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WINTER 2016: Events diary • DIRECTOR DEVELOPMENT • ADVICE AND INFORMATION • NEWS

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CalMac’s Martin Dorchester FIoD IoD Conference:

The Business of Leadership

The official membership magazine of the Institute of Directors in Scotland

From the Chair

And now on to next year...

The IoD’s core philosophy of better directors, better business and a better economy has never been more important than in these times of seismic changes, says IoD Scotland Chairman Susan Deacon MIoD

IoD Scotland & Direction IoD Executive Director: David Watt For email enquiries: iod.scotland@iod.com Web: www.iod.com Address: 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh EH2 4DR Tel: 0131 557 5488

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he IoD Scotland Conference was my first anniversary as Chair – and what a year it has been. As David Watt, our Executive Director, sets out later in the magazine, 2016 has been nothing short of eventful! Now, as we approach a new year, my thoughts are focused on what the IoD in Scotland should do in these unusual and unpredictable times.

As a growing organisation, with leaders from across the private, public and third sectors, we have an obligation to step up to the plate to address the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. I am in no doubt that with the right priorities and approach we have the capacity to do that.

Over the past year, I have met with a range of members in many different settings – they are rarely backwards in coming forwards with their feedback and ideas. So too, the volunteer members of the IoD Scotland Committee, and our six local branch committees, who have devoted time and energy to growing our activities and developing our strategy and priorities for the future.

As Chair of IoD Scotland, and through my other ‘lives’, I have the privilege to engage with a very wide cross section of leaders across Scottish business and public life. My thoughts – and indeed my ambitions for IoD Scotland – are very much shaped by all these different influences.

It is clear to me that the IoD’s core philosophy – better directors, better businesses and a better economy – has never been more important. Now, more than ever, it is vital that business leaders, entrepreneurs and others who shape thinking and practice in our boardrooms and workplaces are equipped to lead effectively.

Our members have varied needs and interests so it is important that we continue to offer a breadth of benefits and support.

We have a strong platform on which to build. For example, the IoD’s business information service provides vital expert advice and professional research support to members across the UK and abroad and I know that many of our members in Scotland find it invaluable.

High quality professional development – delivered

by directors for directors – remains one of the hallmarks of the IoD and is an area of sustained growth and investment. IoD Scotland will continue to work in partnership with a range of businesses and other organisations to ensure that our members have access to a breadth of relevant, high-quality director and board development programmes both in Scotland and the UK. From the excellent resources of Pall Mall in London, to our flagship premises in Edinburgh, we will continue to invest in the provision of high quality facilities where leaders can meet, work and do business.

And, through our branches, we will constantly work to provide opportunities for members to connect and learn in their localities.

Our recent IoD Conference was, by common consent, a stimulating, informative and thought provoking event. I am determined that we build on this and ensure that IoD members in Scotland get access to the best and most up to date thinking on business, leadership and change. Again, we will work collegiately and creatively with others to make this happen through a range of activities and events.

Last but by no means least, there is clearly both a need and an opportunity for the IoD to help shape, inform and influence the fast-evolving business environment and policy debate. In an ever more devolved UK it is important that the IoD can engage with, and respond to, a range of issues and approaches which are emerging across the country – not least here in Scotland.

Last, but by no means least, there is both a need and an opportunity for the IoD to help shape, inform and influence the fast-evolving business environment and many policy debates taking place across the UK. Here in Scotland, with ever more powers transferring to Holyrood, major developments in key policy areas like skills, innovation and business rates, not to mention ongoing debates on the Scottish response to issues like Brexit, immigration and the apprenticeship levy, IoD Scotland will not be short of work to do.

So, roll on 2017, it will be nothing if not interesting!

“In the past we had to learn about our computers; in the future, your computer will learn about you, your needs and your preferences, and bring them to you without your interaction...”

Direction is the official membership magazine of the Institute of Directors Scotland and is published on its behalf by: Chamber Media Services, 4 Hilton Road, Bramhall, Stockport, Cheshire SK7 3AG Advertising sales: Colin Regan Tel: 07871 444922 Email: colinregan001@ yahoo.co.uk Production: Rob Beswick Tel: 0161 426 7957 / 07964 375216 Email: rob@chamber mediaservices.co.uk Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of material contained within this magazine, neither IoD Scotland nor Chamber Media Services can accept any responsibility for omissions or inaccuracies in its editorial or advertising content.

The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the IoD. The carriage of advertisements or editorials in this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the products or services advertised.

Cover: Martin Dorchester, Group Chief Executive, David MacBrayne Ltd, offers his views on how developing his workforce – including himself and his fellow Board members – has helped turn the CalMac ship round.

See page 8.

Photo by Susie Lowe mail@susielowe.co.uk

Peter Schwartz, Salesforce futurologist, at Conference. See pg 24

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Executive Summary

Executive Comment: Have we ever seen as extraordinary a year for change than 2016, asks IoD Scotland executive director David Watt

I

t’s been quite an extraordinary year, both for the IoD and the world around us! It was rounded off with the busiest, and many believe the best, IoD Scotland Annual Conference for many a year – well attended and well enjoyed at Gleneagles, at the beginning of November. You can read a full report on the event elsewhere in this issue.

In May, we moved into impressive new premises after several years of searching to find the right place for our members, staff and events. At Charlotte Square in Edinburgh, the IoD now has a location to be proud of and facilities that deliver a fantastic gathering place for members, smart event and meeting space, and a solid base for our hardworking staff team. The new facilities allow members to host meetings and events in style, or even just get some work done, in their “own” place.

During the year, the IoD has also invested in a new website and CRM system, and they will add greatly to the member experience and see us better able to deliver services to our growing membership in Scotland. And, I’m sure you will notice that we have given our member magazine a new look and feel, and hope you like the new ‘Direction’ we’ve taken.

The future for the IoD in Scotland will always offer challenges (which sector doesn’t face challenges at the moment?) but the end of 2016 finds us in a good place.

Particularly in times of uncertainty, the IoD can offer members experienced support and advice – from within as well as from our unrivalled peer-to-peer network. Perhaps this is why we have continued to grow and develop, which in turn allows us to improve our offering.

Our day-to-day challenges are small however, compared to the phenomenal political, social and economic upheaval of Brexit. This, following a Scottish

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election which reduced the SNP majority and saw the Tories leap into second place – a position which many thought was years away. These events together have made Scotland a very interesting place to live, train and work – especially given the very sizeable majority that wished to remain in the EU during June’s referendum.

At the time of writing this, the Article 50 ruling has just been delivered, and as a review of the year, I should include something about what happens next – but in a year like no other, it would be hard to accurately, or even loosely, predict the next twist in the road.

And if all these changes weren’t enough, we have an unexpected arrival in the White House. Who knows what President Donald J Trump will bring!

Even though it’s not done yet, I can say without doubt, what a truly remarkable year we have had.

In times like these, there is a need for even more sound and innovative leadership from the boardrooms and directors of Scotland. While the debate rages on, the leaders of public, private and third sector organisations will be key to making a success out of the obstacles and challenges which will face many in the months and years to come. Those that create the jobs, make the products we use and provide the services on which we depend can have a major impact on the future.

My final thought of 2016 comes from my post as an Honorary Colonel of the Royal Marines Reserves – a tremendous honour for me. While my role is to be an ambassador for the Corps I do get the opportunity to learn a lot from extraordinary people.

How better then, to focus on the future with their regimental ethos in mind: Be first to understand; the first to adapt and respond; and the first to overcome.

Roll on 2017!

All smiles as President Barack Obama welcomes President-elect Trump to the White House

“Particularly in times of uncertainty, the IoD can offer members experienced support and advice – from within as well as from the unrivalled peerto-peer network we have established” www.iod.com

Member News

National recognition for Louise at IoD awards Louise Macdonald OBE MIoD, Chief Executive of Young Scot, scooped the Not for Profit/Third Sector Director of the Year Award at the recent national IoD Director of the Year Awards in London. She was shortlisted for the award after being named Female Director of the Year at the Scottish DoY Awards in March.

Louise leads Young Scot, the youth information and citizenship charity, which has a membership of more than 680,000 young people – or two-thirds of 11-26-year-olds in Scotland – helping them make informed decisions and choices as they transition into adulthood.

Louise has led the organisation to a significant increase in impact and influence, delivering high quality services to improve the life chances of young people.

Commenting on Louise’s achievement win, David Watt, IoD Scotland Executive Director, commented: “This is a truly well-deserved award for one of Scotland’s brightest, most creative and energetic directors. Louise is an inspirational leader, and her excellent work will have a lasting impact on young people – some of whom may be future leaders themselves.”

Louise was delighted with her award:

“The Not for Profit and Third Sector is full of so many committed and passionate leaders who inspire me every day. To be recognised by the IoD is a genuine surprise and huge honour. This award is also for the team at Young Scot, who blow me away with their care and compassion for young people every day, and for the amazing young people that we work with across Scotland, who inspire me with their deep desire to make Scotland a fantastic place for all.”

Other Scottish leaders shortlisted were Magnus Houston, of Coast and Glen (Fishbox), Damien Yeates, CEO of Skills Development Scotland, Jennifer Paice, CEO, SafeDeposits Scotland and Sara Spiers, Managing Director of Spectrum Service Solutions Ltd who was Highly Commended in the Category of Director of the Year – SME. Another IoD member gracing the awards stage, this time in Dundee, is Andy Lothian MIoD, the CEO and founder of Insights Learning & Development, who picked up a special ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ award at the Dundee Courier Business Awards.

Find out more about what drives Louise Macdonald, in ‘Behind the Desk’ - p12

Scottish Food Group serves up LIDL deal Bells Food Group has landed a seven-figure deal to supply Lidl with a range of pies, to be sold across its 91 stores in Scotland. The company produces more than 30 million pies a year from its production base in Shotts.

Gordon Smith, sales and marketing director at Bells Food Group, said: “Bells Food Group is pleased that Lidl has chosen us as its principal supplier for this range. With an 85-year history and generations of food expertise, Bells looks forward to serving the Lidl consumer with a range of great tasting quality pies.”

The deal follows a good year for Bells, with the completion of the first £2.1m of a £3.6m investment programme which will increase manufacturing capacity and create jobs.

SDI success at Abu Dhabi Expo Scottish Development International’s exhibition stand was named best international pavilion at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC) 2016. The Expo saw 80 Scottish oil and gas companies – 60 on the Scotland pavilion – in attendance to promote the strength of Scotland’s oil and gas sector.

Acquisition boost for LAW growth plans Leading employment law, HR and health and safety specialists Law At Work (LAW) has acquired Glasgowbased Square Circle HR Ltd. The merger takes the business to over 40 employees and enhances LAW’s existing HR consultancy team, as well as contributing to the firm’s overall growth strategy.

Jane Wright MIoD, Chief Executive of LAW said: “Our ambition has been to grow the business and this merger is a first step towards us realising this goal. ” “The combination of the two businesses will enable both LAW and Square Circle clients to access new services depending on their specific requirements.

“This means that LAW is a one-stop shop for all people-related matters”, added Wright.

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Left, Jane Wood MIoD, Chief Executive of Law At Work and Square Circle company director Roz Wood, the new Head of HR Consultancy Services for LAW

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Member News

Rock on! Granite MD Paul named Financial Planner of the year Paul Gibson, Managing Director of Granite Financial Planning and Chartered Financial Planner, has been named FT Money Management Financial Planner of the Year 2016 - a repeat of his triumph in 2015, when he was the first Scot to land the award.

Banchory-based Paul received the awards at the 21st annual Financial Planner Awards in London after demonstrating “high-quality understanding” across numerous disciplines.

He was presented with the top accolade by BBC presenter and former Strictly Come Dancing Winner Chris Hollins at the black-tie Awards dinner held in Mayfair, London.

