LJMU Leaders' Club

18 March 2010

The Leaders' Club was set up by the Faculty of Business and Law at LJMU in conjunction with Visiting Fellow Stephen Fletcher.  This club brings together the key people within the field of HR, Leadership, Management and Development in the UK in recognition of the need for a support network of directors, managers and business leaders within this area, as a result of severe pressures caused by the current economic downturn.

The inaugural dinner was well attended by founder members who had travelled from all over the country, representing key organisations in the private and public sectors, military, civilian and academic communities.  They were joined by LJMU Vice-Chancellor Professor Michael Brown, Sir Malcolm Thornton (LJMU Chairman of Governors) and Professor the Lord David Alton.

The event was opened by an introduction from Stephen who described his long-standing vision for developing a Leaders' Club, drawing on his experience in the Training and HR industry.  He thanked Professor James Kirkbride, Dean of the Faculty of Business and Law, and Dr Ann Thorne, Director of Faculty Operations, for their foresight in supporting and establishing this new venture. 

Stephen reminded the audience of the challenges that leaders face at this unique time and invited the audience to nominate their three personal key challenges. He explained that this information would help inform and drive the future aspirations of the Club. 

Professor James Kirkbride described LJMU's involvement in the venture, emphasising the importance that he and his colleagues attached to the success of the Club and the opportunity this presented to inform the educational direction and training of our future leaders.

After dinner, Lord Alton introduced Gary Evans as inaugural guest speaker. Gary Evans is Associate Professor at the University of Prince Edward Island School of Business in Canada.  With over 25 years experience in leadership, management and helping companies reach new levels of performance, Gary is now consolidating his experiences  by studying for his PhD at the LJMU European Centre for Corporate Governance (based within the Faculty of Business and Law).

Gary gave a talk on Evidence Based Management (EBMgt).  He introduced his 40-minute speech by giving a brief history of Corporate Governance and then drew on his vast knowledge and experience to consider the disparity between how directors are viewed by their CEOs and how directors view the value that they perceive they give to the Company.  He reflected on HR's role in change and then considered how this could be applied to the current economic environment.   Gary defined EBMgt and explained why it was so crucial and provided his own evidence to support this belief. He then challenged the audience with not only the five basic steps to make it work, but also the questions that companies face to implement the changes necessary.

A guest commented: “The LJMU Leaders' Club is an extremely exciting venture bringing together a myriad of minds from across the public and private sectors with a huge variety of experience to the benefit of its members.  The Inaugural Dinner was a most enjoyable occasion with an excellent series of presentations to develop the Club's theme of Management, Leadership, Learning and Development for the future.  I am very excited to be invited to become a founder member and look forward to many beneficial interactions with my fellow members in the months and years to come.”