IWD 2024 - Emma Madge

What inspired you to pursue a leadership role?

Growing up I saw my stepdad and Uncle working in High level Leadership roles which inspired me to show that woman can do it too and be the main bread winner of the family. During my careers I have watched many occasions of bad leadership and the impact that it had very quickly on a workforce, this made me want to show my colleagues fair and consistent leadership.

What is or are your biggest career achievements?

Moving successfully from the public sector to the private sector after 16 years. They are very different in every area of the department I am in.

In my current workplace I would say embedding new ways of working and navigating international recruitment alongside a new perks and benefits platform. All of these have had a big impact in my organisation, and it makes me very proud of my team.

How did you develop your leadership skills?

I’m a reflective person so I will watch what others do and any impact it has. I am lucky to have had some great mentors to assist me along the way. I have used leadership coaching and had a peer-to-peer coach which all encouraged me to think more strategically. When I first started with my current company, I spent a lot of time getting to know each role and understanding any barriers they faced.

How do you define your leadership style?

I would describe my style as supportive, inclusive, and proactive. I ensure that my teams know that I would never ask them to do anything I couldn’t do and when we are up against a very tight deadline I will often get involved and help too.

What’s the most important leadership lesson you’ve learned?

To work collaboratively with all other departments, you can get more done together and pull on everyone’s strengths to achieve more.

Have you achieved everything you wanted in your career so far?

Not quite yet, I’ve probably got 20 more years to reach a bit more. I am proud of what I’ve achieved but still have more I want to accomplish.

How important is personal development to your success, and how do you approach it?

Personal development is really important. I like to read up on employment law changes or ET cases that have relevance to my sector. I enjoy short courses and webinars a lot more than long courses. I like to be reflective of myself too and act on feedback given or other ways to achieve the same outcome.

How do you prioritise tasks when everything feels like a priority?

I love music, It calms me so I will put some music on, take a walk away from my office and clear my mind. Once I feel grounded again, I look at all my tasks and start to put them in priority order which starts with risk level or completion date. If everything is a priority, I disperse some tasks to my team and only keep the ones that really need me.

What was the hardest decision you have taken as a leader?

To take a leap of faith from a sector I knew inside out into one that I haven’t touched for many years was a really tough decision especially walking away from very generous terms and conditions earned through length of service and starting again as the new person.

What steps do you take to measure your own performance?

I like peer to peer feedback and open honest line management which I am lucky to have. I now take some time each month to reflect on what has been achieved and what I have learnt each month. If there are things I don’t know I always try to find out as much as I can myself first before asking so I at least have a basic understanding for a more in depth discussion with an expert in the topic.

What does success mean for you as a business leader?

Success to me means that you are thought of as knowledgeable and dependable and the go to person in your department. It means that my team are engaged and enjoy their roles and peers are more than happy to work with you and complete projects together. I also need to believe in and love what I do or there is no self-satisfaction.

What advice would you give to someone starting off their career as a future business leader?

Learn as much as you can from others and always remain current and adaptable, academic achievement is great but on the job learning is fantastic.