Twelve blogs of Christmas… is back. Following the popularity of last year’s 12 blogs of Christmas, we look back at our most frequently accessed news and views from 2018. Here are the highlights.
1. Curium Solutions crowned Business of the Year
Top of the list is news of our double victory at the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce (GBCC) Awards where we scooped both the Excellence in People Development award and the coveted Business of the Year title. What a way to celebrate Curium’s 10th anniversary!
Russell Jeans, chairman of the GBCC awards judges, said: “We felt that Curium deserved the Business of the Year award because they have achieved remarkable global success in a very short time. Their team is dedicated to helping other businesses and individuals through first-hand experience, and the award is fully deserved.”
2. AI and robotics: from science fiction to business fact
One of this year’s big topics has been the rise (or perceived rise) of ‘intelligent’ technologies. We shared our report, ‘AI and robotics: from science fiction to business fact’ to help leaders understand current levels of investment in and adoption of new technologies, and how they can make the best use of AI and robotics. Disruptor or dinosaur? The choice is yours.
3. Joining forces to enhance Performance Learning practice
Major news this year is Curium’s acquisition of people change business Anne Clews Consulting. Part of Curium’s ambitious growth plans, the acquisition includes Anne Clews – a TetraMap master facilitator, coach and learning practitioner – Anne’s client base, which includes O2, the BBC and Lidl, and access to the UK’s leading TetraMap facilitators.
Curium Director and Co-founder James Farrow said: “We’re delighted to welcome Anne to the team. We’ve worked as strategic partners for nearly 10 years and massively value the positive difference she makes to whomever she works with. Our ability to deliver Curium’s core purpose, which is to ‘empower people and organisations to achieve their potential’, will be enhanced enormously.”
4. Failure to transform
Back in our top 10 this year is the report resulting from our first transformation survey. We asked c-level people involved in change across FTSE companies, large law firms and public sector organisations how well their organisations led, planned and managed change.
Given that other data show that up to 70% of change projects fail to achieve their original objectives, how did our own statistics measure up? Why not read the report to find out? We’ll be running the survey again next year so please let us know if you’d like to be involved.
5, 6 and 7. TetraMap trio
Behavioural model TetraMap inspired three popular blogs, each focusing on a different benefit of using TetraMap. For anyone balancing work and caring commitments, senior consultant Jo Rix has some tips on how TetraMap helped her to manage ‘Mum guilt’ over the holidays.
Do you prefer to follow directions or use a map and find your own way? Curium’s Founding Director, James Farrow, reflects on the value of TetraMap to help navigate human interactions, like building better relationships, managing moments of conflict, mobilising teams, enabling others to act and delivering results through others.
Senior consultant Chris Prees completes the TetraMap trio with his reflections on the four Elements: Earth, Air, Water and Fire, and how the nature-inspired model has helped him to understand himself and others better.
8. Midlands Leadership Awards
This year, Curium partnered with TheBusinessDesk.com to create the Midlands Leadership Awards, the first leadership-focused awards for the Midlands. The judges whittled down almost 100 entries to a high-quality list of finalists in categories including transformational leader, diversity & inclusion, and empowering potential.
Greg Reed was named Leader of the Year and the other winners are:
- Young Leader – Samantha Earl, Pertemps
- Best Leadership Programme – LGBT Leadership Programme, Birmingham LGBT
- Empowering Potential – Simon McAlpine, Infinity IT Solutions
- Diversity and Inclusion – Professor Kiran Trehan, University of Birmingham
- Public and Third Sector – Dr Yeow Poon, Chinese Community Centre
- Professional Services – Steve Allen, Mills & Reeve
- Transformational Leader – Phil Mead, NEC Group
- Company Leader (up to 100 employees) – Keir Edmonds, MCS
- Company Leader (100+ employees) – Greg Reed, HomeServe
9. Southgate mania
This summer’s unexpected success at the World Cup by England men’s football team prompted an outpouring of respect and enthusiasm for manager Gareth Southgate. His calm and considered demeanour inspired a Twitter hashtag #GarethSouthgateWould and a blog by Principal Consultant Stuart Bailey.
10. Are you helping your people to hone their emotional intelligence?
What defines your highest performers? Are they pure technical specialists or would words like supportive, resilient and committed best describe them? High performance is often linked to mindset. Kathryn Hobbs investigates the mismatch between prioritising skills training over developing mindset and other emotional intelligence (EQ) capabilities.
11. Digital Midlands
Guest blogger, tech enthusiast, businesswoman and “proud Brummie” Tracy Westall talks about the tech sector in Birmingham and the Midlands. According to Tech Nation 2018, Birmingham has more than 41,000 digital tech jobs in a sector generating £2.2bn. With hubs in Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton, the West Midlands will also host the government’s 5G pilot.
As Tracy says, “We have it all – a great heritage in innovation, digital skills and a plan for the future, a thriving public sector community and the passion and drive to make the Midlands the best regional destination for tech talent.”
12. Birmingham Economic Review
To support the launch of the annual Birmingham Economic Review, the University of Birmingham and GBCC asked Curium to contribute to the report and accompanying podcasts. Matching Tracy’s confidence in the region’s potential as a digital leader, Andy considers the opportunities and impact of intelligent technology on Birmingham and the Midlands.
