It was incredibly rewarding for us to celebrate the success of three young leaders from Rosebank businesses who graduated from the Icehouse Leadership Programme last month: Rob Knowles from Marine Deals, Chris Carbert from Celebrations Group, and Lisa Seto from Haven Accounting.
The programme, which includes both collaborative and individual sessions, is made possible with co-funding from the Pathways to the Future Trust and is facilitated by leading Icehouse facilitator and coach Kim Hill (pictured, centre back).
Nominations were open to any Rosebank Business Association member who had identified young leaders in their organisations who might benefit from Icehouse training. Nominees must be under 35 years of age and new to management and supervisory roles. A large number of applications were received, with the successful candidates starting the programme in September.
The programme included online one-on-one sessions with Kim Hill. This gave each of the attendees the opportunity to share where they were at with their roles: the challenges they were facing and the opportunities they could see ahead.
The attendees went on to complete intensive fortnightly group sessions, where they were given a strong feel for different leadership styles and learned new skills, frameworks, and tools to become more effective leaders and communicators in their roles.
Working together in a small group meant they could share ideas about how they could better lead in their individual businesses and deal with stressful situations, and they developed heightened clarity and strong focus.
Speaking after the last session, facilitator Kim Hill said she was impressed with all three graduates.
“They really committed to going away from each of the sessions and taking every bit of learning back into their organisations. Their courageous conversations are to be congratulated, and I have loved the way the reflections were shared by everyone in the group when they came into a new workshop.
“The key thing for us at The Icehouse is that the learning is only as good as the way you plug it back into your roles in the business, and the growth we have seen here from this group is remarkable. They have now got three or four key ‘work-ons’ for the future that they can focus on putting into and improving their own systems.”
Lisa from Haven Accounting said she really enjoyed seeing how the others dealt with different challenging situations and how she could implement similar changes back in her office. All three graduates agreed they would enjoy the chance to reconnect for a coffee in 2024 to check in.
This is the second time the Leadership Programme has been run, following positive feedback to the RBA management from the attendees last year.
“We received excellent feedback from recipients,” said Kim Watts, RBA Executive Engagement Manager. “They all emphasized what a great course it was and how beneficial it proved to be for them. They highlighted the positive impacts they could carry back into their individual businesses.
“For us at the Pathways to the Future Trust, our focus revolves around finding ways to increasingly assist the young people actively contributing to our business community each year. The accolades from the successful Rosebank awardees reverberate, with a commendation for both the instructional prowess of course facilitator Kim Hill and the calibre of its content.
We look forward to working with The Icehouse again next year.”
By Kate de Lautour
www.theicehouse.co.nz