Compassionate leadership recognised with the Princess Royal Training awards

It was with great pride that I joined Sandra Henke and Will Tasho of Hays plc at St James's Palace on 23 November, where they received the Princess Royal Training Award, for the Hays International Leadership and Management Programme (ILMP). Sincere congratulations to Will and Sandra, and also to everyone supporting them on the delivery of this flagship programme - including Mission Performance , Inspirational Development Group and Mind Gym. This 8-day long blended component of the programme, led throughout by Will Tasho and our own Justin Featherstone, relies on the contribution of many to deliver the outstanding results worthy of this royal standard in training.

The Assessors of the PRTA were looking for very clear quantitative evidence that the programme has made a significant contribution to the success of the business. They found what they were looking for in the Hays submission. As a contributor, what is much more precious to me than the data and the numbers is what we witness as we work with the ILMP groups during the emotional journey that this programme offers them. Safety is created from Day 1, as well as a spacious yet rigorous reflective practise, so that when the groups arrive with Equest for Day 4 and Day 5, they are ready to embrace the vulnerability which working mindfully with horses invites. In this most subtle, profound and non-judgemental of learning environments, where we listen to and are guided by the interactions with the herd, minds and hearts can open to a new way of leading, a new way of being.

Permission is given throughout the programme to delegates to simply 'BE', to tend to themselves, to look inward as well as reach outward. The Hays International Leadership and Management Programme has at its foundation an invitation to its leaders to balance the commercial drive for results with leading their people with compassion and kindness. It is an honour to work on the ILMP and reassuring that a programme with such values can both evidence real transformation within the business and be recognised for it at such a high level.