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Women in Leadership: Tracy Duggan from skillslocal

Tracy Duggan, founder and director of skillslocal shares her experience of NTU's Women in Leadership course

    This support is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund

    Through the Priority Skills for D2N2 SMEs project*, Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to access free bespoke, employer-led training, career coaching and advice to up-skill their employees in vocational and high-level technical skills.

    NTU offer a free, 3-day course which is designed to help women in SMEs to develop their careers and their capability to manage and lead within their organisations.

    Tracy Duggan from skillslocal
    Tracy Duggan, founder and director of skillslocal

    Tracy Duggan, founder and director of skillslocal

    skillslocal is an East Midlands-based business that provides consultancy advice to other organisations that are seeking to improve their performance through people.

    Their clients are often growing businesses that are developing new services and growing into new markets. By providing a full diagnostic service, advice and support they help you to embed good business practices.

    Tracy Duggan is the founder and director of skillslocal and she works as part of a small team that includes administrative support and brings in other experts when needed.

    Tracy already holds a diploma in management studies, but having heard about NTU’s Women in Leadership course on social media, she started to do a bit more research as to whether this would be useful for her.

    “As I’m based in the Peak District I had to be convinced of its value, but this sounded as though it would really hit the mark.

    “Before attending I knew I wanted to update myself on the latest thinking around business strategies, tools and techniques for leadership and bring in some new thinking to the business.”

    After receiving further information, she decided the course was for her and signed up to one of the Nottingham city-based courses that runs consecutively over three days (there are non-consecutive options available, too).

    “Personally, I liked that I could attend in one block, but I understand that might not be for everyone.”

    Reflecting on her time on the course, Tracy had certain parts that she found most useful for her own development.

    “The bits around new models of organisational structure; moving towards a situation where the organisation is working in harmony and not afraid to share and learn from mistakes was really interesting.

    “There were also lots of really useful content on how to actually embed these, not just general examples.  The tutors were really good at contextualising for different situations too.”

    When asked about how the course might influence her to make some changes, Tracy was really positive about her next steps.

    “I found the recommended reading very useful, and I’m really looking forward to the career coaching that is to come next.  I’m also excited to introduce some of the new models.

    “It’s great to know that there are lots of women out there who are having similar issues or challenges to you and networking was also helpful.

    “Understanding my own leadership style was really useful. Although I only have a small team within skillslocal, it allowed me to see how I can adapt my style depending on who I’m working with and where. I can really use this to help clients understand who they are too.

    “I absolutely got what I wanted out of the course, there were so many little lightbulb moments throughout.”

    Interested in signing up?

    The Women in Leadership course is running a number of cohorts throughout 2020. You can register your interest and a member of the team will be in touch to discuss eligibility and suitable dates.

    You can also contact us via any of the below channels:

    * The Priority Skills for D2N2 SMEs project is part-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and is part of the High Level Skills programme. The programme is delivered by NTU as part of the High Level Skills consortium which also includes Derby College, Nottingham College, the University of Derby, and Nottingham City Council.

    Supporting social mobility and widening participation

    NTU is at the forefront of social mobility. The university recruits a quarter of its home undergraduates from households with a combined income of £15,000 or less, and has an impressive graduate employment rate. The university is a signatory to the Social Mobility Pledge, and is also a co-lead on a national centre to research and develop best practices for universities on how to improve social mobility.

    The Priority Skills for D2N2 SMEs project is also committed to supporting local people from under-represented groups including women, people with disabilities, BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) people, people aged 50 and over, and those who have not had access to traditional educational opportunities. Our Women in Leadership course is a contributing factor towards this.