Converge Challenge raises the innovation bar again Scotland’s leading company creation competition and start-up development programme for staff, students, and recent graduates of Scottish universities, has announced its annual award winners at a ceremony at Edinburgh’s Assembly Rooms.

The Converge Challenge 2016 was jointly awarded to MindMate and MicroSense Technologies Ltd, who will split a prize of financial and business support.

MindMate, an assistance platform for people with dementia, their caregivers and family members, is led by Susanne Mitschke of University of Glasgow, while MicroSense Technologies, led by Professor Marc Desmulliez of Heriot-Watt University, aims to reduce waste and improve process monitoring in food processing lines.

Keith Brown MSP, cabinet secretary for the Economy, Jobs and Fair Work, said: “The Converge Challenge is an excellent example of universities collaborating and sharing best practice in entrepreneurial education and activity. We know that our prosperity depends on successful new ideas and new businesses being created here in Scotland, which is why entrepreneurs and innovators will be fundamental to generating jobs and economic growth in the future.”

Susan Deacon, chair of IoD Scotland, continued: “Collaboration and teamwork are key to the success of every business and to our economy.

“Converge is a fantastic example of what can be achieved when universities and businesses combine their efforts to bring people and ideas together and to support the next generation of entrepreneurs.

“It was wonderful for the IoD to assist with this award and shows the central place the institute now holds in civic and business life in Scotland.”

Prizes reflected creativity and design, positive impact on social and environmental issues, digital innovations and entrepreneurial spirit.

• Applications for Converge Challenge 2017 will launch online in February 2017 at: www.convergechallenge.com

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Pictured at the awards, left to right, are: Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE, Chair of Cobra Beer Partnership; Professor Andrea Nolan OBE FIoD, Principal & Vice-Chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University; Dr Olga Kozlova, Director of Converge Challenge; Professor Susan Deacon, Chair of the IoD in Scotland; Professor Alice Brown CBE, Chair of the Scottish Funding Council; and Keith Brown MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work, Scottish Government

Susanne Mitschke of University of Glasgow

Paul commented, “To retain the title for a second year is fantastic news and is a huge endorsement for the type of work we undertake.

“It is great to be recognised at such a high level in the UK.”

Funding first for investment bank The investment arm of Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish Investment Bank (SIB), has agreed to provide funding of £2.75m to LendingCrowd, an innovative Edinburgh-based peer-topeer lending platform which provides affordable loans to SMEs. This is the first initiative to be delivered by SIB under its expanded remit and is expected to stimulate loans of up to £35m to Scottish SMEs. The agreement gives SMEs access to loans of between £5k-£250k, with terms over six months to five years.

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Scottish housebuilder on the up and expanding south

Family housebuilder Mactaggart & Mickel Group has reported increased profitability amid tough market conditions across the sector. With a focus on adding value and increasing efficiency, the firm boosted pre-tax profit margins by 7.1 per cent to £10.4m.

Chief executive Ed Monaghan said: “This financial year marked the last in our five-year plan which advocated a consistent, medium-term approach and sustained focus on improving efficiencies across the group.

It has also delivered steady growth, something that has

been consolidated by this year’s significant upturn in profit.

“We now move into a new phase for the business as we develop our operations not only in Scotland, but in England.”

The company has chosen two sites in the south of England for development by its Homes division, at the same time underlining its commitment to Scotland by signing a new 10-year lease on its Glasgow-based headquarters.

Aquascot boosts seafood sector with new working group Leading aquaculture businesses such as Highland-based Aquascot and Gael Force Group, and other representatives of Scotland’s buoyant seafood sector, have come together to devise a strategic plan for farming Scotland’s seas to unleash the sector’s full potential.

A 2030 Aquaculture Strategy has been launched identifying key actions required to double the economic contribution of the industry from £1.8bn in 2016, to £3.6bn by 2030.

Cabinet secretary for economy and rural affairs, Fergus Ewing, said: “Aquaculture is one of our real economic success stories of recent years, with the industry on track to grow to a value of well over £2bn annually to the Scottish economy by 2020, supporting

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10,000 jobs.

“I am committed to supporting development in this key sector as part of my determination to build growth in all parts of the rural economy. “ I warmly welcome the Vision 2030 Group’s report which is a strong signal of business confidence and highlights the significant further potential in the sector.”

• Aquaculture also known as aquafarming, is the farming of fish, crustaceans, molluscs, aquatic plants, algae, and other aquatic organisms.

On the up: Chief executive Ed Monaghan

IoD Scotland takes its magazine in a new ‘Direction’ The IoD Scotland member magazine has a fresh new look for the winter issue, and has relaunched as ‘Direction’.

With regular sections and features, a strong editorial focus on the business that matter, lots of need-to-know briefings and interesting member news, as well as interviews that get under the skin of Scotland’s key leaders, the magazine will still feature branch, event and director development news in the ‘Inside IoD’ section.

If you have news Direction that you would like to feature in ‘Direction’ or an idea for a feature, Please drop a line Plain sailing to magazine. scotland@iod. com. www.iod.com

WINTER 2016: EvENTs dIaRy • dIRECTOR dEvELOPMENT

• advICE aNd INFORMaTION

• NEWs

The official membership magazine of the Institute of Directors in Scotland

How to make business

...

CalMac’s Martin Dorchest er FIoD

IoD Conference:

The Business of Leader ship

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Spotlight: Martin Dorchester FIoD CDir, Group CEO, David MacBrayne Ltd

Plain sailing Martin Dorchester outlines how a belief in lifelong learning and developing directors helped steer a ferry company into calmer waters.

Words, Rob Beswick Pictures, Susie Lowe

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T

he power and effectiveness of lifelong learning and director development for building better businesses is a message Martin Dorchester is only too happy to promote – but the fact that so many of his fellow directors ignore this maxim, is one he laments.

You can never afford to stop developing your skills – no matter how senior you are, believes Martin, Group Chief Executive of David MacBrayne Ltd and the man at the helm of CalMac, which runs ferry services to ports across Scotland’s west coast.

But while business leaders may insist on training programmes for employees, too often they neglect their own development: “Course they do,” he says, “hugely; there are too many directors who reach the boardroom and think they are at the summit so can stop developing their own skills. It’s the wrong approach.”

His belief in the need for lifelong learning has led him to be a keen advocate of the IoD and its suite of development programmes. “When I came to CalMac in 2012 one of the first things I did was to sign board members up with the IoD in Scotland; it gave the team access to a host of personal development options – and different development at that. My board members all have a learning portfolio.

Directors can get into a machismo zone of ‘I’m a director, I’ve done everything I need, I’m at the top of the tree.’ That’s wrong.”

But it’s important that the drive to develop directors and senior managers comes from the very top: “It has to be led by the MD, the CEO – and they have to embrace the concept, too.”

At CalMac we look to take people out of their comfort zones to learn new skills, says Martin. “Too often businesses default to their line training when really what they need to do is ask ‘how can I change how I see the world’. We need to change methods of thinking and our approach, and believe that there are other ways of thinking.”

His own leadership style has evolved over a wide-ranging career which has seen him take on a host of challenging roles.

Despite the stresses his various roles have brought, he retains a belief in collegiate, consensus leadership – though spiced with a dash of firm decision-making when required.

It was a style that worked well when he took on the role at Caledonian MacBrayne – or CalMac, as it’s better known to the world.

He arrived with the company at a difficult cross roads. The loss of the Northlink contract on the Northern Isles routes to Orkney and Shetland was a

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more than just a ferry operator. We bought into the local communities: as much as possible we use local services and buy local produce. We weaved the company into the fabric of the communities we serve, which has helped to build long-term sustainability.”

Allied to this work at the customer coalface was a strong emphasis on developing the workforce. “We created a learning organisation to give our managers the skills to modernise the business, went out to see what other organisations were doing and accessed best practice on technology and ticketing, which brought us up to date.

“If you do this, you gradually turn your whole organisation into a learning organisation, one that is looking outward as much as it does inward.”

Despite successes, the pressure to improve never lets up. “We invest relentlessly in our people – good training, good careers. If you improve the quality of the people you employ you “There’s many directors who reach the get a better business through better decision Boardroom and think they are at the making.” summit so can stop developing their This focus has reaped huge benefits in terms of own skills. It’s the wrong approach.” innovation from within, with employees feeling empowered to act champion. “CalMac was well known for independently. “Innovation is dispersed delivering good customer service and we throughout the organisation. A lot of our built on that. The important thing was to teams work in remote areas with little office not look inward all the time but to look out support, and we support them to make from the business, to talk to our customers their own decisions and take charge of their and the communities we serve.” duties. It gives them greater confidence CalMac’s unique offer to its customers when they know we trust them.” was a crucial part of this conversation. “Our The company’s focus on new digital services are a lifeline to fragile and remote connectivity helps here too, with remote communities throughout the Hebrides and workers establishing links with colleagues Clyde. We engaged with them, built on our through which they can share ideas and reputation and on our own capability to practices. There is also a budget for local improve.” operations to encourage our people to try Martin reinvigorated the senior team by new ideas – “we are not trying to impose a bringing in fresh talent from outside the homogenous treatment on our customers business and pressed the need for the or on the island communities.” organisation as a whole to innovate. “We The investment in training goes further: were a lifeline service but if we just focused CalMac is the Merchant Navy Training on that, in time our routes would continue Board’s top shipping company for numbers diminishing. Instead we looked at our of modern apprentices, and it reaches out assets and asked whether we could use to schools and colleges to encourage young them better and open up new routes. people to consider a future within the Despite the problems we couldn’t be business. scared of growing.”

“We provide a number of modern The company bench-tested its capability apprenticeships every year; we’re looking by entering new competitive tendering bids at developing our people from ‘cradle to and exposing itself to new ideas, while grave’, so to speak, and create a good career trying to become more flexible in its service path.” delivery.

There is also an acknowledgement that Martin was also keen to tap into CalMac needs to change its fairly CalMac’s strong links with its customer.

“We talked to the communities and asked what they needed to grow. We wanted to be Continued on page 10 significant disappointment to the workforce and also accounted for a loss of a third of the company’s revenue. With the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services coming up for tender imminently, immediate action was required.

There were other challenges too.

“CalMac was an old, traditional business and it had some dated infrastructure and systems in place. Added to that were problems with connectivity in a digital age, a situation not helped by the remoteness of some of the routes and destinations involved.”

How did he approach what was a potentially fraught situation?

“The first thing was to build up morale.

We picked staff up, celebrating success and championing our positives. We engaged with our people on what they are good at and delivered well and started to talk about customers, not just the operation.”

The good thing was that, despite the problems, there were a lot of positives to

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Spotlight: Martin Dorchester FIoD, Group Chief Executive, David MacBrayne Ltd

“I’ve worked in both public and private sector, and I think that sometimes, people become too fixated on differences between the two. There is more commonality between the two sectors than many people realise. The reality is, if you run a good business, you run a good business.”

Continued from page 9 traditional demographic make-up at the customerfocused end. “We encourage young people – particularly women – into considering STEMs courses at college and putting young women through engineering courses. One of our chief engineers is female and she acts as a brilliant role model for girls to follow into this industry sector, going around colleges and schools and talking about her role with us.

“We do have an ageing demographic and need to encourage young people to think about CalMac and how you can find a good career in the maritime sector.”

Any jobs created by the company are nearly always taken up by people who live within its own route network. “80 per cent of our workforce come from the communities we serve; in some islands we are one of the biggest employers.”

It all funnels back to the thought of CalMac being more than just a ferry company. “We are probably the biggest procurer of marketing/advertising campaigns for the west coast, which brings in visitors; we buy local produce for our onboard restaurants and port facilities and have an extensive back office facility. There are just under 1,500 on the payroll; we are a key part of island life.”

