My Learning Experience With The Institute of Directors

Recently Atlas Director Craig Cameron went through the first stage of the Institute of Directors learning and development programme. Just in case you are the only person on the planet he has not told, he got the best possible mark, a Pass with Distinction. Here his report.

As you can imagine the Institute of Directors (IoD) has strong opinions as to what constitutes best practice when it come to running organisations of all shapes and sizes. Much of this is continuing from the recommendations contained in the various “independent reviews” set up by UK regulatory authorities to investigate and report on governance issues: Cadbury; Greenbury; Hampel ; Higgs ; and Smith. When you throw into the mix the well-publicised failing of risk management at RBS and their ilk in the years leading up to 2008 there is a substantial body of evidence to say that how well organisations are run is important and affects a much larger number of people than just those directly involved.

I know there are exceptions but many people become company directors because they excelled in their previous role. The significance of this? It is a totally different type of job.

For one, there are the contradictory forces of balancing short-term and long-term priorities. Second, the magnitude of the decisions are greater both in terms of the money involved and the duration. Third, the style of decision making is different. Hopefully, in a well-run operation all the information needed to make a robust decision is available. You might have to dig around a bit (shameless self-promotion – Atlas can provide you with award winning, market leading Business Intelligence software that will do just that) but my point is the information is available.

If you accept that strategic decisions involve complex judgements as to what the situation will be in 2 years time, then it becomes clear that information might be available but it won’t be what you are used to. Then include topics such as succession planning (only 15% of family businesses survive to third-generation), mergers and acquisitions (over 70% fail to create significant value)...and I could go on from there. As I said earlier, it is a different job.

The IoD is very much into learning and development and keen for their members to participate in their professional learning programme which has three levels of qualification; the Certificate in Company Direction, the Diploma in Company Direction, culminating in the Chartered Director programme. This very week I have completed the Certificate Examination, after taking part in a 6 day intensive “boot-camp” in February.

My thoughts about my recent experiences would be as follows. The 6 day “boot-camp” was tough going, especially by the time you reach the last couple of days. When I say this I don’t think that my brain is defective in anyway, but there was just too much information to absorb in the time available. Each of us left with in excess of 1,000 pages of Course Notes plus the cautionary tale that Exam questions could come from anywhere within that. Having just sat the Exam I can confirm that was good advice.

There are three exams per year, and laden down with over 1,000 pages of essential reading material, I thought that the March Exam would be too soon, so I went for June. To help me there was an excellent e-learning portal on the IoD web-site and I made sure that I found time to fully revise, every weekend, bank holiday and two weeks of holidays to be exact, and I was glad that I did.

The actual format of the Certificate Exam is 48 multiple choice questions in three hours with a pass mark of 50%, which does not sound like a lot, but wait and see the questions!
What is the biggest single thing that I have gained so far? An improved ability to manage complex decisions, largely due to having a better framework. That benefits me not just as a Director of Atlas but it also enables me to deliver greater insights to our customers when in conversation with their senior management teams about their company plans and ambitions.

The IoD is not just about learning and exams. Membership brings many benefits both on a personal and business level. The IoD does make available to its members many excellent resources and I would wholeheartedly recommend membership. There is a minimum criteria in terms of personal experience and size of organisation plus you have to be proposed by an existing IoD member.

If this is something that might suit you then please drop me an email craig.cameron@atlasbiz.com and I will be happy to discuss in more detail.

Craig Cameron, MIoD