Leadership and Executive Development:

from Fire and Rescue to Mining and Resources

I became involved in leadership and executive development because I wanted to help managers and supervisors make a positive contribution to their organisations and to their employees’ lives. Supervisors and managers directly affect morale, productivity and turnover rates.

Paradigm Infinitum specialises in leadership and executive development. In two short years we have developed a solid reputation for excellence and results with our major client, a fire and rescue agency with several thousand employees. We deliver by far the most successful leadership and management development programme that has ever been run in the agency. Participants often state that our leadership and management development programmes are the best they have ever attended. Recently a manager wrote that our week-long LEAD Programme was ‘one of the highlights of his career’.

According to our major client, the results Paradigm Infinitum has achieved are unprecedented. What has excited senior managers in the agency most is the exceptionally strong and consistent results. On every course, Paradigm Infinitum has turned many managers into enthusiastic supporters of good leadership and management practices within a fairly short span of time. Participants develop a much better understanding of their roles and where they fit in the organisation, and adopt and use concepts such as ‘strategic alignment’, ‘supportive leadership’, and ‘emotional intelligence’.

The fire and rescue industry is very similar to the mining and resource sectors. Both industries involve dealing with danger and risks far beyond other industries. They employ many technical, engineering and tradespeople, are often located in remote or rural areas, and are more male dominated. In addition, these industries require good leadership and management skills, good risk management strategies, and strong emergency management and rescue capabilities. Due to these similarities, Paradigm Infinitum is now extending the same services to the mining and resource sectors.

Written by Wai Kiong Chan

This article appeared in MacAir and Skippers Magazines, January 2008 Editions.