The ferry company’s recent successful bid to run the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services for the next eight years gives CalMac confidence going forward, as does its somewhat lengthier contract to operate the Marchwood Military port in Southampton for the next 35 years. But these won’t be the only contracts on the slate if Martin has any say in it. “We are thinking about future growth. We missed out on a contract to run services in Sweden between Stockholm and Gotland

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recently – effectively, we were runners up – but it still hurts as I was convinced it was a winning bid. We are looking at similar proposals at the moment.

CalMac may be a public sector operation but Martin insists it is run on a commercial basis – and stresses that people are wrong if they think that there are large differences between running a public sector body and a private one.

“I’ve worked in both public and private sector, and I think that sometimes, people become too fixated on differences between the two. There is more commonality between the two sectors than many people realise. The reality is, if you run a good business, you run a good business.”

The presence of the Scottish Government as major

So what are the keys to business success? Martin suggests a four-fold approach: Compete - invest - support your people – and celebrate success. stakeholder doesn’t alarm Martin, for whom, public sector or not, running CalMac as commercially as possible is always the goal. “I still strive to operate at a profit; the only difference is, instead of turning it over to shareholders, I can look to invest it into services.”

There is, however, a rather unique financial tension between the target of profit and the requirement to maintain loss-making routes which are the very definition of lifeline. “I look at our profitability in the round rather than at individual routes, which simply wouldn’t work – the Government would expect nothing less.”

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In defence of the sea How CalMac is protecting the oceans Shipping is not one of the world’s traditionally clean industries but, as CalMac’s routes cross some of Europe’s cleanest, most pristine waterways, the company was keen to do whatever possible to reduce its impact on this precious environment.

Current and future vessel procurement pays significant attention to environmental credentials, including the use of hybrid technology. The current fleet includes three hybrid ferries and its next two major ferries, which are currently in build, will also use hybrid technology.

In addition, CalMac has improved the environmental impact of its more traditional vessels. A state-ofthe-art fuel management system across all 10 vessels in our major fleet will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, saving a minimum of some 1,800 tonnes of CO2 entering the atmosphere annually - that’s the equivalent to 4,285,714 miles driven by an average family car. CalMac is the first UK ferry company to roll this out across a substantial proportion of the fleet.

Alongside this, CalMac this year commissioned experts at one of Scotland’s leading environmental

There’s clearly a compromise then, between profit and service. One area where no concession is made lies in safety, however. “We never compromise on safety.

We know only too well that if we get it wrong once it could be catastrophic.”

Indeed, such is the importance placed on keeping the service safe that every meeting – including board meetings – begins with “a safety moment, where we look at key issues. We also have weekly executive team safety meetings and local safety committees in the islands we serve.”

This emphasis on safety is supported by the empowerment principles Martin outlined earlier. “We have an initiative called ‘Stop the job’, where staff can take that big decision if they feel something isn’t right.

It’s a tough call, particularly if you’re trying to get hundreds of people home on the last boat, but it’s one we support.”

To reinforce this need to empower your team, Martin says it’s vital you get good people in and let them do the jobs they’re paid to do. “As CEO, it’s your job to get the business into the shape you want, get your parameters working well and create the right foundations for a business to flourish – and then let it. One of the worst facets of modern management is when CEOs and MDs don’t let their people get on with the job in hand.”

Director development proves invaluable in this regard. “Throughout my career I have embraced lifelong learning. I promote learning across the organisation and make sure I do it myself. We have board evaluations and training, we have away days where we discuss building effective teams and promoting leaders, and this translates into personal objectives for all board members, which then trickle

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consultancies and academics at the University of the West of Scotland to produce an independent report about possible sustainable and collaborative development within the marine environs within the Argyll and Clyde areas - on the sea, at its edges and under it.

This was intended as a starting-point document to encourage debate and innovation across multiple agencies, authorities and businesses and has been widely welcomed. The company is currently considering how it will build on the success of the report in terms of bringing all interested parties together, as well as potentially seeking to create a similar report for other areas of the network.

On a more operational level, CalMac has been a key participant in ORCA Oceanwatch - an annual survey of the UK’s whales and dolphins populations, specifically aimed at professional mariners; this use of commercial marine transport provides an invaluable and unrivalled snapshot over a nine-day period into activity across all coastal areas of the UK, with observations made by the very people who traverse these areas day in, day out in the course of delivering a service.

One of the worst facets of modern management is when CEOs and MDs don’t let their people get on with the job in hand... down through their teams and creates consistency through the business.”

The use of external evaluators can be a painful experience for any organisation but is a vital measure, says Martin – while a robust appraisal system keeps everything on track.

It also helps eradicate management mistakes though will never get them off the page altogether, as Martin freely admits to making “too many errors to recall.”

His worst? “My first general management appointment was down in London, a struggling business with a difficult workforce. It was obvious what the problems were but to get rid of the problems I would have had to confront the workforce, and I decided to work around it rather than confront it.

“Six months later, with the business in even more distress, I had to confront it, and predictably it was harder.

“I chickened out of the big decision. It needed hard, firm decisive action. I should have done it at the outset.

It was a big learning curve, as it would have been the right thing to do at the right time. Sometimes you just have to be brave.”

CalMac fast facts n 4.63 million passengers, 1.1 million cars and 87,000 commercial vehicles carried* n Network stretches some 200-miles from Campbeltown in the south to Stornoway in the north n 24 islands served, two mainland to mainland routes n 1,400 employees approx (there are seasonal variations) n Ferries operate from a total of 50 ports, harbours and slipways n 135,585 total sailings in 2015 – that’s an average of 373 sailings every day n CalMac operates 363 days a year – the only two days with no services are Christmas Day and New Year’s Day n 32 vessels operate across the network – hybrid MV Catriona joined fleet in 2016. *

Official 2015 statistics

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Behind the desk: Louise Macdonald OBE MIoD, Young Scot

Young Scot’s top gardener wants every seedling to flourish Name: Louise Macdonald OBE MIoD Position: Chief Executive Company: Young Scot Number of employees: 45 Short overview of organisation: Young Scot is Scotland’s national youth information and citizenship charity, supporting young people aged 11-26 to make informed decisions and choices as they grow up.

What is the greatest recurring challenge you come across in your role, and what’s your strategy for dealing with it?

The central challenge – and grounding principle – for Young Scot is ensuring we always keep young people at the centre of everything we do. Not one of us at Young Scot forgets that for a moment.

This is central to our new strategy for 2016 to 2019, which was launched early this year. This strategy is not just for young people; it was created through a co-design process with young people themselves. It is a strategy that belongs to them and their ambitions and aspirations.

What keeps you awake at night?

That so many young people are failing to meet their true potential and that we still have unacceptable levels of poverty and disadvantage holding them back. Far

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too often I meet amazing young people who simply need the opportunity and the space to thrive, yet it is still a challenge – especially for young women.

Louise pictured (centre) with some of the Young Scots she works with

What makes a good leader great?

A genuine understanding that it isn’t about you.

Leadership is less about leading an army and more about cultivating a garden. I try hard to do more gardening...

Even leaders aren’t the finished article. What’s next in your leadership development journey?

I have been focusing on the role of a non-executive director through the fantastic IoD training, and have also developed my skills through on-going CPD accreditation with the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, which has given me access to a specific skill set and learning materials in relation to stakeholder engagement and communications as an executive and non-executive director.

What is your favourite social media platform, and what does it bring to your business/organisation?

Twitter is amazing. I am a bit of a techno-geek, and was an early adopter. I like it for lots of reasons, but specifically the way it helps me create new connections

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“I am a firm supporter of the Scottish Government’s ambitions for 50:50 female-male representation on Boards by 2020.

Accessing the talents of 50% of the population could transform Scotland in all kinds of ways...” and how it ensures I am completely accessibly and accountable to young people.

What needs to be fixed?

I am a firm supporter of the Scottish Government’s ambitions for 50:50 female-male representation on Boards by 2020. Accessing the talents of 50% of the population could transform Scotland in all kinds of ways, but female representation on Boards needs to be visible, so we can forge a leadership path for young women; they can’t aim for what they can’t see.

What leadership advice would you give your younger self?

To focus on developing others. The most important word in leadership is “we” – rarely “I”. The two most important words in leadership are “thank you”.

The change that we wish to see in the lives of young people can only be delivered through a brilliant and committed staff team and my job is to nurture their skills and grow their capability.

Snapshot: Louise MacDonald 2016: IoD UK Not for Profit/Third Sector

Director of the Year; Joins Paisley 2021 UK City of Culture Partnership Board; Joins European Youth Card Association (EYCA) Board; IoD Scotland Female Director of the Year

2015: Awarded OBE for services to young

people and the community; Joins UK Financial Capability Strategy Board

2014: Joins Scotland’s Futures Forum (Scottish Parliament) Board

2013: Joins IoD Scotland Committee ; Joins

COSLA Commission on Strengthening Local Democracy

2011: Appointed Vice Chair of Scotland’s 2020 Climate Group

2009: Joins Association of Chief Officers of

Scottish Voluntary Organisations Board

2008: Becomes CEO of Young Scot, having

joined as Communications Director and Deputy CEO in 2001.

Director’sBriefing: briefing Big data and the digital ‘Gig’ economy Technical

Are you generating value from data?

Big data... data science ... machine intelligences, the internet of things irrespective of today’s favoured buzzwords, it’s time to drive more value from your data, says industry expert, Craig Paterson of The Data Lab.

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he business world is awash with buzzwords to do with ‘going digital’ and the use of data. It can seem overwhelming at times as we navigate through the noise to find out what is important and what is just a rebranding of last year’s ideas. In the process of either being enthralled or intimated by these trends, we can often lose sight of the fundamental question: “How do I drive business value from this?”

Where there is value, we ask: “Where do I start… without spending too much money?”

In my previous roles as a strategist, it has become clear to me how important data is to driving sustainable value for your business. Some of the current trends can seem more shiny and exciting but, when it comes down to answering the question on value, data emerges again and again as a business differentiator.

For example, a growth strategy will usually win an initial swath of customers if it is a compelling proposition delivered with a beautiful user experience.

But customers will rapidly drop off if the proposition does not provide them with actionable insight. And if the insights don’t add value, they are unlikely to give you any more of their personal information.

Another example is an IT strategy. Technology investments are usually quite significant so they need to enable the delivery of business value. It is difficult to sell the value of an IT data foundation if it does not deliver linked, trusted data that is secure, timely and readily available So, data is integral to the success of many strategies.

Theoretically it should therefore be easy to get funding for a coordinate data strategy. Unfortunately, that is seldom the case. Why? Often those planning the data strategy are so concerned with buzzwords and trends that they forget to articulate the strategy in business terms. The good news is that once you recognise this, it’s easy to fix.

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What’s clear to me is that if your data strategy is not integral to your business strategy, it will never be successfully executed and you will stumble from one false start to the next. In this world where the pace of change is ever increasing, specifically in the data space, it’s time to stop being bamboozled by buzzwords and start driving value by doing.

The question I’ll leave you with is, “what’s the first step you plan to take to demystify your data strategy and start delivering business results?”.

• Craig Paterson has 25 years of industry experience working in utilities and financial services with specialisms in business, IT and digital strategy development. He has a wide range of experience from selling technology and business opportunities to executives. Craig is currently working with The Data Lab to provide an Executive Education programme focused on driving value from emerging data trends.

“If your data strategy is not integral to your business strategy, it will never be successfully executed and you will stumble from one false start to the next...”

On February 7, 2017, Craig will be running an interactive one-day IoD workshop that takes you beyond the hype surrounding Big Data by demonstrating how you can use data to drive value for your business.

For further information, go to www.iodscotland.com/directorand-board-development

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Not really Über at all, it turns out

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he ‘Gig Economy’ is a hot topic in employment law. It cuts across the vexed issue of employment status – whether individuals who take on work on a piecemeal basis are workers, employees or truly self-employed independent contractors.

