News and features

Mon, 21 Mar 2011

The Queen beats Sir Alex Ferguson in leadership stakes

Fifty four per cent of people think leaders are made, not born, suggesting that training and development play a vital part in the shaping of good leaders. The survey, from learndirect business, also rates The Queen No 1 for leadership skills.

Her Majesty beat off other high profile leaders, including billionaire entrepreneur Donald Trump, and chef and campaigner Jamie Oliver. Football manager Sir Alex Ferguson, well known for his combative aggressive style came second in the survey. By contrast, fellow premiership manager Jose Mourinho came last.

The survey, carried out to support 'The Apprentice' DVD training courses from learndirect business, asked managers and employees working in small to medium sized businesses which public figure best demonstrated good leadership skills, whether they viewed themselves as good leaders, and what leadership training they had undertaken.

Surprisingly, the results show that while over three quarters of respondents think they are good leaders, a staggering 51% have never taken part in any leadership training. Women questioned rated 'excellent communication skills' as the most important skill required for a good business leader, whereas men rated a 'good motivator of people' as the key factor.

A third of respondents do not feel their own manager is a good leader.

Kirstie Donnelly, Director of Products and Marketing at learndirect business, comments:

"Leadership skills are critical to the success of a business and nine out of ten people in our research agree that good leadership is essential for business success. It's imperative, therefore, that whatever the industry, senior people have leadership training to equip them to rise to the challenges of running a company.

"In addition to teaching the art of leadership and management, The Apprentice training courses from learndirect business cover topics that are vital to business success, including negotiation, selling, pitching and presenting. They are a powerful way of helping businesses address important skills in a highly interactive and engaging way."

The Apprentice DVDs help employers who are short on time and resources tackle the essential issue of staff training and development in a flexible and engaging manner. Introduced by Nick Hewer, one of Sir Alan Sugar's senior aides, they incorporate footage from the show to deliver a modern and practical approach to training. Just as in the show, users must undertake real life business tasks to explore their current skills. Nick sets the tasks and then gives powerful feedback to help users develop and improve their business skills.

Many of our other leadership and management courses lead to three nationally-recognised qualifications accredited by the ILM and are available through participating learndirect centres.

To find out more about how learndirect business can help your company, call the helpline on 0800 101 901.