Executive Coaching: A Catalyst For GNB Leadership Development
For Madison Spragg, strong leadership means giving people an opportunity to be part of a high-performing team by creating a culture of belonging.
Spragg, CPA, CMA, is the new Director of Internal Audit, Consulting and Enterprise Risk Management at the Office of the Comptroller for New Brunswick’s Finance and Treasury Board.
She helps captain what she describes as a flat-structured team that assists the government in managing public resources by providing various internal assurance and consulting services, as well as identifying opportunities for operational efficiencies and cost savings.
Each team member needs a strong professional accounting background to complete the various types of audits, assurance, and operational reviews that the province requires to guide its decision-making.
For someone beginning in her office, there is plenty of opportunity to try different things – even right out of school – with Spragg calling it a great place to start with instant opportunities to work on different projects across government.
“There are so many opportunities not only for advancement, but of course, learning opportunities as well,” says Spragg. “There’s definitely a culture of employee growth both personally and professionally.”
For Spragg, no day is the same, and the needs of her team are as varied as the projects her office manages.
Earlier last year, Spragg began her leadership development journey with Amy Parrill, President of Fredericton-based performance excellence firm, Parrill + Co, not long after she began in her current director role.
Under Parrill, Spragg completed LMI Canada’s Effective Leadership Development® program in November and hopes to continue learning through LMI Canada’s, Effective Personal Leadership® program on her path to becoming a more effective leader.
Through Parrill + Co’s program, Spragg found the key to becoming an effective leader was in motivating people to achieve a higher level of productivity. Learning the importance behind her responsibility to support her staff through training and development allowed her to see the value in understanding herself as well as the needs and wants of her team.
“I think it was really great actually,” said Spragg on the timing of her training, noting she wouldn’t have wanted to get too far into her new role without first understanding her own strengths and weaknesses.
“I gained an understanding of who I am both personally and as a leader. Amy taught me to focus my time and energy on priorities that produce the highest payoff for the organization.”
After working with Parrill, Spragg began to value her time differently.
“It was in discussing high-payoff activities,” recalls Spragg. “Looking at every task or anything really that could come across your day and evaluating whether that’s a high-payoff activity in terms of prioritizing your day – if it’s a high payoff activity that you should be working on, or if it should perhaps be better delegated to someone else.”
Spragg soon realized the work you can easily do as the manager is often better served as a growth opportunity for someone else in the organization. For her, Jack Welch, former General Electric CEO said it best, “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.”
Sometimes it’s easy to say, ‘I can do that,’ but then you have to think that’s not necessarily my role anymore, and that’s something Amy teaches you – It might be really exciting for me to work on this, but it might also be more valuable for someone else who hasn’t had a chance.”
For Spragg, the training from Parrill + Co has allowed her to better understand her role as a mentor. To develop tomorrow’s leaders, her day-to-day actions as Director will equip her people with the tools they need to maximize their potential both now and throughout their careers.
“We are all in it together. We are always discussing and collaborating, which allows for conversations with staff to happen, so they can see how they can be involved in various aspects of projects. They then have a chance to learn as they go. As a leader, it really is about growth opportunities for everyone.”
This story was sponsored by Parrill + Co.
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