It has been described as the ‘Überisation’ of work or the ‘sharing’ or ‘collaborative’ economy.

Increasingly, the boundaries between worker and employee are blurred and the dilemma of this categorisation sets the stage for their legal rights – whether that is to unfair dismissal protection, national minimum wage, holidays or sick pay.

Maybe I can answer it simply with a take on the old saying “if it looks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck...then it’s a duck”. So, if the individual looks like a worker...and acts like a worker...is he or she not a worker? The courts have been determined to look behind the language of even the most tightly drafted contracts for independent contractors to find that the individual is truly an employee, or at least a worker, when you look at the practical reality of the working relationship.

Then along came Über. The hotly awaited judgement of the claim brought by the GMB union on behalf of a number of drivers against Über before an employment tribunal in London, was handed down the other week. While not binding on future trials as an entry level tribunal decision, it made for very interesting reading.

In short, the employment tribunal resoundingly found in favour of the drivers and held that they were ‘workers’ at law, and not self-employed independent contractors as their contracts said.

It rejected Über’s submissions that it is simply a technology platform as opposed to a transport provider, and that its drivers are self-employed contractors offering their services to passengers via the app. In the tribunal’s view, any driver who has the app switched on, is within the territory in which he or she is authorised to work, and is able and willing to accept assignments is – for as long as those conditions are satisfied – working for Über under a worker contract.

The tribunal decided that the notion that Über in London was a mosaic of

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A Deliveroo worker on her travels - just one of a number of new businesses that form part of the growing ‘gig economy’ 30,000 small businesses linked by a common platform was ‘faintly ridiculous’.

Apart from a few individuals who operate more than one vehicle on their Über account, each business consisted of an individual with a car seeking to make a living by driving it.

Shortly after the judgment was issued, Über released a statement to its customers (reportedly some two million passengers registered in London alone) confirming that it will seek to appeal the decision.

Full-blown employment status could cripple the low-cost business model and sustainability of some tech businesses. To cut through the uncertainty (and delays) of the litigation approach to determining employment status, I wonder if we could see Government intervention to regulate the industry fairly.

My provocation is that the traditional tests of ‘subordination’, control and

‘mutuality of obligation’ are no longer fit for purpose in assessing the status of these workers.

The flexibility of picking and choosing ‘gigs’ is generally why workers are attracted to this sector. Who is to say that independent contractor status does not suit the majority of these workers anyway? Über said in a post-Tribunal statement: “......Drivers want the freedom to decide where, when and for how long to drive: being classified as workers could deprive them of the personal flexibility they value.”

You can take a duck to water...but you can’t make it quack!

David Morgan is a partner in commercial law firm Burness Paull, LLP and an accredited expert in employment law.

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WorkSmart:: The pursuit of excellence

Why quality matters Claire Ford MIoD, CEO, Quality Scotland, explains why the quest for quality is a phenomenal weapon in the war against complacency and organisational inefficiency

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uality Scotland is an organisation whose vision is to make excellence a national characteristic of Scotland, and the most effective way to do this is to teach other organisations how to assess and improve themselves, without recourse to or intervention from external organisations.

After all, no external organisation can possibly know how you work better than you do.

Quality Scotland is the Scottish national partner for the European Foundation for Quality Management, and our Excellence Model is a phenomenal weapon in the war against complacency and organisational inefficiency.

You might wonder why you need to use an excellence model if you are enjoying a satisfactory level of success today. But it’s not enough today to be efficient and successful – organisations have to be constantly thinking about why they are successful now and how they can continue to be successful going forward. It’s essential to have a clear understanding of how current actions link to your three-five year strategic plan – a lack of understanding leads to a lack of control.

What if external circumstances and conditions change? Can you respond in the right manner? Do you understand your business well enough to be confident that you can ride any storm? Complacency is a real risk – and the best time to strategise successfully about the future of an organisation is now, even if things are good and it is tempting to ride the wave of success

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for a while.

The dictionary defines excellence as “the quality of being outstanding or extremely good”. In an organisational sense, it is not uncommon for organisations to measure excellence by the state of their bottom line.

This is a very short-term view, especially for organisations who are measuring their own “excellence” trend in short term time chunks, for instance by tax year or, even worse, quarterly.

There is no overnight path to excellence – it is a journey rather than a destination. It is risky to utilise profitability as a sole measure of excellence. It fails to take into account all the enabling factors of that final outcome, for instance strategic aims, people performance and process standardisation.

There are also a raft of softer enablers such as how proud people are to work for the organisation, corporate social responsibility, and ethical treatment of stakeholders.

One of the world’s leading exponents on the subject of organisational excellence, P.B.Vaill, states that excellent organisations must meet one or more of the following criteria: They perform excellently against a known external benchmark or standard, against whatever their potential optimum performance is thought to be, or relative to an earlier chronological marker of their own performance; Industry external experts observe them to be out-performing other comparable organisations; they are perceived by many others as being a global role-model of what they do, and perhaps they are the only organisation able to perform in the way that they do; or they appear to succeed with far fewer resources than others assume they need. (Vaill, P. B. (1982) The purposing of high performance systems (Organizational Dynamics.

Autumn, 23 – 39.)

For those organisations striving for excellence and serious about getting there, it can be tricky to know where to start. In order to truly benchmark your own organisation,

you need to look outside of your own four walls, and you need to look in the right places. It’s not just about profitability or cash flow, although those factors are of course important. But it’s about everything else that makes an organisation who they are.

So to be truly excellent you must first develop a solid understanding of what you do well and where you need to improve, which necessitates a good level of capable self-assessment on a regular basis. Selfassessment is a discipline which quickly becomes part of the DNA of excellent organisations. It isn’t hard to do, but sometimes the messages are hard to hear.

However, once the discipline of selfassessment is fully embedded in the organisation it just becomes “what we do”, and at that point you have a solid foundation on which to build and improve.

The difficult part is working out how to benchmark – it doesn’t need to be an organisation doing the same as you, in fact you will often find more insightful synergies with organisations in completely unrelated markets or sectors. Excellent organisations are constantly picking up information about approaches from other organisations and considering whether or not it would be beneficial for them to emulate or adapt the approaches for themselves.

Helen Keller stated: “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much” – excellent organisations share their experiences and are always keen to draw on the experiences of others.

They are humble enough to acknowledge that someone else might do something better than them, and clever enough to try and learn from them.

For more information on how we can help you to become an “Excellent organisation” visit www. qualityscotland.co.uk.

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WorkSmart: Marketing your business

How video can make your CEO a star

V

and companies of all sizes should seize the opportunity. ideo: what does it mean to you? The answer usually However, like all communications, these conversations have to divides generations. For some, it conjures up an be carefully crafted. image of tapes being fed into the mouth of a machine When I worked with the BBC as a correspondent, the average that sat underneath a very thick tube television. length of a television news report was 90 seconds. Interestingly, For avid users of social media, video is what you watch on this is also the longest recommended length for any online Twitter, Facebook and use to engage with friends on platforms video. Most video conversations with customers on social like Snapchat. media platforms should be shorter.

This is changing fast. Video is now becoming the most So what should you say? powerful tool for companies and businesses to talk to their The key, as with any customer conversation, is about clients, launch new products and build new markets. A quick engagement, influence and reach. Video should be authentic, scroll through any social media platform proves how quickly the presence of video has grown and this is set to accelerate. The video explosion is being mirrored on “The key is about engagement, influence company websites – words and photos are being replaced by videos where companies talk directly to their customers. and reach. Video should be authentic, easy The reason for this is simple: if a picture paints 1,000 viewing and, where possible, fun...” words, the impact of a carefully crafted video can be measured in millions of words. easy viewing and, where possible, fun. It should never be Estimates vary, but most experts reckon that by the end of preachy. It should help to give your company its own unique this decade, video will account for at least 80 per cent of the personality – and help you stand out. traffic on the internet. This is a massive change and companies Most importantly, it should encourage viewers and have to be ready for it or face being left behind by the digital customers to engage with your company. revolution.

Recently, the University of Glasgow produced a short video Corporate videos used to be for larger companies with a big to promote an Iron Age archaeology conference. Normally, budget to spend. Modern technology – mobile phones, tablets this story would be lucky to get three paragraphs in the and digital editing – have put video within the easy reach Herald. To date, the video featuring an Iron Age carnyx horn has been viewed more than two million times around the world. Interestingly, Glasgow was recently voted No 3 in the list of the most engaging and influential universities in the world on social media. Most of this success was achieved by using mobile phone, tablet and fertile imaginations.

Your company can do the same.

Video is the past, the present and the future.

If you don’t use it, you may soon be out of the picture.

John Morrison is a director of Morrison Media Strategies and Caledonia Shorts, a video production company.

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IoD Scotland Conference 2016

The IoD Scotland Conference, held on November 3-4 at the Gleneagles Hotel, Scotland, was a stunning success, played out before the largest audience in a decade for the event. A host of high-profile speakers addressed the conference’s theme, The Business of Leadership, and business leaders spent two days making new connections, discussing fresh ideas and shaping the way forward.

Words: Rob Beswick; Pictures, Steve Elliot, Art 24

Get over the shock of the new and embrace the opportunities IoD Scotland chair Susan Deacon issues rallying call to business

B

rexit was a shock – and we are now living in uncertain times as a result.

But for those business leaders crying out for certainty, Professor Susan Deacon had a simple message as she opened the IoD Scotland conference: “that ‘certainty ship’ you crave has long since sailed. It’s time for real leadership and to grasp the opportunities that are out there.”

She told delegates that the current political and economic turmoil was a concern, amid chaotic preparations for Brexit, SNP threats of a second Independence referendum and in the wake of the High Court ruling on whether MPs should have the final say on Article 50.

But instead of looking to politicians to create the landscape for businesses to operate in, the future direction of the economy must instead be shaped by business leaders. “We have a vacuum: here’s our

that politics drives everything; it doesn’t. It is businesses that drive the economy and there has never been a better time for directors to step up to the plate and shape the direction we are moving in.”

What Scotland needed was strong leadership, she insisted, and the current situation created the right environment in which it could thrive. “Strong leadership is all about embracing uncertainty and navigating a course through difficult territory. Creativity, adaptability and innovation are key.

Decision making and driving change does not begin and end with politicians and Government – this is the time for Scotland’s leadership community to shape the future.”

It was a sentiment wholeheartedly endorsed by the Conference morning’s first speaker, Dr Lesley Crane MIoD, who drove home a personal message of the importance of business continually innovating to stay ahead of the game.

“Innovation is at the heart of being a great

“It is the job of all leaders to empower their staff to be innovators... innovation is not just a gift for the rarified few...”

Dr Lesley Crane chance to fill it. We can create a new direction of travel for the economy.”

She added: “This is a time when leaders should feel a renewed sense of empowerment and responsibility. Now, more than ever, business leaders, entrepreneurs and others who lead organisations and who shape thinking and practice in our Boardrooms and workplaces need to be creative, confident and effective to continue to deliver jobs, services and products.”

Professor Deacon added: “We leave too much to politicians. We keep the myth going

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leader,” she said, though the term itself remained widely misunderstood.

It was not simply a reference to “hi-tech changes to the way we work or the services we access; rather, it’s continually asking whether the way we currently do anything is the best possible option.” She quoted Steve Jobs, who described innovation as that which “distinguishes between the leader and the follower.”

Threats from new business rivals that could disrupt your business model were nothing new, though recent events had accelerated the risks of inertia. Of the businesses that were in the Fortune 500 in 1951, only 61 still exist today… “and the average life expectancy of all businesses today is just 10 years… and likely to be shorter in the future,”she stressed.

While media attention on business innovation tended to be focused on digital disrupters such as Uber and Airbnb, they were just one type of successful innovators.

