The first training I ever delivered was in a classroom.

That was the norm back in the ’90s – if you needed training, you packed a bag, booked flights, and blocked out days in your calendar. It was time-consuming, expensive, and often meant stepping completely away from your job to sit in a room and absorb as much as possible – only to return to a mountain of work waiting for you.

You’ve probably heard the saying, ‘knowledge is power’. And that’s absolutely true when it comes to quality leadership. Except in quality leadership, it’s not just power. Knowledge is your compass, your confidence and your credibility. It’s your foundation and your base.

Everyone starts somewhere. And everyone can grow. But you need to know where you are, so you know what to focus on next. The quality leadership journey is the map that helps you locate where you are and what’s next.

Here’s the truth – quality systems don’t lead themselves. You can have the most beautifully documented system in the world, but without someone to drive it, challenge it, improve it and connect it to the bigger picture, it’s not worth the paper it’s written on or the software that’s running it.

This is why quality leadership matters – because without it, your quality systems simply won’t function the way they should and that means that you won’t get the outcomes that you need.

When I first started training, I thought the slides were the star of the show.
If I stuck to the PowerPoint, got through all the dot points, and didn’t mess up the flow—I’d done my job.

About 10 years ago, I found myself in the familiar surroundings of a Tier 2 construction company that specialized in industrial construction, conducting yet another recertification audit. Having been here before, I knew the drill: the consultant would be by my side throughout the process, providing insights and supporting the workers and management I interviewed. But this time, fate had other plans.