23 April 2007

A survey of 500 UK business owners and managers by the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) has revealed that many were marked out as future leaders from an early age with 44 per cent having been school prefects, nine per cent head boys or girls and 22 per cent captains of a school sports team.

The sports field proved a valuable learning ground for today's leaders with 69 per cent having competed as part of a school team.

The survey also suggests that extra-curricular activities played a role in the development of future leaders. One third of male leaders (34 per cent) were once members of the Scouts while 42 per cent of their female counterparts were Girl Guides. Sixteen per cent were once members of the school choir and one in ten (11 per cent) played in the school orchestra.

Kim Parish, chief executive of ILM comments:
'This study shows that many young people learn about leadership at a very early age. Activities often seen as childhood hobbies - such as being a member of the Scouts or Guides, or playing on a school team - actually furnish young people with skills such as team ethos, ambition, goal setting and many of the other qualities that we associate with good leadership.'

Thirty per cent of business leaders felt that holding a position of responsibility at school was the most important indicator of a good future leader. And despite the social bias towards higher education, today's business leaders believe that academic qualifications aren't a prerequisite for success. One third (32 per cent) said that academic performance at school was the most overrated indicator of a good leader and only one third (32 per cent) left education with a university degree.

In fact, a significant proportion of today's leaders must owe their current role to experiences outside the classroom, as 12 per cent left school under the age of 16 and seven per cent had no qualifications at all when they left full time education.

Kim Parish adds:
'This study also shows that successful leaders draw on expertise and experience from all areas of their lives - from the exam hall to the cricket pitch. The leadership lessons learned in childhood can help sow the first seeds of leadership ambition.'

Peter Duncan, Chief Scout, welcomed the findings:
 'It is great to see from the ILM research that Scouting has played a role in developing so many of today's leaders. Scouting is all about the development of young people to achieve their full physical, intellectual, social and spiritual potential through a mixture of fun, challenge and adventure. Skills learnt through being a Scout obviously pay dividends for those looking to take positions of leadership.'

ENDS

Further information

Please contact Matt Adcock on 020 7294 3054 (office) or 07711 872753 (out of hours) / email: matt.adcock@i-l-m.com

Notes to editors

Methodology

The research was undertaken by The Survey Shop between 19th and 30th March 2007. Anonymous telephone interviews were conducted with 502 business managers from companies with more than 50 employees across 10 business sectors (manufacturing, construction, retail, leisure, financial services, publishing & media, professional services, telecoms & IT, healthcare, public sector).

About the Institute of Leadership & Management

The Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) is part of the international City & Guilds group. ILM is the largest provider of management education qualifications in Europe, building the skills of over 90,000 managers and leaders each year.

All ILM qualifications are designed to deliver practical business benefit to the individual, their team and the organisation they work for. ILM's qualifications are delivered by 2,000 further education colleges, universities, training providers and companies in the UK and globally.

ILM is the professional membership body of choice for over 25,000 forward thinking managers and leaders providing a wide range of member benefits, support and development opportunities throughout their career.

City & Guilds (http://www.cityandguilds.com/ ) is the expert and leading authority in vocational education and training - both in the UK and beyond.

In operation for the last 130 years, City & Guilds is the UK’s leading awarding body for work-related qualifications. Twenty million people in the UK have City & Guilds qualifications, and the organisation awards a further 1.5 million qualifications to learners every year.

City & Guilds also enables people to develop essential leadership and management skills through its Institute of Leadership and Management, which is the largest provider of management qualifications in Europe.

City & Guilds creates prosperity from skills for individuals, business and nations within and beyond the workplace.