Innovation need not be hi-tech: it could be nothing more than a refined process that delivered reduced costs, greater efficiency and a healthier bottom line – and crucially, could emanate from any part of the business.” It is the job of all leaders to empower their staff to be innovators,’ she stressed. “Innovation is not a gift for the rarified few.

She highlighted one aspect that is a common theme of many businesses: the new staff induction, “during which we tell newcomers all the rules and how we work. But has anyone ever invited a new employee to come in and look at how you do things and suggest change?”

Are UK companies good at being innovative? For a country that has supplied so many new products and inventions for the world, the truth is today, no. Of the world’s top 100 most innovative companies, “the highest UK entry is in at 51… we must do better than that…”

“Innovation isn’t just about tech and data… it’s about empowering your workforce to think differently and redefine the way they work.”

Dr Crane discussed the three styles of innovation: incremental, with small steps taken to change; radical innovation, with totally new ideas and concepts redefining the

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“That ‘certainty ship’ you crave has long since sailed. It’s time for real leadership and to grasp the opportunities that are out there.”

Professor Susan Deacon

business model; and finally the disruptive innovation that the media refers to so often and caricatured by the likes of Uber.

This doesn’t look to change existing business models but instead creates entirely new ones, destroying current practices in the process.

Dr Crane highlighted Tesla, the American electric car maker, as a company that was ripping up the business management rule book.

Tesla’s bold CEO, Elon Musk, had dominated the motoring press in recent years with a series of dramatic innovative developments around electric and autonomous cars, yet despite being hailed as the world’s most innovative company two years in succession it has still to record a profit and last year made a $1 billion loss.

Musk is a serial innovator who remains notorious for over-promising on products and setting staff near

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impossible deadlines – yet these hard challenges had seen the company establish itself at the heart of modern motoring without any significant vehicular presence on the road.

The point behind Tesla is Musk’s aggressive and single-minded determination to question everything that the company does and to constantly demand innovation from every sector.

For businesses to innovate and become even more successful they must be prepared to embrace experimentation – and accept failure as a natural part of the process of continuous change, Dr Crane concluded. Businesses that stand still in the current climate are simply biding their time before someone attacks their market. “You have to accept the need for change.”

“Technology is the car of innovation… but you have to drive it…”

Turn over... for Bob Keiller, Chairman, Scottish Enterprise, IoD Scotland Forum and workshops

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IoD Scotland Conference 2016

Right, Bob Keiller makes a point to session host John Morrison MIoD Above, delegate Nick Kuenssberg FIoD asks a question from the floor

Be clear... and genuine in your goals Bob Keiller, Chairman, Scottish Enterprise Create a clear path to follow, be equally clear on your core values, identify the people you want to come with you – and make sure you bring them along: that is Bob Keiller’s definition of modern business leadership.

The current chairman of Scottish Enterprise has developed his leadership theories over an illustrious career within the oil and gas sector, where he has had to deliver complex engineering and logistical projects around the globe, where time and safety issues were paramount.

At the Wood Group he had developed seven core values that underpinned the business and ensured all key decision making placed them at its heart.

“But you can’t create core values and then pay lip service to them… they have to be genuine.” Such was their importance that Wood Group had turned down lucrative contracts when they placed its core values in jeopardy – and let staff go if they didn’t abide by them. “We urged employees to show respect… and that meant bullying in the workplace was out… we said safety was paramount, so there was no cutting corners.”

This strategy had differentiated the company from its rivals and led to it winning more business as a result.

Offer a helping hand to ‘Future Yous’ Alexandra Mancini MIoD, Young Directors Forum The driving force behind the IoD Scotland Young Directors’ Forum, Lex Mancini, appealed to delegates to look at their workforce and identify the ‘future yous’ – the business leaders of tomorrow.

“Encourage your young high flyers to join the IoD YDF network,” she said, “and help them take advantage of the benefits it brings and shape their careers as our next generation of leaders.”

An Australian, she hailed Scotland as the perfect fit for big ambitions: “small enough for you to make a difference, but with a large enough reach for those differences to reverberate around the world.”

She also paid tribute to the IoD Scotland staff who had helped her establish the YDF and had been a constant source of encouragement.

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WWW.IOD.COM

Open Forum on big issues of the day Conference launches its own Question Time, in conjunction with The Times, Scotland Conference delegates enjoyed a lively Question Time- style session in which the key issues of the day were debated.

Chaired by The Times Scotland deputy editor Lesley McIntosh, the panel – made up of Jeremy Peat OBE, Visiting Professor, University of Strathclyde; Tom Miers, from the Brussels office of Europe Economics; Professor Brad MacKay, University of St Andrews School of Management; and IoD Scotland chair Professor Susan Deacon – took apart the previous day’s fall-out from the High Court ruling on Brexit as well as discussed wider EU issues.

A survey of conference delegates earlier in the day had highlighted the disappointment of an overwhelming majority over the Scottish Government’s current handling of the Brexit issue, with Jeremy Peat saying that he believed the SNP was trying to use all its leverage in Westminster to push for a ‘soft Brexit’ – “but was clearly disappointed with its success so far.”

Ton Miers said the IoD conference poll possibly highlighted concern over the Government’s immediate linkage of Brexit with a second independence referendum, while Prof MacKay said the High Court ruling meant “nothing is now inevitable” as far as Brexit was concerned.

His concern for the UK was that problems surrounding the recent free trade deal with Canada highlighted how hard establishing future trade agreements would be.

Susan Deacon called for the debate to move on from the language of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ Brexit – terms that “imply we know what the future under either of them looks like – which we don’t”. Instead, “we need an informed parliamentary and public debate, to inject some sense in the rhetoric. There is too much heat in this debate at the moment.”

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The referendum vote had showed clear public concern over immigration and all political parties would need to build this into their responses.

Susan Deacon stressed that while Brexit was disappointing, “we have to search out the opportunities it creates” with Jeremy Peat suggesting that one benefit for business could be some relaxing of EU regulations.

Away from Brexit, the failure to create a unified energy policy was discussed – with Professor Deacon particularly scathing on the Scottish Government’s failure to establish a co-ordinated way forward on the issue: “We can’t duck these

Taking questions at the forum, from left to right, IoD Scotland chair Professor Susan Deacon Tom Miers, Lindsay McIntosh, Professor Brad MacKay and Jeremy Peat

“We should stop using the terms ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ Brexit... they imply we know what the future under either of them with looks like – which we don’t...” discussions any more; there has been too much fudge around this issue.”

“Hard decisions need to be taken... the Government has backed itself into a corner on energy.”

There was also concern over the funding difficulties the Scottish Government would face in the future, and questions over whether ‘sacred cows’ of tuition fees, pensioners’ free travel and prescription charges would have to be addressed.

“Scotland runs at a net deficit but this is absorbed by the UK as a whole,” Jeremy Peat thought that, “It will be a very brave politician who stands up and says we need to introduce means testing for university fees or prescriptions, ” yet Professor Deacon detected a more mature mood in the public at large than at Holyrood to debate such issues: “The public are more receptive to talk about this issue than politicians give them credit,” she said.

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IoD Scotland Conference 2016

Conference speakers Natalie Roberts, Inverclyde Academy IoD Young Enterprise Scotland Director of the Year The challenges of running a business can be hard enough – but would you like to have to combine them with your academic career at the same time?

That was the task undertaken by Natalie Roberts of Inverclyde Academy, who was named the IoD’s Young Enterprise Scotland Director of the Year for her stunning performance as Managing director of Glass Act. Her company of young students assembled and decorated glass centrepiece bowls and Mason drinking jars for retail sales and event functions.

In a mature and thought-provoking address, Natalie hailed the Young Enterprise Scheme as a superb entry to the business world, outlining the lessons she had learn through the process and the skills gained.

Delegation, she said, was the number one skill she had learned from the process, and her leadership had matured through her time at the helm from a task-driven approach to one that was more relationship-driven.

Now studying International Business at Strathclyde, her greatest satisfaction was knowing that not only had she led a successful team but the legacy of that team’s win in the YES competition had inspired over 30 students at Inverclyde to sign up to the YES programme for 2016-17.

She ended with an appeal for more directors to act as mentors to YES businesses in the future.

Mike Whittingham, Director of High Performance, sportscotland institute of sport As director of high performance at sportscotland institute of sport, Mike Whittingham could bask in what has been a truly glorious year for our sports stars, he told conference. The Summer Olympics had capped a remarkable four-year cycle, starting at London 2012 and including the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Pivotal to this success had been the National Lottery funding, which had transformed performance and expectations – though at a cost of £357m in the Rio cycle.

His views on leadership and how they transferred from the playing field to the boardroom were fascinating, with strong links to earlier speakers’ comments about empowering people to innovate at all levels. His own biggest personal triumph came in 1991 when he coached the Team GB 4 x400m squad to a stunning relay gold at the Tokyo World Championships, a victory all the more surprising after a team-led major overhaul of the relay on the morning of the final. It was a classic example of empowering staff to initiate change.

Great leadership demanded a vision – in his case, to set ambitious goals of high performance and to continually add to them by seeking out best practice. His own search for high performance had seen him meet organisations as diverse as the SAS, Yehudi Menuhin’s violin academy and US professional sports team, cherry-picking ideas through which he could build a high performance culture.

Setting tough goals forced people to stretch themselves – but in such a scenario, it was incumbent on leaders to be prepared to support their team if they fall. “Risk taking is hard”, he said.

He also urged directors to stifle negative criticism: “In sport, we look for solutions to issues; don’t dwell on the negatives.”

Josh Littlejohn, Social Bite With an address book that includes Bill Clinton, actors George Clooney and Leonardo di Caprio and Banglasdeshi social enterprise guru Muhammad Yunus, Josh Littlejohn’s rise to prominence has been little short of spectacular.

The founder of the Scottish Business Awards, his latest enterprise is the food and drink chain Social Bite, which was formed as a social enterprise to fund projects that tackle poverty and exclusion around the world.

He explained how both businesses have grown, with a particular focus on Social Bite’s work with the homeless community. A quarter of its employees are people who were previously living on the streets and it had developed strategies to support many more.

His inspiration was Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi social entrepreneur, banker, economist and civil society leader who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for pioneering the concepts of microcredit and microfinance. Like Josh’s businesses, the emphasis is on supporting vulnerable and marginalised communities and eradicate social exclusion. “It was a privilege,” he said, “to work with homeless people and offer them a chance to break out of the cycle that rough sleeping created.”

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Petra Wetzel and Sandy Begbie

Sandy Begbie, Standard Life plc

Petra Wetzel, WEST Brewery

The challenges facing the leadership of major financial institutions were addressed by Sandy Begbie, chief people officer of Standard Life plc.

As well as continuing to rebuild public trust in the finance sector after the 2008 collapse, Standard Life was also wrestling with changing customer expectations. People wanted to have greater control of their finances, he said, and to be more engaged with the investment processes than ever before.

The problem is that financial services are behind other sectors in digitalisation, and his company has seen a huge increase in younger savers since auto enrolment came in. How his company engaged with these Millenials would be crucial in keeping them saving with Standard Life.

Underpinning its approach were its clear values, which have helped encourage its employees to deliver a customer-focused service that leads the sector.

Key to this a clear understanding on the part of the workforce as to what Standard Life stands for and its primary goals. Trust in the processes and leadership of the business remains at an all-time high, and its people like the culture in which they work.

This is a bedrock to great customer service and has been developed through clear communication.

Looking to the future, Sandy said that Standard Life was developing new strategies to prepare the business for future demands. “We are putting in place new training programmes so that our future leaders will have the skills needed for the business not of today, but the one we will be working in in 5 -10 years time.”

An increasing use of non-executive directors reflect the fact that tomorrow’s leadership will come as much from outside the business as inside it, and teams of younger executives shadow main board decision-making to ensure plans work across the generations.

