361° Edge introduces fresh approach to leadership training with ‘Drive’

361° Edge, a boutique training and consultancy company, launched its latest leadership development program last month for a group of 22 senior personnel from DMS Electronics (DMSE). This ground-breaking intervention, dubbed ‘Drive’, focuses on creating good leaders through the development of interpersonal and business leadership skills by having participants identify and resolve real problems within their organisation.

“Becoming a good leader is analogous to becoming a good driver because knowledge is useless without real world practice. While training programs are a great way to boost the energy and morale of people, the long-term results from leadership training are usually not as impressive. We often find that people get overloaded with information and end up so confused that they hardly implement anything,” said Sifaan Zavahir, a Firestarter at 361° Edge, who led the program for DMSE.

“With ‘Drive’, the goal is that the foundation we provide is just the starting step and it’s mandatory to go to work and practice every day. And they’ll be provided with the necessary support and resources as and when they need it.”

A group of senior personnel from DMS Electronics attended a two-day foundation workshop where they were introduced to the concept of ‘Drive’, analysed leadership theories and evaluated them in light of their own experiences, created shared ambitions for the future, bonded as a team and concluded the first step of the program – identifying problems and issues within their workplace.

“We just launched the ‘Drive’ intervention and DMSE is the first company to try it and the feedback so far has been extremely positive,” added Rukmal de Silva, the Chief Visionary Officer of 361° Edge.

“We’re a company with a lot of different business units and we wanted to make sure that all the different leaders heading the different business units and groups were given all the support to perform at their very best,” said Lal Chandranath – Managing Director of DMS Electronics.

“So far, the results have been great: the 22 participants are working hard on resolving the identified business and team issues, which is what we expect leaders to do. I think the great thing about this particular program is that it doesn’t stop after two days – 361° Edge will be working with us over the next year, supporting my management team and helping us become stronger.”

361° Edge helps organisations accelerate their performance by delivering training and consulting solutions with a focus on leadership, strategy and change management. They work in tandem with sister companies 361° Interactive – for internal communication campaigns and events – and Wild Drift – who provide the team building component.

Their clientele includes DMSE, Unilever, Fonterra Brands Lanka, CTC, Etisalat, DSI, NDB Bank, MAS Holdings and Brandix amongst others.

Incorporated in 1981, DMS Electronics carries a complete suite of industry leading hardware and software products such as HP, Microsoft, Citrix, Symantec, VMware, Aspect, VeriFone, TouchMedia and Plantronics, which the company puts together to provide complete ICT solutions. DMSE’s wide customer base includes some of the largest enterprises in Sri Lanka and extends down to small and medium scale businesses and individuals.