Order! John Bercow praise for businesses at prestigious graduation ceremony

Member Article

BUSINESSPEOPLE have their houses in order after completing a prestigious leadership programme.

Former Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow was among the first to pay tribute to 26 delegates graduating from the ION Leadership ILM Level 3 and Level 5 qualifications at Bangor University this week.

Previously MP for Buckingham and now a Professor of Politics and author, he congratulated attendees at the University’s Reichel Hall in his own inimitable style.

“Order! Order! ION Leadership graduates, congratulations on all your hard work in completing the programme,” said Mr Bercow.

“I am proud to hear of what you’ve achieved, and you should be proud to remind yourselves every day of what that combination of skill and application has done for you.”

He added: “For me what makes a good leader is someone who leads by example, because if you want people to work hard you must do so yourself and set the trend.

“Second is communication, which is central to success, particularly clarity and prioritisation, it’s better to achieve three things of value to your business in stellar style than 10 or more things with inadequate time and resources ineffectually.

“Finally, make sure you motivate and inspire to keep the best and improve the rest, build teams, delegate to them an empower them. Be a fighter, never say die, refuse to lose and be that persistent, indefatigable soul who insists on finding a way to get things done.”

The graduation event was sponsored by Bangor Business School – which delivers the Leading Business Growth suite of courses – and Llanberis-based Siemens-Healthineers, which saw two graduates attend on the day and 41 in total over past years.

The company’s HR Consultant Jo Swanston said: “We pride ourselves on providing a development platform for our employees to support them in realising their potential.

“Working in partnership with Bangor University, the ILM Programme has been key in supporting this for many years now and provides an opportunity for our employees to explore their own learning journey whilst the engaging and interactive sessions help them learn how to lead themselves, their teams, and the business more effectively – it’s a win-win.”

Among the other organisations represented were Rhyl City Strategy, North Wales Housing Association, Cofnod, Dylan’s Restaurant, Ropeworks Active Ltd, Wild Horse Brewing Co, Small Woods, Lanyon Bowdler Solicitors, Glaslyn Ltd, RWE Renewables, The Royal Victoria Hotel Snowdonia, and Transport for Wales.

Nicola Sturrs, Senior Programme Manager for Leading Business Growth (North West Wales), said: “Thank you to John and all the guests here today for being part of this special occasion.

“We continue to receive positive feedback for this and all our programmes, which is fantastic to hear, especially the impact they have on the day-to-day operations of companies across the region – congratulations again to everyone who has graduated.”

Institute of Leadership and Management Awards were presented by Stephen Jones, Senior Lecturer in Management at Bangor Business School, and the evening also included messages of congratulations from the University’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Edmund Burke, and Head of Bangor Business School, Bruce Vanstone.

ION Leadership’s final suite of Level 3 Programmes will come to an end in March, with the final Level 5 Programme concluding this June.

This was posted in Bdaily’s Members’ News section by Martin James Williams .