As part of our continued partnership with the Armed Forces, we invited our members to come along and learn about leadership from some recognised experts in the field; the soldiers of the Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry!

Strong leadership is vital in any business, whether military or civilian, and the skills of leadership and teamwork training developed in the Armed Forces can be put to very good use across all sectors of the business community.

Members of the Chamber were joined by youngsters from Falkirk Football Community Foundation and Larbert High School for an interactive morning of teamwork challenges, led by Regimental Sergeant Major Simon Talbot. Simon has served in the British Army for 26 years and been deployed in both combat and peace operations across the world.

He said, “From my perspective, leadership is the single most important element in the building of teams. We can offer an insight into how we do business, and how that applies to the civilian sector. Learning what leaders are, what they know and what they do, together with understanding the vision of how to support and challenge your team to deliver goals are all key to achieving results in any industry.”

Michelle McKearnon, CEO of Forth Valley Chamber commented, “We know that ex-forces personnel make ideal employees as they have a strong skill set, a can do attitude and a great teamwork ethic. All of these skills are transferable and we want to encourage our businesses to benefit from this great resource by taking part in events such as the one today. It’s an interesting and fun way to develop your staff – and your managers!”

Martin Allen of the Forth Valley Sensory Centre was one of the participants on the course and he said, “I found the leadership event with Scottish and Irish Yeomanry a very worthwhile exercise. The stories were inspirational but the key thing for me was the approach to problem solving; sometimes the simplest way is the best way. We would all do well to remember that.”