatic business results, as employee’s changed many aspects of their lives personally and professionally. It is important to note this happened in an organization that had thousands of employee’s. Over the years I was struck by a few key thoughts 1) When managers lead their teams with true consideration of them as people, results are spectacular. 2) All organization’s PR suggests they are great employers; however few embed this requirement in their line managers KPI’s. As a result they are far from great employers 3) People’s goals, values and working styles align with some organizations better than others. Finding the right fit is critical to a happy and successful career. This has led me to focus on the principle that a manager’s role is to ‘turn people on’; most organizations fail to understand this as a primary function of their leaders. I hope to share my thoughts on people development and career guidance in this blog. AK