Institute of Directors (IoD) chairman James Satariano welcomed the first intake of directors to the new national director development course being held at Hilton, Malta in association with the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA). Over 50 local company directors have embarked upon a career development programme led by distinguished director coaching expert Peter Barrett from ODL, Hong Kong. Over the next few weeks delegates will get to grips with extensive training and practice in various areas of company direction.

“Management and leadership have long been known as key factors in driving the performance of individual organisations and the wider Maltese economy as a whole,” said Mr Satariano. “We cannot leave the emergence of skilled and effective leaders and managers to chance, in the belief that they are ‘born and not made’.” The Director Development Programme For Malta is a five-year initiative to improve corporate governance and drive business competitiveness led by IoD in conjunction with MFSA.

The skills, knowledge, understanding, competences and attributes of good leaders can be developed through training and experience. The development of management and leadership needs to be professionalised, so that it forms an integral part of long-term strategic development in all organisations. The high quality development that has gone into the portfolio of the Winter Workshop Series programmes by Peter Barrett, allows IoD to confidently promote this programme as “professional development”. In his address, Mr Satariano outlined how Mr Barrett has designed this programme to meet the needs of owner managers upon whom the survival, success and growth of their business depends. The Winter Workshop Series will enable participants to understand the rewards and risks of being a board member; choose the right board structure for their business; get the strategy right and predict the impact of their decisions; and, most importantly, be in a position to measure their success.

The Winter Workshop Series offers practical and pragmatic workshops to enable an effective contribution to the work of local company directors within their boards.