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TMI Helps Rubber Maker Bounce In His Career

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  /  Case Studies   /  TMI Helps Rubber Maker Bounce In His Career

TMI Helps Rubber Maker Bounce In His Career

Nathan Williams signed up for the Manufacturing Institute’s Leadership Development Programme [LDP] to hone his management skills – and came away with so much more: a rejuvenated faith in his own abilities and an unexpected eagerness to see how far he can rise up the career ladder.

An unhappy earlier foray into management had left him doubting his readiness for top-tier roles.

“I was in a management position once before and I just didn’t know how to manage people,” says Nathan, who works for rubber manufacturer Hexpol Compounding, based in Dukinfield, Greater Manchester. “I actually ended up leaving that role because I wasn’t comfortable with my ability to do it as effectively as I wanted to.”

It’s a story perhaps familiar to many who have been promoted at work. Proving yourself highly capable in one role, you’re swooped on for a more senior position with the assumption that you already possess the new skills necessary for leadership. That’s rarely the case, so Nathan was far from alone in feeling out of his depth.

He voluntarily took a step back and threw himself into a few less senior jobs. Proving himself once more to be a hard worker and smart thinker, he inevitably found himself earmarked for promotion yet again.

But, how to stop history repeating itself?

Now the sky’s the limit

“When I started working my way back up again I realised that I really need to learn how to manage people and how to talk to them,” reflects Nathan, an Efficiency and Improvement Manager.

Luckily, Nathan happened upon a brochure for our October 2019 LDP course – and eight weeks of intensive learning later, his difference in outlook is transformational.

“Now I find myself back up into management, the course has given me the confidence to look for even higher jobs”

“Now I find myself back up into management, the course has given me the confidence to look for even higher jobs,” Nathan explains “I want to push it even further now because I feel I’ve got all the information I need to become a good director eventually.”

Unlocking people’s potential

Although no two management jobs are ever quite the same, one thing unites them all – an ability to lead from the front. But, how best to inspire and motivate others? The LDP is packed with practical tips which are easily transferable back to the workplace.

Tellingly, Nathan stumbled upon one example just days after discussing it on the course – the notion of positive reinforcement. He witnessed his director compliment a production manager on the tidiness of his work area – only for the production manager to immediately set about making it even tidier.

Praise can trigger pride. It might sound obvious, but sometimes until such ideas are verbalised in a learning environment like the LDP, they can prove elusive.

“The thing that stuck with me most is how necessary it is as a manager to look at things from other people’s points of view”

“The thing that stuck with me most,” says Nathan, “is how necessary it is as a manager to look at things from other people’s points of view. I enjoy reading books on persuasion and how people’s minds work, but my knowledge of that just hovered in the background. The course brought it front and centre.

“Now I realise just how true it is that nobody looks through the same pair of eyes. Everyone has had their own experiences in the past and views things from a slightly different perspective.”

Communication is key

Nathan also acknowledged a need to delegate more – not only freeing up his own work time but also empowering his team by driving them to take more responsibility for their actions.

The ability to communicate your vision confidently to workmates is vital for ensuring everyone pulls in the same direction. That requires polished public speaking or presentation skills – another area in which Nathan’s previous journey into management came unstuck.

“On the LDP I learned that presenting is a skill as much as anything else and that practice makes perfect”

“Beforehand, I was having to give presentations to my team and while in my head I knew all the information, as I went along I could see myself losing people,” Nathan recalls. “On the LDP I learned that presenting is a skill as much as anything else and that practice makes perfect.

“When I was tasked with doing a presentation during the course, I felt I now had the skills and confidence to pull it off. I kept all the guys engaged, they were giving me answers, writing it all down, discussing it among themselves – honestly, it was 1,000 per cent better than the first time when they just sat there and glazed over!”

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