This week we met up with Mary Wangui, the Founder and Manager of Maykay Training & Recruitment Ltd, based in South East London.
Mary recently completed the short course in Management and Leadership (Level 3) and has been applying her new found knowledge to better manage her team members, manage organisational change and delegate tasks with confidence to free up her time to better steer the organisation forward.
We caught up with Mary to find out more about her business and how she is putting her course work into action.
Hi Mary, can you tell our readers who you are and what you do?
Hello, my name is Mary. I am a single mother who migrated to the UK from Kenya in Africa 22 years ago to study. I settled here after my studies. I run and manage a small private training company which I started in 2018. My main motivation to work for myself was for the flexibility it offers and that I could raise my child around my work. I am a trained teacher and sharing knowledge and making an impact comes naturally for me, that’s why I chose to start a training company. I had no prior knowledge in managing a business, I have had to learn on the job and mostly from Google and YouTube.
As the owner of a small business I have to do various jobs; Teaching, administration, finance, human resources and management.
Why did you join our Level 2 course in Leadership and Management?
I am a member of Royal Borough of Greenwich e-alert and I received an email advertising the course. I looked at the content and I knew I needed to gain knowledge and skills in leadership and management to enable me to be a better leader for my business. I felt that it would also be an opportunity to learn from the experts and also from other individuals who are working in leadership and management. I was also curious to know if I have been doing my job properly and what areas would need improving and how I would make changes to support business growth.
What made you choose Dagile as your training provider?
I liked the idea of doing the course at my own time and online. I also liked the simplicity and straight forward nature of the platform. It is very user friendly and I like the recorded lectures that I can pause, replay and forward enabling me to refer back to the lecture as often as needed.
What was your experience of the course?
I found the course very informative and valuable. I have learnt very useful information which has greatly improved my knowledge about leadership and management. The information provided was relevant and up to date. The quality of the presentation was excellent and met my needs. The sessions were interesting, clear , thought provoking, valuable and comprehensive. The information was relevant and the examples used were from real work situations therefore very relatable. The course has enabled me to acquire an overview of especially different leadership styles and therefore gain more understanding of my role as a leader and the impact of my actions and choices to the team and the progress of the organisation.
The setup of the course was good and easy to follow. The units were continuous and linked from one topic to another in a meaningful manner. For example, starting from Leaderships styles and then learning how they apply to other areas of an organisation like team work, managing change and delegating. For me this taught me how different elements of an organisation are all connected and also enabled me to make sense of my roles and responsibilities as a leader.
The lecturer was excellent in his presentation, he is very knowledgeable and provided a lot of examples from his own experiences. He also provided an excellent reading list for reference and suggestions for our own reading and research.
Has the training helped you build new ideas for your business?
Yes, the course helped me develop a lot of ideas for my organisation. I am currently implementing some of them and others I will implement in the future. I have become more conscious about my leadership style/styles and how to adapt this to individual team members and tasks. I have started a delegation plan to enable me to delegate some of the tasks that could be carried out by other team members. I am getting ideas from change management theories especially McKinsey to help me assess, set goals and implement and manage change within the organisation.
I have started exploring the different characteristics of different individuals within my team and how to better manage them using the knowledge that I have learnt from the course.
Has the training enhanced your professional development?
Yes, I will be a better manager and leader of my business and I can share my knowledge and experience with others new to business. The knowledge I have acquired from the course coupled with my experience and skills will enhance my performance and growth of the organisation and my progression as a leader. I have also embarked on supporting someone set up their business and I am enrolled on a mentoring course to be able to mentor other aspiring leaders.
Do you have any final thoughts to share?
This is a must have course for anyone aspiring to be a leader as it teaches you things that no one in the work place teach you or has the time to. The knowledge can be applied to everyday situations even home management.
I wish we had a few interactive sessions whereby we are able to share our experiences and ideas with others in similar roles.
Thank you very much for your time Mary
It was my pleasure.
We’re grateful to Mary for sharing her experience of Dagile with us! We wish her every success for the future and look forward to seeing her business go from strength to strength.
If you too want to develop leadership and management skills like Mary – Dagile offers a variety of flexible, fast and free online courses for employed Londoners.
Find all our courses using the tap at the top of the page.
