LMI-UK Christmas Party 2009

For the second year running the LMI-UK Christmas Party was held at Whittlebury Hall. Those who arrived early enjoyed the pool and spa facilities before the evening's frivolities began. 

The ladies looked wonderful and were a true credit to us all. The gentleman looked extremely dapper in their dinner suits. Fine wine and festive food were in plentiful supply and everyone was in joyful spirits. It was wonderful to see many of the team shuffling off to the dance floor to boogie, though luckily this was not 'Strictly Come Dancing', before the night finally drew to a boozy close.

A special note of thanks needs to go out to Jacqui Sanders-Jones, LMI-UK PA, for ensuring the night was a great success. She will be leaving for a new life in New Zealand before the end of the year and we wish her well and much happiness for the future.

With our LMI-UK table placed centre within the ballroom and surrounded by 200 plus other revelers it made us both feel proud to be able to share the evening’s festivities with a group of good friends. If we can enjoy ourselves the way we did on that night, after such a challenging 2009 year, just imagine what our 2010 Christmas Party will be like.

We all experience pivotal moments in our lives, experiences that when you look back on them years later still register with such clarity they seem like only yesterday. I had one of these pivotal moments 7 years ago.

My career development had been successful up to that point progressing from sales through sales management, distributor management and ultimately ending up as a Divisional Manager for an International organisation. I had all of the benefits associated with such a position, good money, global business travel, expenses, health insurance, pension, car, and so on.

As part of my divisional responsibilities I enrolled several of my own team on a programme from the Leadership Management UK portfolio. The programme was a success and I quickly decided to follow suite and participated in a management programme myself coached by Ray King, Managing Director and Master Franchisor of LMI-UK. This proved to be a pivotal moment.

Not only was the programme rewarding from a business point of view but there were huge personal benefits. I identified far more clearly the really important areas of my life that needed attention, most notably time for my family and friends along with time for me to work on my own attitudes and habits.

Three months later I joined Leadership Management UK as a franchisee.

There were two primary reasons for deciding to join Leadership Management UK in 1999. Firstly, after meeting Ray King, the master franchisor, to learn about LMI-UK,

I realised how the business could help me to develop myself, an important moment for me. Secondly, I decided this was a way of not just developing people but helping to improve their business results in terms of profit, sales, quality.

I learnt a lot about myself in the early stages, which has in turn helped me to understand more about the challenges and issues my clients face daily. So from a background in the London insurance market I have clients today in property management, corporate clothing, marketing and advertising, local government, and insurance. LMI-UK is a people business that's lots of fun.

My LMI-UK franchise has created for me an opportunity to live and work around my family commitments. My business enables me to support my wife and five children, and their support has been invaluable.

When you have led large teams of people in industry and you realise that your passion is to achieve results through people there comes a time when you must take stock and decide, what's next?

After years of excellent self-development I truly started to understand who I really was and decide how best to utilise my skills. First and foremost I wanted to be my own boss, to be totally empowered, to have the authority to choose, to make and take decisions. Second, I wanted to work with people to help them maximise their individual potential. My only nagging doubt was who would buy my services?

Having worked with big brands for many years I realised the power and effect they have, so when I discovered Leadership Management UK and the prospect of a franchisee opportunity, everything made sense.

Four years later I deem myself a success. I have won many national and international awards with LMI-UK, have a portfolio of clients that anyone would be proud of and my earning potential is being met. I have now started engaging associates to expand and develop my business still further.