KPMG
First Impressions and Lasting Impressions
You never get a second chance to make a first impression. How you enter a room, come across, shake hands, dress or express yourself can significantly affect whether you influence or convince others. It’s even more important to make a positive, sustained, lasting impression.
KPMG, a leading provider of professional services such as audit, tax, and advisory recognise the importance of making the right impact and being able to build significant relationships with clients and teams. 2 years ago they sought a company to help them deliver learning and development opportunities to meet this need.
Having chosen Maynard Leigh, we designed a course, working closely with KPMG, to build internal confidence and make the most of situations such as client meetings, chairing and participating in internal meetings, appraisals and briefings.
“It is important that participants really gain an awareness of the impression that they make on others” comments Nisheeta Shah from KPMG’s KLearn Skills Group Skills Group. Bridget Brice, the Maynard Leigh consultant explains “We give them constant feedback about their impact, not just when they were ‘on’ – doing a presentation in a conversation – but also when they were ‘off’, for people, arriving in a building, sitting quietly in a meeting, leaving a room”.
The MLA method focuses on ‘authentic performance’. This may appear a contradiction in terms for how can you be authentic and still be performing? Yet what makes the difference is the ability to be all of who you are, while being aware of the influence you are having around you. It is an act of dual attention. Firstly, self awareness and, secondly, a sensitivity to the effect on your audience. This creates chemistry, leading to an effective, lasting impression and a sustainable relationship.
Learning to deliver authentic performance inevitably touches on issues such as passion, courage, assertiveness, being true to oneself and using one’s full potential. All of these can be developed, but demands honest communication and constant feedback and challenge from peers.
Reflecting on the contribution of Maynard Leigh’s approach Nisheeta observes “Our good working relationship with Maynard Leigh has enabled us to build a fantastic programme that really meets the needs of our managers and senior managers.”
Stuart Mackenzie, Maynard Leigh’s MD says ‘we are proud to have worked with a company like KPMG that is so committed to its value of respecting the individual. Nisheeta and the K-Learn team have been an inspiration to work alongside’.
The KPMG IMPACT course has now been running successfully across the entire the breadth of the country and the programme is entering its third year. Nisheeta reports: “….feedback from the programme is always positive, with participants making comments to the effect that the experience was valuable and relevant. The presenters from Maynard Leigh are rated highly, particularly for their ability to offer high-quality, constructive feedback.”
