Warren R. joined the Leadership Academy in 2012 wanting to explore his personal development as a business leader: “Before I joined the group, I always had goals in my head, but they weren’t long term or structured.”

Soon after joining he started looking at his residential development business in a new way, seeing potential for creating new income streams. Inspired by his one to one coaching and sharing information, ideas and perspectives in monthly peer group meetings helped him build a better understanding of himself whilst growing his business acumen.

Warren benefited from the opportunity to work with like-minded people in a safe environment where bonds are built and business leaders can learn together with no personal agendas to derail the group.

The Academy environment encouraged Warren and his Partners to decide to sell part of the Purpose-Built Student Accommodation portfolio of his business, Fusions Student, giving them the opportunity to reinvest and expand the business in 2018. His business now builds and manages high quality, purpose-built student accommodation, providing 8000 beds nationally.

“The Academy also had a massive impact on my life,” said Warren. “I learned how to use the GROW coaching model and how to set SMARTER goals for both my business and personal life. Coaching enables me to manage real situations. It assesses what your options are and finds the way forward. It takes away all the drama.”

Learning a new approach to setting goals has enabled Warren to transform his business and personal life: “There’s no doubt the Academy has been a learning experience for me, and a way to understand myself. Many people forget that learning how your mind works, your strengths and weaknesses, can keep you in the right frame of mind. We’re all in different sectors but it doesn’t matter which business you’re in, organisations face the same problems. We share information and ideas and give each other another perspective for solving problems.”