Partner Article

Manchester businesses become the ‘Hosts with the Most’

Host Leadership Ltd, UK – Businesses in Manchester were given the opportunity to delve into the new yet timeless art for building engagement in teams, organisations and communities this week, after the authors of the award-nominated book ’HOST’ presented at a CIPD event last week.

The CIPD event, which took place on Friday 15 May 2015 at Chancellors Hotel, saw Dr Mark McKergow and Helen Bailey provide a practical and thought-provoking session on the importance of ‘leading as a host’, which drew on results of over a decade of research into successful hosting and leading. Illustrated through new stories from around the world, experience gathered from leaders and internationally acclaimed hosts, eye-opening metaphors and many practical connections, the duo introduced attendees to a whole new yet ancient way of thinking about leading as relationship building and engagement.

The idea of leaders acting more like a ‘host’ and less of a ‘hero’ is a trend already being adopted by many high profile businesses, including retail chain Morrisons, whose CEO David Potts recently announced that Head Office staff would spend more time in stores, an approach which mirrors a similar move by Tesco’s CEO Dave Morris at Tesco.

Dr Mark McKergow, an acclaimed leadership specialist and author of a number of industry-leading books including his most recent with Bailey, ’Host: Six new roles of engagement for teams, organizations, communities, movements (£11.99/$14.99, Solutions Books, London), said:

“The key role of the host - someone who receives and entertains guests - is deeply embedded in human society worldwide. The metaphor of leader as host offers a view on leadership that is at once rooted in millennia of practice and at the same time something new and timely. The act of inviting someone, of welcoming them, of responding to their needs whilst taking responsibility for their safety gives us a new view of many dimensions of leadership. Hosts are constantly stepping forward and back, taking action and being responsive, providing for people whilst retaining accountability. Myself and Helen believe it is crucial for leaders to better understand how they can use their existing knowledge of hosting, refine it and build on it for an instant new awareness of possibilities for engagement, performance and results.”

Mckergow and Bailey are continuing with a busy and exciting tour of speaking engagements this month which include presenting at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark, the TATE galleries in London and the 3rd Global Conference on Business Management in Singapore in the Summer.

Host: Six new roles of engagement for teams, organizations, communities, movements (£11.99/$14.99, Solutions Books, London) is written by Helen Bailey and Mark McKergow. For more information visit www.hostleadership.com

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Media Jems PR .