Partner Article

Business leaders in the North East study

Millions of Brits are being subjected to bosses more deluded that the fictitious David Brent. In a study of 200 small and medium sized businesses (SME) managers in the North East, 78% claimed that they considered themselves good leaders.

Standout figures included:

• 78% of SME MD’s in the North East think they are a good leader
• 43% have never had leadership training
• Vast majority believe that staff are money-motivated

The study was commissioned by Sandler Training (UK), a business development consultancy, to get insight into local leadership skills. It comes in the wake of the news from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, which outlined that nearly three-quarters of SMEs in England report a deficit in leadership and management skills.

Despite the vast majority of SME bosses believing that they are good leaders, 43% confess that they have never had any formal leadership training. This accounts for the huge discrepancies in leadership styles – 35% claim they have a direct and hierarchical style and 27% reveal that they have a relaxed approach to management.

Compounding this delusion is confusion over what motivates staff. 52% of bosses in the North East think that pay is what motivates their staff, which explains why 69% of respondents give their best staff more money in the hope that they will stay with the company.

Andrew Pickersgill, of Sandler Training (UK) in the North East comments: “Over 25.2 million people in the UK work for SMEs – no doubt many of them have scare stories about their boss. But the fact is, you’d be hard pressed to find a boss who was aware that their reign of leadership feels like a reign of terror. Understandably, employees are not forthcoming about their bad bosses shortcomings.

“Leadership skills are not innate but without them your business will suffer. Staff rarely leave for money, they leave because they don’t feel valued and they don’t relate to the boss. A bad boss is bad for business – don’t delude yourself, reap the benefits of improving your skills.”

About Sandler Training (UK)

Sandler Training is the UK’s leading sales, management and leadership training organisation, with 30 centres of excellence across the country. The Sandler method uses non-traditional, disruptive methods Sandler gives busy entrepreneurs the freedom to change on a personal and professional level.

Sandler Training in the UK is part of a global organisation with over 40 years’ experience; its headquarters are in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Andrew Pickersgill .