Giles Woodhouse FIoL.
Chief Strategy Officer at Wessex Archaeology
What do you do now?
I am the Chief Strategy Officer for Wessex Archaeology, an educational charity, that provides commercial services to developers dealing with heritage within the UK planning system. It’s a return to archaeology as I started my career in the early nineties post university as an archaeologist before serving as an Infantry Officer in the British Army and then working for several years at Help for Heroes.
Has there been a stage in your life where you first appreciated what great leadership looked like?
Reflecting back, I think my first appreciation of what great leadership looked like occurred in my initial military appointment on operational service. I recall making a real hash of responding to an incident where I should have pro-actively deployed some troops to support a civil agency. I received a call from my Commanding Officer, a decorated war veteran, fully expecting chastisement but instead was talked through how I could have performed more effectively. I did not recognise back then the hallmarks of this mentoring approach with an inexperienced team member, but it has influenced my leadership approach ever since.
Do you have any examples of what you have done to develop yourself as a leader?
On transitioning to the civilian workplace, I recognised that my leadership style needed to adapt to a more diverse workplace culture. I was lucky to receive some executive coaching to support this development and also to participate in a Youth at Risk transformational coaching programme. The benefits of that coaching were so powerful that I qualified as a coach through an ILM accredited programme which has allowed me to hone my enabling, developmental style of leadership focused on helping others become their best selves.
How do you think Leadership has benefitted you?
There is no doubt that my leadership has benefitted from significant formal leadership training, holding numerous leadership and management roles in different environments and being exposed to a variety of international civilian and military leaders. It has given me the confidence to grow as a thought leader within my sector.