Misconceptions of Leadership…

Iain Murray slated the BBC’s decision to work with Ashridge on its Leadership Programme (MW May 22).

As well as containing numerous inaccuracies, his one-sided article expressed the opinion that management training “is a superfluous industry whose absence would have no effect whatsoever on industrial or commercial performance”. This is patently wrong, as many of the world’s leading organisations would readily point out. It is no coincidence that the best-performing companies in the world are those that invest properly in the development and training of their people.

Good executive education and management development is not about “role playing, bonding… and jargon-ridden workshops”. It is about investing properly in people and helping them to develop the practical skills and expertise in order to carry out their professional roles to the highest ability.

Murray is very welcome to come to Ashridge and discover why the BBC and a number of the world’s leading organisations view it as absolutely essential to develop their personnel and to help them deal with all the challenges of an increasingly complex world.

Toby Roe

Public relations manager

Ashridge

Berkhamsted, Herts