I get asked this question all the time and there are lots of reasons! We don’t just do it because Miss Ange likes trophies and I want to win trophies for her, that’s not the reason, that’s just a nice little cherry on top of the Sundae!
I do it because it’s part of our strategy and the reason that it has become part of our strategy is because I learn so much from it. So it’s not about winning the prize, it’s about professional development.
Running your own business can be incredibly lonely and it can be difficult when you don’t have anyone above you keeping you accountable and because of that and because I am always eager to learn and to be better, I find it really lonely. When I started entering the business awards, it was an opportunity to reflect on what our business dose to give myself feedback and to get external feedback on what we do well and what we need to do better and then I can go and implement that. This is the reasoning behind entering the business awards so often. It’s the way I learn.
The kind of awards that I enter are the ones that require a lot of reflection on our business and require very lengthy answers. Some of the examples of questions that I need to answer include;
- What is your most important value as a leader and how can you demonstrate that value?
- How do you tailor your leadership style to cater for different generations?
- How do you provide continual training & opportunities for your team?
- How are you collaborating & getting innovation into the organisation & encouraging your team to do so?
These are really big picture questions, that if I didn’t have to answer because of the submissions, I just wouldn’t think about. It is really important for me & in order for the business to grow, move forward, always be on the cutting edge & give our students the best opportunities possible, I have to be learning all the time.
“If you want your business to grow, you have to grow as a person.” – Unknown.
Doing these submissions for each of the business awards really helps me to grow and therefore help the business to grow as well through that learning opportunity.
