James Craft

"I currently work at TEDCO, where I've worked for five years as an enterprise manager. My role involves leading a small support organisation, where we enable clients to launch new businesses and help them grow.

The MBA Senior Leader Apprenticeship has improved me as an all-round leader. Over the past two years, I've become more self aware and improved by forward planning skills. It doesn’t happen overnight, but being consistent with my leadership style, communication, and values helped me to paint my vision, which is incredibly important to bring people on the journey with you.

Each module on the apprenticeship contained incredibly useful tools, techniques, and knowledge which could be used in the business. My favourites were psychological safety, communication change, and emotional intelligence.

Balancing work and study can be challenging. I have a young family, so it's been difficult to divide my time between family, work, and study. However, by having a routine in place and remaining disciplined, you can fit everything in.

The apprenticeship has definitely had a positive impact on TEDCO. We're embracing technology a lot more than we were in the past. We've been through a lot of change, and the apprenticeship has helped us manage this better and our culture feels stronger than ever. Working as one team and supporting each other to achieve shared goals is having a big impact on our team morale and togetherness. It's also had a positive impact on me as I've recently been promoted to CEO.

If you're keen to develop your leadership skills and you have an appetite for learning then I couldn’t recommend this course enough. My advice to anyone looking to complete an apprenticeship would be if you embrace the learning and commit time to the modules, you'll reap the rewards in the long term. I didn’t go to college or university after leaving school, so returning to education in my 40s has been a challenge. But, in my opinion, it’s the best way to learn and drive change into an organisation. Go for it!"