The career journey of Petra Wetzel – including a business collapse, the loss of her house and a messy divorce that saw her lose her husband and business partner in one fell swoop – would have left many business leaders on the floor, yet her boundless enthusiasm and passion for WEST Brewery proved the key to her leadership advice.

Being prepared to tackle every job in the business – including, on the morning of Conference, contemplating getting behind the wheel of a forklift truck after a driver reported in sick – had proved both her thirst for hard work and resilience to cope with problems.

Yet her personal philosophy is that she isn’t a great leader – just a great team player.

She accepted advice readily and “I’m constantly bailed out by my team when I make mistakes”.

She believed that allowing her team the space to make decisions and changes was vital to keeping innovation alive throughout the business, which is now securing lucrative deals across Scotland and the wider world for its award-winning range of craft beers and lagers.

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“If everything goes well in your career, perhaps you’re not risking enough?”

Sandy Begbie

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IoD Scotland Conference 2016

Peter Schwartz Salesforce

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he definition of irony: the oldest man at Salesforce is its futurologist… and therefore the one who was least likely to be around to actually see the future!

Yet Peter Schwartz’s dazzling career, from his days as an astrophysicist involved with NASA, his days as an early internet pioneer - “I’ve been constantly online since 1972” – and his Hollywood connections as a consultant on several movies, including Minority Report, Deep Impact, Sneakers and War Games, made him the ideal person to peer into the future.

What’s coming? Everything, he concluded… with the pace of change accelerating.

Peter urged conference to consider the future and how technology could impact on their business, citing the examples of Über and Airbnb as digital innovations that have not changed a traditional sector but effectively shattered it forever, while creating a whole new one at the same time.

The key to the future for Peter was the advance of what he dubbed ‘small AI’ – that’s ‘Artificial Intelligence’ This wasn’t the robotics of sci-fi lore but rather the convergence of technology to become more intuitive to our needs.

This tech was with us already, impacting on basic functions of our daily lives that we now take for granted. But Peter stressed that this was only the beginning: the pace of change driven by small AI was accelerating and soon, everyday tasks such as driving and shopping would be a thing of the past as automated cars and synched shopping lists through systems such as the Amazon Eco took over.

At the same time, advances in connectivity will mean that we are permanently online for all our daily needs.

“In the past we have got to learn about our PCs; in the future, your PC will learn about you: it will become an intimate computer and learn about your needs and preferences, and bring them to you without your interaction.”

The impact this would have on the current jobs market would be immeasurable – yet Peter was quick to point out that dire predictions that this would create mass unemployment were unlikely to be accurate. “Time Magazine used its cover to confidently predict that increases in automation would soon render millions of workers obsolete and out of work… yet this comment was made in 1961…”

He predicted a future where all the things around us would be ‘alive’, plugged into the internet and our lives, transforming how we order goods and services. From fridges and washing machines automatically adding detergents to your shopping list when you run low, to automated cars

planning the best route to the theatre after you order tickets for a show online, ‘small AI’ offers a spectacular future where tech makes a seamless integration into our lives.

He offered some thoughts on other possible ways this could affect us, considering how home insurers may re-evaluate our home premiums after ‘talking’ to our smoke and burglar alarms, or perhaps how your GP may call you in for a check-up after not liking the look of data coming from your FitBit. In this hi-tech future, what would become of the service industry? It would become better …“delivering real services to keep it ahead of technology. This is the human’s key advantage that machines will never trump: our ability to perform abstract tasks and emote.”

The secret for business leaders was to understand the possibilities this increased connectivity would bring – and ignore low ceilings of predicted demand. “In the 1990s AT+T tried to work out how far the expansion in mobile phone use would go, and their experts predicted – so confidently – that total mobile phone users in the year 2000 would peak at 900,000 in the USA… at which point there were actually 109 million.”

For business leaders this was a salient lesson: do not underestimate the power of technology to transform your organisation. “You need good analysis of future trends… but you also need imagination to see how those trends will map out.”

Conference supporters

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IoD Scotland Conference 2016

Leadership lecture Mike Cantlay MIoD Chairman, Highlands & Islands Airports Ltd

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onference was preceded by the IoD‘s now annual Director Development and Leadership Lecture on the eve of the main session. A record number of members attended, taking in one of three director development workshops before listening to Mike Cantley, chairman of Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd and former chair of VisitScotland, address the issue Leadership: Born or Built.

Mike took as his inspiration the transformation of Iceland and its economy after the financial collapse of 2008 to show how strong leadership, allied to vision and a bold strategy, could bring about positive change.

The country’s political leaders had backed tourism as a vehicle to drive the economy out of the doldrums, and had been rewarded by a fivefold increase in visitor numbers since the end of the noughties. A 130 per cent increase in air traffic and over a 100 new routes to and from Reykjavik had supported this tourism drive.

Could such an impetus be delivered in Scotland? Mike thought it was possible for the nation that “built global tourism.”

“Scotland is a superb visitor destination and delivers on major projects,” he said, citing the Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup in 2014 as examples. But what is needed is visionary leadership to build on the already impressive position the country holds as a tourist destination.

He used Dubai and its spectacular growth as another example of just what can be

achieved if a vision is allied to strong leadership capable of taking people with you.

He asked if “Scotland was going off the boil” as a world-class innovator, perhaps because there was so much going on at a more immediate level that prevented politicians getting their heads up and scanning the horizon for new opportunities. Perhaps that’s why the business community had to take a lead – and not leave thinking innovatively just to Holyrood and Westminster.

Mike ended on a positive note, stressing

From left, Beth Corcoran, David Watt, Jane ClarkHutchison, Mike Cantlay and Angela Vickers

26

how high Scotland’s standing was in the world – “we have a brand and an identity that has not been diminished, and there is so much great stuff going on in Scotland at the moment that make the future exciting,” but change was always needed: as Mike quoted Princess Merida, from Pixar’s Brave, “if you had the chance to change your fate, would you?”

Mike’s address was followed by a lively debate led by IoD Scotland Executive Director David Watt at which Mike was joined by Angela Vickers, Apex Hotels; Beth Corcoran FIoD, of the James Hutton Institute; and Jane Clark-Hutchison MIoD, Bank of Scotland for a panel debate on the issues brought up in the lecture.

On the subject of leadership, Angela Vickers said that for the Apex Hotels group, developing its own people was essential in order to create the best possible customer experience. Its own internal leadership courses were developing a greater sense of responsibility among staff to take charge of service delivery, and management was aware of the need to be flexible and keep ahead of trends.

One of her challenges was to answer whether the hotel sector should lead its customers - or follow them, reacting to changes in demand.

Jane Clark-Hutchison accepted that the banking industry had had to work hard to win back public confidence: “Trust and integrity are even more vital for our sector.”

All banks needed to introduce greater levels of digitalisation to adapt its services to match customer needs and this ability to adapt to match future trends was a key goal. The Bank of Scotland has a central role in helping Scotland prosper.

Are leaders born or built? The consensus was both – though Beth Corcoran said that in the science field they were more built, as leadership in science tended to be linked to scientific research performance.

What was important for Beth was to see more done to help female scientists develop as leaders: while the sector had a fairly balanced 50:50 split as a whole, its leaders were virtually all male.

The importance of good teams was stressed, with Jane Clark-Hutchison remarking: “On my leadership journey I thought I had to know everything, but I realise that’s wrong.

Leadership is about having great people around you who you trust. Collaboration and trust are the essential ingredients.

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Inside IoD Scotland

Turn over for latest news on membership...

Events Benefits Offers Branch news

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27

Membership Benefits

Emirates’ IoD Silver Service is extra special

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lying, especially long haul, can be something of an ordeal, particularly when you are 6 foot 5, writes Russell Dalgleish, non-executive director and IoD Scotland member.

Emirates has launched an exclusive offer to IoD members on their Skywards scheme, automatically upgrading their membership by one tier from either Blue to Silver or Silver to Gold.

Additional benefits include dedicated check in areas, additional baggage, Emirates lounge access and priority waitlisting (a seat rescheduling benefit).

(Please contact jill.niven@emirates.com for details on how to take advantage of this offer.)

I was to fly to Hong Kong to support Scottish companies at the inaugural EIE Asia investment events in Hong Kong and Shenzhen in my role as Chairman of WeAreTheFuture.

The best flight was Emirates overnight from Glasgow via Dubai. With my new silver card in hand I was delighted to find that I boarded first on each flight with no requirement to queue (if you fly a lot you’ll know how good this feels) allowing me to settle into my seat in peace and quiet.

Emirates provides Wi-Fi for $1 allowing me to clear my in box and fully prepare for the week ahead. At Dubai, ‘Silver status’ also provides access to the top-of-the-range lounge where food and service is exceptional.

The trip was a tremendous success but with a typhoon closing in on Hong Kong I was concerned for my return flight. No reason to worry as I received an email from Jill Niven, our Emirates contact, who not only confirmed my flight would depart but also booked me an aisle seat near the front of the plane – allowing my long legs some level of comfort.

If you are flying to the Gulf or further afield I cannot praise Emirates highly enough and remember, you can access lounges and first-class train travel as an IoD Scotland member, easing the journey even further.

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Above, Justin Willey, MD, IQX Limited and Russell Dalgleish at Creative Industries Incubator, Shenzhen.

Emirates flies twice daily to Dubai from Glasgow and 16 times daily from a choice of five other UK airports, offering convenient onward connections to over 150 destinations. On board, passengers can enjoy world-class service, regionally inspired gourmet cuisine and over 2,200 channels of award-winning entertainment – plus phone, SMS and Wi-Fi connectivity from every seat.

On the ground, First Class and Business Class passengers can take advantage of a complimentary chauffeur-drive service, expedited check-in, dedicated baggage handling and luxurious lounge access in a dedicated First & Business Class lounge at Glasgow Airport – ensuring a seamless journey from start to finish.

With flights from Heathrow, London Gatwick, Birmingham and Manchester, travellers can experience the Emirates A380 featuring Private Suites and on board Shower Spas in First Class, an Onboard Lounge and flat-bed seats in Business Class.

Emirates has launched an exclusive offer to IoD members participating in its Skywards scheme, automatically upgrading their membership by one tier from either Blue to Silver or Silver to Gold. Additional benefits include dedicated check-in areas, additional baggage, Emirates lounge access and priority waitlisting (a seat rescheduling benefit).

Please contact jill.niven@emirates.com for details on how to take advantage of this offer.

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Hotel discounts IoD Scotland has negotiated special discounts and rates for members at hotels in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Inverness Members can obtain a 15 per cent discount off accommodation (best available rate), food and beverages as well as meetings and event bookings at: n The Grand Central Hotel, Glasgow n Blythswood Square, Glasgow n The Roxburghe, Edinburgh n The George, Edinburgh n The Bonham, Edinburgh PLUS Special discounts at 200 svs Glasgow IoD hub.

Aberdeen: Preferential accommodation rate at Aberdeen Hilton Garden Inn. Inverness: Preferential accommodation rate Kingsmills Inverness and IoD guests will receive a VIP package, including a late checkout and room refreshments.

Free access to airport lounges

IoD membership gives you free access to four Airport Lounges in Scotland plus eight other UK destinations Edinburgh Airport – Aspire and No.1 Traveller lounge Glasgow Airport - Upperdeck lounge Aberdeen and Inverness Airport - Swissport Executive Lounge Just sign in with your IoD membership card.

Special advice - free - to IoD members All members have access to specialist information and advice, including legal and tax helplines and a comprehensive business library.

Make sure you are registered online at ‘My IoD’. This is the place to contact the Information and Advisory Service and to review existing enquiries – see www.iod. com/services/information-and-advice.

IoD members have access to expert guidance via this service with up to 25 free enquiries each to the Business Information Service and the legal and tax helplines.

