Headteacher Darryl Wideman, of independent school Radnor House in Twickenham, was keen to introduce a coaching culture into his school, from the senior and middle leadership through to all staff and older pupils.
Shropshire Petals have now put three members of the team through training with Synergia to help improve leadership and management skills throughout the company.
Ashley Corrigan, head of marketing at Shropshire Petals is coming to the end of her ILM Level 3 Leadership and Management course with Synergia and it’s given her a new found understanding of getting the best out of people and helped streamline the team.
Over the course of a year Ashley has had six sessions in person with Clare Barnett, MD at Synergia, and had six assignments to complete on the back of these.
Ashley said: “The sessions are great, I get a lot from them and the assignments are a good way to put what you’ve learned down on paper.
“I wanted to do the course for self-progression and because we’ve grown so much as a company. I needed the skills and knowledge to manage a successful team and continue to encourage a culture of learning and development.”
Ashley’s colleagues Katie and Rose who also completed the ILM courses with Synergia, recommended it to her. Katie the General Manager has completed both Level 3 and 5, and Rose has done Level 3 in Leadership and Management. Shropshire Petals is a forward thinking brand that invests in the personal growth of its people to drive sustainable business development.
Regarding challenges she was facing, Ashley said the course has helped her personally: “I needed the skills to know how to handle different scenarios and consider how to get the best out of each team member. There are three of us in the marketing team now so having the additional knowledge and experience helps me to pass on my learning to my colleagues.
“I found it really beneficial learning and understanding that everyone has different needs and has different ways of communicating.
“Following one of my sessions, I reflected on how I was talking to the team. I also learned the importance of planning in advance. This has helped us make changes such as our weekly catch up meetings. They genuinely keep us on track.
“Since starting the course it has made me question things I would have usually assumed, like clearly defined job roles, values and missions of the company and objectives of the team. We’ve now created a document outlining everyone’s job roles which removes any chance of crossover and allows the team to function with more streamline.”
Not only has the course with Synergia helped to build Ashley’s confidence as a team leader but it’s given her an additional tool to use during her day-to-day role. She added: “It has helped because if I’m unsure about something I can refer back to the course to see if I can relate anything to the situation.”
By working with Synergia, Ashley has learned to identify the different personality types and can now adapt to the person she’s speaking with depending on the “animal” personality she identifies them to be.
Ashley added: “It’s great knowing which animal I am and what others are so I can recognise how to communicate with different people, this is an exercise that we did as a whole team. It helps you with approaching and understanding other people as well as yourself.
“From taking on the course, the team has more structure to it and we have more goals and objectives. It helps me understand now why management decisions are made which has been really beneficial and I would recommend the course.”
If you’re interested in a course with Synergia visit our courses page or call the team on 01785 319 128.