Simon Rickman FIoL.
Director at PEAK Performance & Potential Ltd.
What do you do now?
I am a leadership coach and mentor, setting up my business five years ago to help leaders learn from the many successes and mistakes I have made. I developed the Peak Performance & Potential programme, enabling leaders to be more effective - from implementing habits to understanding others and building self-belief.
Where did your career start?
I joined Waitrose as their first Graduate Personnel Trainee. I spent four years learning about human resources from recruitment to retirement. It was a fantastic foundation that has stood the test of time - they were way ahead of their competitors when it came to people management.
Has there been a stage in your life where you first appreciated what great leadership looked like?
I worked for Accenture for 16 years where they changed their strategy every couple of years - which I thought was crazy! However, I soon learned that a flexible model of leadership was designed to keep ahead of the curve. By keeping things fresh and exciting, they understood what the market required now and in the future.
Do you have any examples of what you have done to develop yourself as a leader?
To sustain my knowledge, skills and experience, I grabbed every opportunity to attend every training and development course on offer. I also read a range of leadership books and summarised the key learnings. The ones that inspired me were transitioned to the Peak Performance & Potential leadership programme which I practised on myself, then with my teams and now to my clients so I know it works.
How do you think Leadership has benefitted you?
I learned from my own mistakes and from observing the many leaders I have worked with. There is no one answer to everything. However, there are some key behaviours that seem to work time after time. My goal is to work with as many leaders as I can to enable them to follow a successful leadership path.