And don’t forget, you can claim tax relief on your membership fee, saving you up to £240 a year.

Members’ facilities Please check out our new members’ facility at 10 Charlotte Square • Members’ lounge and workroom • Exclusively for members to hire: - Boardroom for 16 - Garden View room, for 8 - Castle View room, for 12 - Forth View room, for meetings, training workshops, lectures for 20-50 Call 0131 557 5488 or email iod.scotland@iod.com for details.

FREE upgrade to First Class on ScotRail Abellio ScotRail is continuing its fantastic offer to IoD Scotland members.

Just present your IoD membership card to the conductor on-train along with a valid ticket type for that journey and receive a free upgrade to First Class*.

The offer is valid on Anytime Single, Anytime Return and Off Peak where First Class accommodation is available.

Members whose businesses use train travel regularly could also sign up to ScotRail’s Business Direct service, a solution designed to help support you by managing your business travel programmes, saving you time and money.

So let’s move your business travel off road and on to rail – and do it in style with our special offer, courtesy of ScotRail.

For more information: See www.scotrail.co.uk/businesstravel or call 0141 335 4015 to find out more.

New Career Management Benefit launched at Conference TCMO is a career management and personal development business which specialises in delivering tailored career management programmes for individual business professionals and for employers in Scotland, and beyond.

We’re delighted to offer IoD members a 10% discount on our all of our services for individuals and employers. From driven professionals aiming to improve their career trajectory and senior leaders looking to step

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into the world of non-executive appointments, to employers seeking a bespoke approach to personnel development or business restructuring, we have the expertise and experience to make a lasting difference.

To find out more about our services and claim your 10% discount, call us on 0800 009 3141 or see: www.tcmo.co.uk/iod-scotlandmember-offer/

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IoD Scotland Events

6

Dec

Leadership lecture with Keith Brown MSP, Cabinet Secretary for the Economy, Jobs and Fair Work

Time: 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm Venue: Dumfries & Galloway College

Bankend Road , Dumfries DG1 4FD Cost: Free of charge Hosted by Dumfries and Galloway College, all members and guests are welcome to this lecture and Q&A at which Keith Brown MSP will reflect on his role and the challenges he faces as a Scottish Government minister. This is the second lecture to take place this year organised by the IoD to engage members and new businesses in the area.

Mr Brown has been a member of the Scottish Parliament since 2007 and is

1

Dec

New members Welcome Drinks Time: 6pm-8pm Venue: IoD Scotland, 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh Cost: Free of charge We would like to invite all our recent new members to an informal get together. Over drinks and canapes, you will have the opportunity to meet other new members, as well as the local chair and committee.

The Edinburgh & Lothians branch is the largest in Scotland and we recognise how important it is to get our members together and provide opportunities to connect, discuss and network. This drinks event is an informal get together where you will meet other new members, the local chair and committee and hear from David Watt, IoD Scotland Executive Director, on the latest news, developments and opportunities for members.

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currently the constituency MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane. Before his election he served for 11 years as a councillor in Clackmannanshire and Leader there from 1999 to 2003. He was appointed Minster for Skills & Lifelong Learning in February 2009 and has since held a number of ministerial roles before becoming Minster for Transport and Veterans in September 2012.

Keith worked for 15 years as a local government professional in Stirling, where he was also an active trade union representative with UNISON. Non members who attend will receive a preferential rate to join the IoD.

7

Dec

IoD Scotland Influencers Dinner, with Marc Crothall and James Withers Time: 7pm-10.30pm Venue: IoD Scotland, Edinburgh CPD: 2.5 hours Cost: Members and their guests: £60

Non Members: £72 Join Marc Crothall and James Withers for a conversation on tourism and the food and drink sectors as we look at how to successfully grow these vital and interlinked sectors.

Marc and James will tell the story of their successful collaboration and how the 2020 strategy encourages tourism and food and drink businesses to collaborate and offer visitors to Scotland a range of authentic experiences, with great food and drink at the heart of everything.

Marc Crothall, CEO, The Scottish Tourism Alliance, will touch on the competitive nature of a global marketplace, the challenges and issues that businesses face and what Scotland needs to do keep ahead of rival tourism destinations.

James Withers, Chief Executive of Scotland Food & Drink, will talk about some of the exciting collaborations in the food and drink sector, highlighting examples of competitors working together to set up successful export initiatives in markets that they could not otherwise reach on their own.

15 Dec Glasgow & West of Scotland Christmas Drinks Time: 6pm-8pm Venue: The Trading House, Glasgow Cost: Members and guests, £30

Non-members, £36 IoD Glasgow and West of Scotland invites you to our Christmas Reception, where you’ll enjoy drinks, canapés and great company.

Starting at 6pm we will enjoy a welcome speech from branch chair David Hoey, followed by plenty of time for networking and new connections over canapés and Christmas drinks We aim to close around 8pm. Dress code is business casual.

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To book online visit www.iod.com/events-community

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8

Dec

Dec

Guest lecture, by Professor Danny Blanchflower: On Brexit and other surprises

Influencers Dinner, with Professor Danny Blanchflower

Time: 5.30pm-7pm Venue: University of Stirling, University

Court Room, Cottrell Building Cost: Free of charge CPD: 2.5 Hours

Time: 7.15pm-10pm Venue: Stirling Court Hotel, Stirling Cost: Members and guests £66

Non-members £78

Students £54 CPD: 1.5 Hours

In partnership with the University of Stirling Management School, members are invited to attend the annual lecture to be given by the Management School`s eminent economist, Professor Danny Blanchflower. Danny will share his analysis and observations on the ongoing economic debate around Brexit.

Professor Blanchflower is a highly credible and high-profile speaker. He is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and was a former member of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee. He is a regular economic columnist for the New Statesman magazine and contributing editor of Bloomberg Television. Nonmembers who attend the lecture will receive a preferential rate to join the IoD.

In our post-Brexit environment, with many uncertainties, this Influencers’ Dinner offers a great opportunity to hear the views of such an eminent economist as Professor Blanchflower in an informal setting. Non members who attend will receive a preferential rate to join the IoD, saving up to £220. Students are welcome but are limited to five at this dinner.

26 Jan Developing the AntiFragile Board Workshop Time: 9am-5pm Venue: IoD Scotland, Edinburgh CPD: 2.5 Hours Cost: Members: £408

Non Members: £474 This one-day workshop will help strengthen your Board. Properly constituted Boards are not fragile, but ‘Anti-fragile’. They are more than just robust: they get stronger through the collective and individual experiences of Board members.

But Board members can be difficult people too, thinking as individuals rather than as Board team players. This workshop also considers the skills required for mobilising and unifying the team, and how to be a good Board team member.

It will explore what makes organisations fragile and more susceptible to failure, and the difference between being resilient to shocks and being anti-fragile.

The workshops will be led by: Tony Bendell, author and a leading figure in the emerging field of Anti-Fragility; Ron Lynch is an experienced director with a background across all sectors; and Monica Langa, an experienced NXD.

To book any event, visit www.iod.com/events-community 7

Feb

Big Data Demystified

Time: 9am-5pm Venue: IoD Scotland, 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh CPD: 8 hours Cost: Members: £408 Non Members: £474 This interactive one-day workshop takes you beyond the hype surrounding Big Data by demonstrating how you can drive value for your business through the better use of data.

Big data, small data, open data, smart data, data lakes, data visualisation… the list of data terms goes on and on. But what does it all mean in terms of business outcomes? This workshop is structured to help you answer pragmatic questions such as ‘how do I drive value from data?’; ‘what should I do first?’; ‘what does success look like?’ and ‘what is the business case for the first steps on my journey?’. This workshop is all about making an immediate business impact with data.

Who Should Attend? Individuals who are directly or indirectly accountable to the C-Level Suite for driving value in their organisations; SME owners who want to drive more value from the information they already have; and data professionals who are struggling to get business buy-in to driving value from Data Science.

Our workshop tutor is Craig Paterson from The Data Lab. Craig has 25 years of industry experience working in utilities and financial services and specialises in business, IT and digital strategy development

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Branch lines

Delivering services and developing your skills David Hoey MIoD Chair, IoD Glasgow & West of Scotland As ever, our work in the west of Scotland continues unabated, with the aim to ensure that the IoD continues to deliver what our members need as they build their careers and develop leadership skills.

Our Influencers’ Dinner in October, hosted by the Marriott, provided a fitting venue for the theme of Scottish tourism, food and drink. Marc Crothall, chief executive, Scottish Tourism Alliance and James Withers, chief executive, Scotland Food and Drink, provided excellent presentations and facilitated lively discussion on leadership, collaboration and exporting Scotland, and its produce, globally. This provided a good example of how leadership across various sectors worked together to achieve a sum that is greater than the value of its constituent parts.

Later this month Maureen Ross, HR and corporate services director of First Milk, will present to our members her leadership journey, which is proving to be a popular event.

We are also delighted to announce that an informal Christmas Reception has been organised for 15th December at The Trading House, 24 St Vincent Place, Glasgow G1 2EU. This event presents the ideal opportunity to meet fellow leaders and our committee in a relaxed atmosphere.

Looking further into the future, the committee is looking at arranging some exciting sessions in the New Year and we look forward to working with our members to ensure we continue to deliver excellence in all that we do.

One of my roles as Chair of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Region is to try and engage with our members and identify opportunities. I continue to meet members, from newcomers to the long serving, and explore what leaders are looking for and how the IoD can help. Please feel free to contact me if you have any ideas or comments which we can then take on board.

Finally, the Committee is keen to represent the diverse range of our members throughout the area. We are always on the look-out for new members with a passion for the IoD and want to develop our membership, work to identify relevant events and sessions for members and areas of local policy interest. Sectors that are not currently represented include education, local government and manufacturing. Get in touch with me if you wish to explore this opportunity.

Finally, we wish a very Merry Christmas and a very successful New Year to you all, and I look forward to meeting and engaging at our forthcoming events. Cheers!

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IoD lays down welcome mat to Finnish friends

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avid Wilkinson MIoD, the Interim Chair of IoD Highlands & Islands and a member of the Global Scot family, hosted a visit to Scotland by some of Finland’s most prominent business leaders.

Jussi Eerikainen, CEO of Hame Chamber of Commerce and a long-time business colleague of David’s, led the visit, which saw the Finns sampling some of Scotland’s leading-edge technology.

IoD Scotland’s David Watt offered a warm welcome to the group at the Edinburgh HQ, a welcome which set the tone for the two-day visit.

Among the visitors were 13 leading business organisations and a representative of TEKES Finland’s Government Innovation Funding Agency, and they were clearly impressed by both their hosts and the organisations they visited.

Jon Oberlander, director of Edinburgh University’s New Data Technology Institute and Informatics Systems Inc., a premier global provider of information technology, offered his views on future developments at a session where he was joined by Susan Deacon, IoD Scotland chair and Professional Fellow of the University.

The second day saw Adrian Gillespie, Scottish Enterprise’s managing director of operations growth companies, innovation and infrastructure, brief the group on the economic and international support for Scotland’s high growth organisations.

Following that Andy Kerr at the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation told the visitors more about Scotland’s work at the leading edge for low carbon policy and technology.

Of course, nobody from Finland could possibly leave without experiencing something of our more traditional industries, with a welcome visit to the Scotch Whisky Experience.

Although arranged ahead of the Brexit Vote, the Finnish visitors wanted to experience at first-hand Scotland’s hi-tech businesses and discuss the implications this has for both Scotland and the UK. The help given by Scottish Enterprise and the University of Edinburgh to ensure a successful visit was very much valued and appreciated.

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IoD Scotland Awards

Let’s celebrate the best of business leadership IoD Scotland Director of the Year Awards: Nominate before the 12 December deadline!

