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Management/leadership
Yates believes that the principles of leadership can be taught, although some people do seem to be naturally gifted leaders.
"People who can articulate a set of values, who are confident in their
own skin, and can inspire others can lead anything from a Brownie pack
to a Fortune 500 company."
She also says management can be taught: "There are some very fine
business schools in Australia who are turning out highly competent
managers, who are often great leaders as well."
Yates has been a member of the Advisory Council of the Australian
Graduate School of Management (AGSM) for about five years. "We meet a
couple of times a year to offer advice and support to the faculty on
the curriculum and the issues that they face in terms of the way they
relate to business."
She also speaks to MBA students a couple of times a year: "Relevant
business experience is a very useful way for MBA students to learn."
Yates says she likes to use anecdotes in her presentations to MBA
students. "They're getting a lot of dry academic type stuff, so I guess
I'm the business end of it; 'where the rubber meets the road', when you
try and put it into practice.
"I try and share with them some of the issues to do with diversity in
business, the importance of being open to the views of people who may
be different by reason of gender, or religion, or who are from a
different culture. And how important those things are, particularly in
creative industries. In any service industry that is relying on ideas
for its future, a diversity of sources of ideas is fundamental to
business survival."
Further education
Yates says it's important for all managers (from SMEs to major enterprises) to gain a further education.
"You can't overstate the importance of keeping your skills current. And
that's true for everyone. Lifelong learning is something that keeps us
all employable through the life cycle. Continuing education has just
got to be part of everybody's career plan."
Yates undertook the Advanced Management Program at the University of
Hawaii in 1984, and says after that, her career really took off.
"Advanced management programs turn specialists into generalists, and
are a great precursor for anyone planning to make the move into
management."
Yates says it certainly helps for organisations to have flexibility
provided by their employers in terms of education; by providing more
training, helping fund training, or by allowing staff to have time off
for training.
"Though I can understand the reluctance of some employers to fund
training because of the increasingly volatile nature of the workforce,
but it seems to me that it is exactly those sorts of investments that
are more likely to be rewarded with loyalty. So that if they are
offered training and rewarded appropriately, then I think you could
have every confidence that they'd stay. Far more so than if you don't
invest in them.
"In fact, one of the great slogans TAFE used years ago that I saw
pinned up on an institute's wall said 'What if we train them and they
leave?' then underneath it says 'What if we don't and they stay?'. It
bears reflecting on."
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