Better leaders, better businesses, stronger communities: 15 years of impact research
When Zac Cosgrove, Joint Managing Director of Bristol-headquartered Cosgrove & Drew Ltd, started LEAD™, the business turned over around £2 million. In the years since, it has grown to around £12 million. "It's hard to put numbers to it all," he told us, “But I would confidently say we could not have done this had we not invested in ourselves and our teams."
We have been researching the impact of our programmes since 2011, and Zac was one of 45 leaders who shared their answers in this summer’s research. We asked delegates from across LEAD™, GOLD™ and GAIN™ what difference the programmes have made to them and to their businesses. Most run or direct small-medium businesses (SMBs), in sectors from construction, manufacturing, engineering and security to education, care, marketing and the charity sector.
The 45 said, “LEAD™ built confidence and clearer plans, GOLD™ brought board-level governance and the full LEAD™, GOLD™ and GAIN™ programme widened leaders' focus to their people and community.”
We expected to hear about confidence, better planning and improved results, and we did. When we read the answers group by group though, we noticed a pattern. The further a leader had travelled on their journey through the programmes, the greater the impact they had: from how they lead, to how the whole business runs, to what the business means for its people and the place it operates in.
Cordell Ray MBE, CEO of the charity Caring for Communities & People (CCP), summed up the first two steps in one line, "LEAD™ strengthened me as a leader; GOLD™ strengthened how I lead the whole organisation."
What LEAD™ changes for the leader
LEAD™ is where almost everyone begins, and at this stage people mostly talk about themselves. Every one of the 45 agreed that LEAD™ helped them understand their leadership style and its impact on others, and everyone said they feel more confident in their role. Andrew Allen, co-founder of Hike, put it this way, "LEAD™ teaches you not only how to improve as a leader, but the 'why' behind it too."
Their businesses start to change as well. Before LEAD™ only 16% of respondents had a clear, documented business plan and 84% have one now.
Those changes appear in the figures too. Across 142 LEAD™ organisations tracked since 2011, the average business grew sales by 56% (comparing performance before and after being on the programme), increased the number of people it employs by 34%, raised productivity by 63% and grew profit before tax by 192%.
Natalie King, Managing Director and Principal of AccXel Construction School, has seen that growth first hand. Since starting LEAD™, she has more than tripled her team and grown turnover more than fivefold. "No one is born a leader," she told us. "Leaders need support, advice, guidance and tools to lead. LEAD™ does this, in abundance."
How GOLD™ changes the way the business is run
GOLD™ takes that leadership into the way the business is run, with a strong focus on finance, governance and the challenge of a working board. James Markey, Managing Director of Nutrition X described the difference. "LEAD™ helped me become a better leader; GOLD™ helped me become a better business leader. It challenged me to think beyond my own function and make decisions through the lens of long-term growth, commercial impact and organisational success."
The practices GOLD™ introduces become more firmly established the further people go. Among the 23 GOLD™ graduates we surveyed, 87% now have structured board or senior team meetings fully embedded and 83% hold regular budget against actual reviews. For the full journey graduates - through our LEAD™, GOLD™ and GAIN™ programmes - every business has both in place.
Delegates put as much weight on the support from each other as on the numbers. The highest-scoring GOLD™ statement was "GOLD™ gave me a trusted peer group who challenge and support me". Peter Miles, CEO of Forge Motorsport, told us: "Sitting as a non-quasi NED in a peer's business showed me how differently the same problems look from outside. Having a peer sit as a non-quasi NED in mine gave me a level of scrutiny and challenge I wasn't getting internally."
How leaders' focus widens to their community
By the end of GAIN™, the answers reach well beyond the business. All full journey graduates who were surveyed agreed that the programmes had fundamentally changed how they see their role as a leader. These leaders strongly agreed that the programmes had helped them become "not just a bigger business, but a better one".
When we asked which outcomes their businesses had achieved since starting, 90% named a stronger leadership pipeline, two-thirds said the business had become more purposeful and half pointed to contributions to their community or society.
Zac Cosgrove explained why that matters to him. Running a business "that's growing, hiring and becoming a vital part of the community in which it operates needs more than just good people." Asked about the return on his time with us, he said, "Personally I have grown into a better leader and as a result, those around me, my business and wider community have benefited."
Justin Young, Operations Director of Cotteswold Dairy, said the learning continues "to drive positive impact, social value and profitability into the business". Cordell Ray MBE told us he moved on to our GAIN™ programme partly to find "better ways to increase our social impact in a rapidly changing world".
At CCP, the results are already visible. During his time on GOLD™, the charity grew into a £13 million organisation supporting around 10,000 people a year, with an ambition to reach £20 million by 2030. GAIN™ then led CCP to introduce an AI-enabled mental health and wellbeing app, investing in 5,000 licences to give people earlier access to help.
For most SMBs, social value comes through the everyday running of the business: the jobs it creates and keeps, the managers it grows from within, how fairly it treats its people and how long it stays healthy in its town. The owner or managing director has more say over all of those than anyone else in the business.
Why leaders recommend LEAD™
LEAD™ has a Net Promoter Score (how likely people are to recommend it, on a scale of -100 to +100) of +82, against a world-class benchmark of +70.
Even at the first step, some leaders are already thinking beyond their own business. Georgina Read, Joint Managing Director of Rise HR, described working with QuoLux™ as "more than a training company, it provides a network of experienced business owners and leaders all working together to apply thought and reflection on how to deliver sound business judgements, create jobs, boost economy and operate ethically."
Our next LEAD™ cohort starts on 5th and 6th November. If you lead an SMB or are part of a senior leadership team and want to become a better leader, find out more about LEAD™ here or contact the QuoLux™ team here.
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