The winners will be announced at the Crowne Plaza Glasgow on Thursday, 23 March 2017 at a black-tie Gala Dinner which brings together 400 business leaders for an evening of celebration and connecting with colleagues.

The IoD Scotland Awards – to be held on 23 March 2017 – celebrate the very best of Scotland’s business community, turning a deserving spotlight on those directors whose purpose, passion and perseverance have led them to leadership excellence.

Whether you are involved in media or manufacturing, e-business or the public or third sector, whether you are an entrepreneurial director of a start-up company or an NXD of a large corporation, IoD Scotland wants to hear about your successes.

So why not consider nominating a colleague or client for one of the following Director Awards: IoD Scotland Director of the Year Emerging Director Female Director Non-Executive Director Public Sector Director Third Sector Director Director Award for Workplace Innovation* *This award is new for this year!

Why Enter?

Being nominated for an award is great for you, great for your organisation and great for business, so why not register and start a nomination?

As well as the main Director categories, nominations are being sought for Scotland’s six Regional Awards: Aberdeen & Grampian Edinburgh, Lothians & the Borders Fife & Central Glasgow & West of Scotland Highlands & Islands Tayside

The awards are free to enter and the process is a streamlined, no-nonsense one.

You can enter as many categories as you wish with just one nomination form, which you will find online at www.iodscotland.com All short-listed finalists receive feedback from the judging panel.

You can enter yourself or nominate a business leader who you believe would be a deserving recipient.

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The closing date for nominations is Monday, 12 December 2016. Complete a nomination form at www.iodscotland.com where you will also find the full Awards criteria and guidelines and a list of previous winners.

“These awards are a great recognition of the work the organisation has done. It is a privilege to be part of that. Inspiration comes with recognition and it encourages you to go out and inspire others.”

Any questions?

If you have any queries email awards@firstcityevents.co.uk, or call 01577 865498, or 07711 432745 (Joyce), or 07749 384032 (Alice).

Winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner on Thursday, 23 March 2017 at the Crowne Plaza Glasgow.

Book your tickets now for this event at www.iod.com

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Training: Director Development

Professional Director Series schedule Director Development within IoD takes many forms, including committee-organised events, IoD Scotland-managed Professional Director Series workshops and London-managed Chartered Director Programme courses. We regularly add to our schedule so keep an eye out for our regular Director Development emails. All our workshops and events are open to members and non-members and usually bring together delegates from a variety of sectors and locations to share experience and knowledge.

Forthcoming workshop dates Date

Workshop name

Time

Location

24/01/17 26/01/17 07/02/17 08/02/17 08/02/17 09/02/17 21/02/17 23/02/17 March tbc 07/03/17 08/03/17 14/03/17 15/03/17 22/03/17 28/03/17 30/03/17 19/04/17 25/04/17 26/04/17 02/05/17 03/05/17 09/05/17 10/05/17 16/05/17 17/05/17 24/05/17 20/06/17 29/06/17

Role of the Non-Executive Director Developing the Anti-Fragile Board Big Data Demystified What Kind of Leader are You? Strategic Innovation for Directors Role of the Trustee/Board Member in the Third Sector Mastering the Art of Strategic Questioning The Innovation Nation Boardroom Experience Workshop Role of the Non-Executive Director Leading from the Front The Apprentice Director Confident Leadership Managing your Professional Career - Introduction Role of Director & The Board (2 days) How to Influence others and Handle Challenging People Leading Innovation Role of the Non-Executive Director Cyber Security for Directors Transformational Leadership Making an Impact for Business Presentations Role of the Trustee/Board Member in the Third Sector Finance For Non-Financial Directors (3 days) The Role of the Chair Managing your Professional Career - Advanced Strategic Innovation for Directors Directors Role in Strategy & Marketing (3 days) Directors Role in Leading the Organisation (2 days)

9-5 9-5 9-5 9-1 9-5 9-5 9-5 9-5 9-1 9-5 9-1 9-5 9-1 9-1 9-5 9-1 9-1 9-5 9-5 9-5 9-1 9-5 9-5 9-5 9-1 9-5 9-5 9-5

No 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh No 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh No 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh No 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh 200 SVS, Glasgow No 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh No 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh No 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh No 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh 200 SVS, Glasgow No 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh No 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh No 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh No 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh No 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh No 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh No 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh No 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh No 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh No 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh No 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh 200 SVS, Glasgow No 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh No 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh No 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh No 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh No 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh No 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh

Booking online at iodscotland.com/director-and-board-development/courses/

Certificate in Company Direction Advance your career and gain professional recognition in 2016 with the Certificate in Company Direction, stage 1 of the prestigious Chartered Director qualification.

Whether you’re newly appointed, aspire to a seat on the board, or want to improve your performance with fresh insight, an IoD qualification can equip you with the knowledge and skills to make you more effective in the key areas of governance, finance, strategy and leadership. Stay one step ahead with best practice insights from expert practitioners who will share the latest industry case studies for maximum impact and application in your role.

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Each course unit is designed for flexibility and may be taken independently or as part of the qualification with a range of course dates available in Edinburgh throughout the year: Make a note of these courses, which will be held in Edinburgh: n Role of the Director and the Board: n Director’s Role in Strategy and Marketing n Director’s Role in Leading the Organisation n Finance for Non-Financial Directors To find out more information contact Adam Meek on 020 7766 2628 or visit IoD.com/developing/ chartered-director-qualifications

More information on IoD courses see overleaf

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Training: Director Development

Masterclasses: Bite-sized learning for business leaders IoD Scotland runs a selection of day and half-day workshops delivered by directors for directors. A key benefit of these workshops is the opportunity to meet with directors from other sectors, to share experiences and to uncover different approaches to challenges faced. Our 2017 course portfolio includes the following:

Master Classes – full-day workshops (9am to 5pm) Role of the Non-Executive Director The backbone of our Professional Director Series, this one-day workshop identifies the various roles of the non-executive director (NXD) in a variety of corporate settings; how their appointment can help balance a board and how they make an effective contribution to a board’s work. It also examines methods for their selection and reviews their motivation, induction and reward.

Strategic Innovation for Directors In a time where little is predictable, organisations must continuously innovate their business model in order to stay profitable. This workshop will help you gain new skills, tools and a new mindset.

Transformational Leadership This one-day workshop goes into what directors really need to be doing to make transformational leadership a reality in their organisations and get the most out of their people.

Cyber Security for Directors This one-day workshop explores in practical and non-technical terms current cyber security threats to business and public bodies through real life cases and examples. It is vital you understand the techniques used in cyber-attacks and defend your organisation against them.

The Apprentice Director Designed for the newly-appointed, or apprentice, directors who want to gain the basic tools to do the job. Outlines the role and legal responsibilities of a director and explores how the apprentice moves from managing to directing.

The Innovation Nation The Innovation Nation is a boot-camp approach with two fundamental principles. First, anyone with the right skills and resources can produce a good idea: innovation comes from the inside. Second, that the foundation of sustainable innovation is learning and knowledge.

Designed to educate business leaders and managers in the essentials of the vast and complex innovation landscape, it offers that critical grounding of understanding and knowledge in what it means and takes to be innovative.

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Role of the Trustee/Board Member in the Third Sector This workshop looks at the specific role required of Trustees and Board Members of bodies in the Third sector. With levels of public scrutiny growing, customer demand growing and funding ever tighter, it explores how Board members need to fulfil their role and maximise the value they bring.

Role of the Chair The ability to chair any meeting effectively is an important facet in the development of managers; this workshop explains how.

Big Data Demystified Big Data, Small Data, Open Data, Smart Data, Data Lakes, Data Visualisation… the list of data terms goes on and on. But what does it all mean in terms of business outcomes? This Workshop is structured to help you answer pragmatic questions like “how do I drive value from data?”; “what should I do first?”; “what does success look like?” and “what is the business case for the first steps on my journey?”. See page 31 for more details of the next course.

Developing the Anti-Fragile Board Properly constituted and conducted Boards are not fragile, but Anti-fragile. They get stronger through their collective experiences of the Board and the individual experiences of their Board members.

Help your organisation gain from inevitable unexpected shocks that it will face and identify how to thrive in an increasingly uncertain world. Turn risk management into a positive business tool.

See page 31 for more details of the next course.

Mastering the Art of Strategic Questioning Questioning skills are the sine qua non of successful business leaders. This highly interactive one-day workshop introduces a breakthrough questioning method that is steeped in investigative journalism, cognitive neuroscience and social psychology. The method emphasizes humility, finely tuned listening, empathy, and Eastern and Western perspectives on mindfulness – an ideal model for effective leadership and governance.

All these courses are full day (9am-5pm) workshops, and can be booked via iodscotland.com/director-and-boarddevelopment/courses/

www.iod.com

Training: SQA

Scotland needs leaders – SQA driving up skills for future managers

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o matter how big your organisation, strong leadership and management qualifications have a critical role to play in its success.

Strong leaders and great managers enrich the UK economy. In a recent CBI Education and Skills survey, 70 per cent of companies said they believed they would need more people with leadership and management talent.

The need for strong leaders and managers applies to every organisation, from large multi-national companies to SMEs. Effective managers can provide direction, facilitate change and tackle difficult business challenges head-on with innovation. They can boost loyalty, morale and productivity, and help maximise business growth.

Creating Leaders As part of SQA’s commitment to Scottish education, they are working with industry to develop qualifications and services across a wide range of sectors. These qualifications are developed to drive up skills for Scotland’s future business leaders and managers. SQA qualifications are structured in such a way that they form ‘building blocks’ which enable progression to other qualifications.

SQA provides a wide range of qualifications to help improve leadership and management skills at every level. And they are applicable to all types of business, from a local retailer to a national call centre.

By working in partnership with industry, SQA also ensures that all their qualifications are robust in developing best practice, and relevant to the needs of your organisation. There are qualifications designed to suit every level of learning, and they are jointly certificated with CMI.

Expert service As specialists in qualification and assessment design, SQA knows about leadership and management skills and how to develop them.

The starting point for every SQA customer is their dedicated Account Manager whose job it is to get to know you and your company’s needs. They can then help identify the most profitable way forward, depending on your requirements.

They may recommend you select from the wide portfolio of focused leadership and management qualifications, for example, or you may find some of SQA’s other qualifications would suit your needs better.

Alternatively, your Account Manager can take you through the process of developing your own SQA Customised Awards to meet your particular objectives.

The progress begins here At SQA they don’t just create qualifications, they benefit from them as well.

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They employ over 700 staff, and they recognise the importance of a well-trained and motivated workforce.

Many SQA staff will achieve one or more SQA qualifications while they are with the organisation.

In particular, SQA Leadership and Management Qualifications are offered to staff through Personal Development Programmes. They are developing the skills today that will take the organisation forward into the future.

Becoming a centre To offer any SQA qualification, you can become a centre in your own right or SQA can put you in touch with one of their SQA Approved Centres. If you’re already delivering SQA qualifications, but are not yet approved to offer Leadership and Management, speak to your SQA Account Manager. Approved Centres have access to free support materials on SQA’s secure website.

Qualifying for success SQA is committed to boosting vocational and business training, and to supporting education at every level in Scotland. SQA Leadership and Management qualifications are helping to create a new generation of business leaders and managers with the ability to energise Scottish businesses and Scotland’s economy.

You can find out more about SQA’s Leadership and Management qualifications by calling SQA Business Development at 0303 333 0330, emailing leaders@sqa. org.uk , or by visiting www.sqa.org.uk/leaders

As a large employer in Scotland, SQA are committed to continuous learning, and our staff have undertaken — and achieved — a wide variety of SQA leadership and management qualifications. We not only develop these qualifications, but use them in our organisation to help us nurture and develop our own staff. This ensures that our leaders and managers have effective skills when managing teams, and also helps with our business continuity and future plans.

Maidie Cahill, Director of Corporate Services, SQA

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