Training Provider Blog 

The first DCF I ever built had 17 tabs. I remember because I counted them, proudly, when I handed it to my new Boss. He didn't open it. He asked me what the three things were that mattered most to the valuation. I started to explain the WACC build. He cut me off. "No. The three things about the business."

Jorge Luis Borges published a story in 1942 called "Funes the Memorious." It runs about ten pages, and it has bothered me for most of my career.

A few years ago, we ran a management essentials programme for a logistics company in the Midlands. The new cohort of team leaders were, almost without exception, their best operational people — promoted because they delivered. Within six months, two had resigned and a third had been quietly moved back to an individual role. Not because they weren't talented. Because nobody had ever shown them what managing people actually involves.

We delivered a leadership programme recently for a healthcare organisation dealing with high turnover in its supervisory layer. When we asked managers what support they'd received when they were first promoted, the most common answer was: none. "I just watched how my manager did it and tried to copy that."

Sorry, I’m too busy, there is no time left in my diary for training! Does this resonate and sound familiar? In a few industries like MedTech and healthcare some job profiles need to be constantly available and on-call ready.

Customer-facing roles ask a lot of people. Not just in terms of knowledge or skill, but in how they show up - day after day, conversation after conversation. Handling questions, complaints, and emotions with care and professionalism isn’t always easy, especially in moments where others may be frustrated, upset, or not behaving at their best. Never is this more tricky than when the customer is a visitor and our team are custodians of historical items and records that can prove contentious or upsetting.