Rubicon directors give lessons in leadership: Ex‐warehouse manager trained to become a senior executive

Abstract

Purpose

Describes how the former warehouse manager at UK furniture‐installation company Rubicon Developments Ltd was trained to become a top manager and so free the firm's two directors to spend more time obtaining new business and diversifying the company.

Design/methodology/approach

Explains the background to the training, the form it took and the results it has achieved.

Findings

Details how the directors delivered the 16‐week tailor‐made program, after themselves attending a course on preparing to teach in the lifelong‐learning sector.

Practical implications

Highlights how the ex‐warehouse manager developed new skills in areas such as cost management, report writing, delegation, conflict resolution, commanding respect in the workplace, finance, time management, project management, change management, sales and marketing, management reporting through Microsoft Excel charts, effective monitoring of quality systems and setting realistic targets.

Social implications

Highlights an important success in the area of lifelong learning.

Originality/value

Reveals that close monitoring of the employee's progress helped him to complete the program within the allotted 16 weeks, even though he had done little studying in the previous 30 years.

Citation

(2010), "Rubicon directors give lessons in leadership: Ex‐warehouse manager trained to become a senior executive", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 18 No. 5, pp. 25-26. https://doi.org/10.1108/09670731011060252