Abstract
The focus of this chapter is the learning experiences of a group of small business owner-managers on a leadership programme called LEAD. Small business leadership development is an ongoing aspiration of government to achieve regional economic development. LEAD was established to test this model and explores the need for governments to continue to support small businesses on this agenda through initiatives such as LEAD. LEAD was underpinned with Community of Practice design principles and the aim of the programme was to develop a learning community of small businesses with a focus to develop the leadership capabilities of the owner-managers. The chapter takes the point of view of the course designers and looks at the LEAD programme’s development from the initial ideas which inspired it, through to the learning experiences as the programme Community of Practice developed. It explores how this learning influenced changes made to the programme which resulted in nearly 3000 SMEs participating in LEAD programmes based on this learning.
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Notes
- 1.
At the mid-point one delegate reported he found a specific masterclass to be more useful than the whole of the LEAD programme. Four months after graduating, he attended a preview day for prospective participants and was able to explain how, in hindsight, he could see how the different elements of the programme interacted and the subsequent benefits to himself and his business.
- 2.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank all the delegates who participated in the pilot programme and the subsequent LEAD (and derivative) programmes. Acknowledgement is given to the Northwest Development Agency which provided the original funding and the team there who worked closely with the LEAD team to create the pilot. Thanks is also given to the wider team at the university and to the LEAD providers who participated in the roll out who have been open to the idea of an ongoing co-construction of a Community of Practice based approach for SME leadership development.
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Smith, S., Smith, L. (2017). The Role of Higher Education in Regional Economic Development Through Small Business CoPs. In: McDonald, J., Cater-Steel, A. (eds) Communities of Practice. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2879-3_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2879-3_18
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