‘Increasing the number of people with skills to lead is one of the main challenges for the region’s future growth’

Nov 28 2008 The Journal

Margaret Fay highlights some of the work that is already under way across the North East to develop the leaders of tomorrow

ASK places such as Atlanta in the United States or Queensland in Australia about the secrets of their success in economic development and “leadership” is a word you'll probably hear again and again.

Research shows it's one of the key characteristics of successful regions, and there's a growing body of opinion which suggests it could transform our economy.

That's why improving leadership is right at the heart of the regional economic strategy for the North East.

Increasing the number of people with skills to lead is one of the main challenges for the region’s future growth, and a recent survey also highlighted the importance of enabling leaders to step out of their comfort zones – to work beyond the traditional boundaries of organisations and places.

And at a time of economic uncertainty, this has never been so key in driving future growth: to help businesses reach the support they need now but also looking to the longer-term, so that the North East's economy is well prepared to come out on the other side of this slowdown.

We are making progress. There are already some great examples of leadership spanning different sectors to tackle some of the region's key challenges.

The NewcastleGateshead City Development Company is just one of them. This was established by three public sector partners to drive economic development and regeneration in the twin cities, but will be led by the private sector.

This vision and commitment across sectors is what will drive NewcastleGateshead's continuing work to compete more and more effectively in the global marketplace.

And our business-led leadership councils – such as the Centre for Process Innovation and the New and Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC) – are coordinating research and development and routes to commercial markets for new technologies born in this region.

A range of partners are investing together in facilities and support for these hi-tech industries, and to boost science in schools and in further and higher education.

But we need to do more. What is clear in this supplement is that we already have some fantastic upcoming leaders; our challenge is to find the best ways to use their influence to build the wider leadership culture in the region.

Campaigns such as “If we can, you can” by the Entrepreneurs' Forum are already helping to do this, by sharing the experience of those who are already 'out there, doing it' with those who are just starting out in business.

Wider work to create a more enterprising culture is also an important part of the picture. One North East provides around £26m of annual funding for Business Link, along with investment in projects to help people who are, traditionally, among the least likely to convert ideas into trading businesses.

Retaining graduate talent is crucial. One North East and Northumbria University recently signed a memorandum of understanding, which will look for ways to encourage graduates to stay in the region once their programme of education has come to an end.

Northumbria University has also produced a regional leadership framework for us, setting out priorities and areas of focus for the coming years. Working with partners, this will be used to guide our investments in developing the region's collective leadership capacity.

Allied to this is the next phase of the hugely successful 'Passionate people, Passionate places' campaign, launched earlier this autumn.

With a big focus on attracting highly skilled, entrepreneurial people to live and work in the region, it is marketing North East England to potential leaders of the future as a great place to come and do business.

And dovetailing with everything I've outlined are programmes led by partners, such as the Leadership Foundation, CBI Future Leaders and Common Purpose.

These are already building the skills and capacity of the sort of leaders we want to target, providing invaluable coaching and expertise to take them to that next level - support which has to be tailored to each individual.

Many people simply aren't aware that they have what it takes to be a successful leader.

To equip our economy to compete in the global marketplace, we need to change that – and, with the right support and our growing entrepreneurial culture, we can.

Margaret Fay is chairman of One North East