The leadership shift: learning to lead, not just manage

Help to Grow: Management Course alumni share lessons on delegation, trust, strategic thinking, and empowering teams to succeed

The full responsibilities of leadership rarely arrive fully formed, all at once.

For many SME leaders, it begins with expertise. You build a business, develop a specialism, or excel in a role. Then, almost without noticing, you find yourself responsible for other people. The challenge is no longer simply delivering results yourself, it is helping others to do the same.

That transition from manager, founder, or specialist into leader is the focus of an upcoming Alumni Network webinar featuring Help to Grow: Management Course facilitator Rob McKay alongside alumni Byanne Akbor and Dr Nerys Owen.

Join us on Friday 12^th June for our Alumni Network webinar, The leadership shift: evolving from SME founder to leader.

While their businesses operate in very different sectors, both alumni have experienced a similar leadership journey: learning how to step back, empower others, and think more strategically.

Byanne Akbor is Head of Marketing at Carrier Luxury Holidays, where she leads a team responsible for marketing one of the UK’s leading luxury travel brands. Having spent almost 15 years with the business, she has progressed from a junior marketing role to a senior leadership position.

Reflecting on her early management experience, she says one of the biggest challenges was resisting the urge to do everything herself.

‘I know how to do the role, so I can just get it done myself,’ she says. ‘It’s the delegating, it’s giving people the opportunity to have a go at it, being able to take that step back, and let go of that control a little bit.’

Today, her focus is on creating the space to think strategically rather than getting pulled into day-to-day tasks.

‘One of the biggest challenges for leaders is spending enough time thinking bigger picture,’ she says. ‘Thinking ahead, thinking strategically, and creating the conditions for your team to succeed.’

For Dr Nerys Owen, founder of Dr Nerys Owen Ltd & Associates, leadership has meant building and guiding a growing team of specialist psychologists.

After leaving teaching to retrain as a counselling psychologist, Nerys launched her own practice and has since grown it into a nationwide team of more than 25 associates. Along the way, she has learned that leadership requires difficult decisions as well as empathy.

‘I’m creating a plan with the team I want rather than the team I’ve got,’ she says. ‘That means thinking carefully about the future of the business and making decisions that align with where we’re going.’

Despite leading a large team, Nerys believes relationships remain at the heart of effective leadership.

‘I think people know that I’m available,’ she says. ‘If they need support, they can contact me and I’ll respond. That reciprocal support is really important.’

Both leaders also highlight the importance of creating an environment where people feel empowered to contribute.

At Carrier, Byanne credits a culture of trust and experimentation with helping people develop confidence.

‘We’ve created a culture where people can have a go,’ she says. ‘If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. But if you don’t create that space, you could be missing out on brilliant ideas.’

Similarly, Nerys believes that shared values and a sense of community help teams thrive.

‘We’re all working towards the same goal of helping people,’ she says. ‘When people feel connected to that purpose, they want to support each other.’

These experiences reflect a challenge faced by many business owners and managers: how do you evolve from being the person with all the answers to becoming the person who enables others to succeed?

That question, and many others, will be explored in more detail during our upcoming webinar The leadership shift: evolving from SME founder to leader, taking place on Friday 12^th June. Alongside Rob McKay, Byanne and Nerys will share practical lessons from their own leadership journeys and discuss how business leaders can make the transition from managing work to leading people.

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