Subscribe to Highways Voices free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or Pocket Casts and never miss an episode!
“Inspire them and lead them to higher performance, quicker outcomes, better customer service, improved health and safety, performance, better engagement of their teams.”
The words of Peter Anderson, Amey’s Managing Director – Transport Infrastructure speaking about leadership on the latest Highways Voices podcast.
In the latest conversation with one of our industry’s leaders, Peter tells Adrian Tatum about his views on what makes a good leader, “I think the leader needs to be honest, I think the leader needs to be authentic… because that’s how that leaders are better able to, to create followership. What a leader needs above all other things is a team that that follows the vision, follows the direction of travel, and feels valued and gets feedback by the leader.”
He describes the leadership process as giving staff the tools to do the work and make decisions themselves using a triangle with management, commercial and finance at each corner and asking themselves if what they are doing is “the right thing to do”, and then backing their decision.
“When you’ve got in your triangle, and you’ve come up with a collective decision, then I’ll back you 100%, you make that decision, it’s your call, you make it for the right reasons,” he says. But then there’s a warning if you don’t follow the process. “If you are a lone wolf, and you make a decision entirely on your own, without consultation. If you’re right, then that’s fine, but you’re looking, if you’re wrong, and you have not consulted with your colleagues in the triangle, then we’ll have a very difficult and very different conversation.”
Hear Peter’s views on work in the communities, focussing on outcomes, and what our industry should do to lead.
You can also hear a round-up of the latest news and who wins the penultimate “Adrian’s Accolade” of 2021.
Follow Highways News on Twitter, LinkedIn and subscribe to our daily newsletter here.