At PDW we recently had the honour of receiving this glowing testimonial from Richard of Albert Goodman. He explains below how his partners thoroughly invested in our leadership development training and reaped the numerous rewards. Read on to find out more, in Richard’s own words…
The Challenge
In any professional services firm there is a danger when someone reaches partnership, they believe their job is done, and they can be who they want to be or “are who they are” It was clear six or seven years ago that our partner group was far from the finished article, in terms of the people we had around the table, and also the skills those people had. Partners need to be competent in some of the fundamentals, for example people management, leadership, client management and importantly, behave like a partner.
Our Approach
The workshops and sessions PDW ran, explored these attributes and identified areas where each individual was stronger and weaker. The fact that all partners attended these sessions was important, as the one or two who kicked up a fuss, or possibly refused to attend, gave us a clear indication of who would buy into our values and who wouldn’t.
As the process progressed, it was clear from the sessions who the right partners for the firm were and who were the partners that probably weren’t right for the business, and this led us to a refresh the partner group.
The Result
We all benefited from learning new techniques and skills through PDW, whether that be difficult conversations or leadership skills. I believe our partner group makes better decisions as a result of their interaction with PDW.
The other area where I believe we have benefitted significantly, is partner selection. In the past we had a very informal arrangement for bringing on board new partners, to a certain extent it was whether your face fitted. Now we send all potential partners on a PDW programme, an important part of which is to tell us;
• who show the attributes required for partnership
• who have some of the right attributes but require development
• who probably aren’t right for partnership
Whilst we would never take this feedback as read, our experience of the feedback over the past six years has proved it to be right in most cases. Relating this to Jim Collin’s book ‘Good to Great’, it has helped us get the right people in the right places, and the wrong people off the bus, which I believe has contributed to the firm’s success.
Finally, I must say your role as facilitator at our partner strategy events has been incredibly useful and valuable. Particularly as you know us well as this prior knowledge gives you the edge over an independent facilitator. You also gave us great support and guidance during 2021 and 2022, during which we drafted our first ever strategic plan which incorporated our culture and values, which we now live and breathe. This process has been a game changer for us. I believe with the support of PDW we changed a Good Firm into a Great Firm!
From a personal point of view, when I was the firm’s Managing Partner, I benefited from being able to run difficult or challenging people situations by you. For example, if we had to deal with a sensitive or important issue, your knowledge of the firm was valuable, so you didn’t just talk in general terms without knowing the firm or some of the individuals involved.
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Thank you Richard!
If you are also looking for a leadership training programme that can transform your Board or SLT into a high performing unit, then look no further. What we do and how we do it at PDW Group is truly unique and very powerful, as Richard and his colleagues at Albert Goodman will tell you! We would be very happy to understand your challenges and what you’d like to achieve, and to show you how we can not only help, but potentially transform your leadership capability and your business performance – just click here to fill out our enquiry form and one of our team will get back to you shortly!
