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Scott Begbie (ILF2016)

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Institution: Said Business School, University of Oxford (UK)
Course: Advanced Leadership Program

In today’s Manufacturing environment, every day brings a new challenge. To succeed requires not only an investment in technology but also the skillsets of everyone in the organisation.

Faced with this rapidly changing landscape I began a quest to identify an executive training program that would not just build on my existing skillset, but challenge it, strip it back and reshape it to suit current day issues all in an environment of likeminded individuals.

As with most things in life, quality education doesn’t come cheap and in that regard I was fortunate to have met Mr Geoff Vogt of the Industry Leaders Fund who explained the ILF grant process. Geoff challenged my thoughts and became an excellent sounding board as I set about the straightforward process of applying for the grant and also the more complex task of finding a suitable course of study. I strongly advise prospective applicants to make full use of Geoff’s wealth of knowledge.

After much thought I narrowed my criteria down to a few key points.

  • The school had to be recognised for excellence.
  • Subject matter had to be relevant, up to date but also with a focus on future thinking.
  • The course had to be long enough to get your teeth into but not that long it would impact operations.

Using the Financial Times guide to executive training I narrowed the prospective courses down to a few then began the process of evaluating the course content. I ended up selecting the Oxford Advance Management and Leadership Program at Said Business School Oxford.

This course runs over three weeks and attracts students from around the world. As would be expected at Oxford, the teaching staff is world class with every lesson designed to provoke critical analysis of the subject matter. I found an invaluable component of the course the access to a personal tutor. Prior to attending the course several online personality tests were conducted and the tutor helped interpret the findings then really drilled down into what was driving you and how to harness this knowledge. It is testament to the process that I still interact with my tutor some eight months after the conclusion of the course.

During my time on the OAMLP I learnt a lot about myself and leadership while forming invaluable networks around the globe. I would have no hesitation in recommending this course.