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Last week our speaker was Wenrick Clarke, the sales director at Commonwealth Brewery Ltd. Wenrick has held several leadership roles in the baking industry prior to this and has been in leadership for the past 14 years. His topic was "Leadership - Keeping it human".
Wenrick emphasized that leadership was the ability to influence those around you. He described different leadership styles and said that one can lead from a place of position, permission, production, people development or pinnacle. A leader may be at different stages of leadership with different members of their team and it is important to recognize where you are with each member of your team.
He said that a leader must understand themselves and be self aware to know what motivates them, what makes them angry, what inspires them, because knowing these things will allow one to keep the people on your team motivated and engaged. One must also know where they are going and have a plan for 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, etc.
A leader must be committed and able to deal with the pressures of where they are today and not get discouraged by what is going on around them so that they can accomplish their goals. As leaders we must also be aware of our blind spots to make adjustments and keep improving. He noted that staff give good leaders their best and put in extra effort to help that leader accomplish what they are trying to do.
The club was given a brief history of his leadership journey up until the point where he is now. The presentation was enjoyed by all in attendance and had points that were helpful to leaders and those who aspire to be in leadership positions.
