Helping Leaders Get Better – Event for HR Directors

24 January 2017 by Alejandro Agustín Cano

2 minutes (500 Words)

Business is personal according to executive, entrepreneur, and consultant Brian Jones.

Brian’s people-first management methodology has had a profound influence on some of the world’s leading organisations – including the Harvard Business Alumni Network, where Brian presented his signature leadership framework alongside prominent macroeconomists.

La Fosse Associates has first-hand experience of Brian’s approach. We’ve implemented the methodology successfully ourselves, using it to shape our own values of treating everyone with care and respect.

This January, I invited Brian to present his leadership development methodology to a table of HR Directors in London. He shared his key learnings from years of experience of working with some of the world’s highest-profile executives, corporations and business academics.

Here are a few of his key takeaways about inspiring and developing great leaders:

1. You don’t have to be a natural born leader

Do leaders have to be born with the right personal attributes to rally people to their cause? Not necessarily, according to Brian. All leaders have different traits. They can be extrovert or introvert. They can be confident, they can be insecure. But the one thing that unites them is that they have a following. And according to Brian, leadership can be taught.

2. Leadership has nothing to do with hierarchy

Do leaders have to be higher up on the corporate ladder? Another incorrect assumption, says Brian. Only managers do. Leaders can appear at any level in all kinds of organisations from choirs to sports teams to corporate boards. The same principle applies – leaders are people whose insights are trusted, valued and inspire people to follow them.

3. Followship is a choice

Brian coined this term to describe the important difference between people believing in what you say, rather than merely doing what you tell them. This is a crucial factor that separates successful leaders from good managers. Followship creates enthusiasm, passion and a culture of buying into the business values, and is often how innovation happens and creativity is unleashed.

4. The Leadership Matrix

Brian’s simple, accessible framework can be used as a blueprint for a well-structured development programme designed to help leaders get better.

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About Brian Jones

Brian’s career has spanned multiple sectors and disciplines, including sales, services, commercial, Technology, and general management in a variety of industries.

In addition to launching 2 successful private businesses, Brian’s experience includes 15 years on the executive boards of FTSE100 companies. Tenures have included; Chief Information Officer at Allied Domecq, Head of Business Transformation at Burberry, Chief Commercial Officer at Smiths Group, and President of Smiths Detection.

Brian has a track record of driving operational excellence, business transformation, and growth. He is passionate about people, service, and leadership, and has spoken on these and other subjects at London Business School, private companies, and in international leadership events.

Brian is an alumnus of the Royal Academy of Music, INSEAD, and Harvard Business School.