Developing Business Excellence

Off By Ed Hanna

On reflection, I guess I joined the Army to ‘be the best’, although after ploughing my A levels, I recognised that I was some way off. I’ve always been slightly rebellious, but being reprimanded for my dress by an Officer, who’d clearly just emerged from his dad’s allotment, was all the motivation I needed to challenge the Status Quo.

I was commissioned less than three years later and Served more than 30 years in defence before being medically discharged in late 2018. I wasn’t the best Officer to have Served, or the most successful. People matter greatly to me, and in truth, it was perhaps because I sensed that the Military no longer shared my values of respect for others, integrity, humility, authentic leadership, and sense of humour, that my last six years of Service were my unhappiest.

An American engineer once challenged me to evidence my competence, which was my ‘wake-up call’. I’d been on several operational tours, and been privileged to lead numerous multi-disciplinary teams, but lacked any meaningful professional accreditation whatsoever. Able to qualify for the Modular Masters Programme and use my Enhanced Learning Credits, I now have two Masters degrees, am Fellow of three international bodies, and am a professionally qualified consultant, coach, and mentor. I am also a stress and resilience practitioner, and wellbeing coach.

I’ve been developing others all my working life, written hundreds of appraisals, and regularly succeeded in securing honours and awards for my teams, including an OBE. Indeed, I’ve never lost my desire to ‘be the best’, to learn, or challenge the status quo, and retiring was never an option for me. So, I founded a micro-company, Developing Business Excellence Limited, in July 2018, and now operate from my back garden, where I offer face-to-face and virtual, values-based business performance improvement consultancy, coaching, and mentoring to discerning business clients, and individual learners. Essentially, I enable others to achieve their growth potential, in a safe and non-judgemental environment.

It’s not been easy, and I’ve done more pro bono than I have paid work over recent months, including case-working for SSAFA. Thankfully, I’ve lost none of my enthusiasm to critically analyse and evaluate challenges, and propose a coherent course of action, placing people at the centre of everything I do.

I appeal most to mavericks, particularly Veterans and those business clients and learners sharing my values. Specifically; those transitioning in to a leadership role, those feeling stifled by positional power and bureaucratic control, those transitioning between jobs, those wishing to adopt a more authentic leadership style, those wishing to be constructively challenged, or those simply wishing to learn and develop.

Please visit our website at: www.developingbusinessexcellence.co.uk, drop us a line via: info@developingbusinessexcellence.co.uk, or call: 01904 400700. Those without a sense of humour, a growth mindset, or humility, need not apply.