Just like empires, organizations come and go with the times. There are however some that last for the ages, and great leadership is their secret. But what makes a “great” leader? For one, great leaders can’t just gather and motivate the masses, they also have to help others see, believe, and work towards a common vision.

In more recent times, the roles and parameters of leadership have changed substantially and current leadership often requires a capacity to drive positive change and create valuable socio-economic impact for our employees and our communities. Furthermore, having a great business leader at the helm is something that all investors, consumers, and employees really want. But with few exceptions, great leaders are not born, they are created and in today’s rapidly changing business and economic environment, they are as important as ever.

Helping organizations, particularly organizations that work with children and families, get better outcomes in their overarching goal to make things safer, is Lynne Peyton, founder of Lynne Peyton Consulting. Backed by decades of practical leadership and coaching experience, Lynne is on a mission to develop strong organizational leadership and support teams to propel those she works with to greater heights of success.

Lynne Peyton Consultancy planted its roots back in 2001 in Ireland. Since then, Lynne has been leading the charge to solve complex organizational challenges, focused on improving professional outcomes within organisations working with children and families, including those providing child protective services, fostering and mental health services. 

After many years as a senior manager in the public sector, as well as a period as Director of a leading not-for-profit agency, Lynne shares that she attended the Tony Robbins’ ‘Unleash the Power Within’ course in Geneva Switzerland. Moved and motivated by the program, which promised that ‘life would never be the same again’, she decided to set up a consultancy which would help agencies in the sector she was passionate about, to optimize their operations.

 Lynne initially started off by conducting practice audits for these organizations. She soon discovered that the key developmental issues were commonly associated with the fact that many of the leaders did not possess the essential skills to influence and lead staff through major change. Understanding that change requires a process, during which staff involvement and ongoing communication are key elements, is so critical she says. 

“The biggest challenge for leaders is very often to be willing to have a hele-view of what’s going on, rather than being involved in the day-to-day management.”

For Lynne, the first task was to educate her clients that people at all levels of an organization require leadership development training to become future ready leaders. While some people can intuitively adapt to becoming leaders, for most people, their leadership mindset and skills have to be honed. She says, “My focus is on helping leaders and managers at all levels of organizations to empower their staff and encourage them to be independent. Part of that is understanding and implementing change management processes.” 

Creating extraordinary leaders

It quickly became clear to her that to effectively change the operational culture of an organization, leaders needed to develop their CORE skills leading her to develop her patented C.O.R.E leadership program.

The program is designed to empower organizations to deal with constant change, by improving their leadership skills in four key areas. C is for Communicating effectively which is a leader’s capacity to build rapport with their colleagues and clients, sell their thoughts and ideas to people with different personalities, and have difficult conversations with their peers. O is for Optimization, which focuses on how to optimize all your resources like time and energy and other factors of our lives. R is for Relationship building, within the organizations and outside of it to develop appropriate networks and E teaches you how to properly Evaluate and measure the impact of everything you do, so that more focus can be put on the more productive tasks and you stop doing things which are not working.

“I offer a multi-level training coaching and mentoring package which transforms diverse separated and disconnected functions within organizations into one coherent team with a common vision and purpose.”

The C.O.R.E program can be tailored to the needs of individual organizations. The combination of understanding the nature of a company’s work, their legislative and policy environment as well as the common challenges that all leaders face, is what drives C.O.R.E and translates to scalable organizational growth, explains Lynne. On a deeper level, C.O.R.E enables organizations to understand, integrate and clearly define the roles of all their employees and departments, from the junior management to the senior leaders. 

Furthermore, the program is interactive with small groups of up to 12 people at a time to ensure that maximum interaction, participation, and conflict resolution are achieved. For the leaders, there are strategical exercises built around effective problem solving and situation reaction abilities to challenge and shape their skills. In recent times, during the pandemic, Lynne was able to continue sharing her wisdom with her clients by transforming her training into a virtual model. While there is no substitute for face-to-face interaction, Lynne conducted hundreds of highly successful, remote coaching and mentoring sessions during the pandemic by video and telephone as well as facilitating weekly online workshops on various aspects of leadership.

The Lynne Peyton Difference

Lynne Peyton has been in the children’s service and mental health industry since the start of her career in the late 1970s and is as passionate now as she was then. Skilled in neuro linguistic programming (NLP) and neuro strategies, Lynne is revered for her energy, positivity, and effective communication skills which she channels into getting great results for her clients. 

Here is just some of the feedback from professional clients from a range of disciplines in health, mental health and children’s services.

• I like that Lynne sees change as something that is achievable now, not something that that requires years of slow development. She challenges and focuses people to create the right attitudes and energy for themselves to-day.
• Lynne is dynamic, challenging, and supportive in equal measures.
• Lynne brings a personality, professional style, energy, and positivity that are assets to the development of individuals, groups and organisations.
• There have been numerous benefits to having been mentored by Lynne both professionally and personally.

I focus on helping leaders in tough sectors to stay focused on how much they have accomplished and where they have made a difference in the lives of vulnerable children and adults.

While staying relevant in an ever-evolving business and economic environment is no easy feat, Lynne has always stayed ahead of the curve due to her constant hunger for learning. She advocates the importance of having a great business network and frequently takes out time to connect with other industry leaders for the latest knowledge and insight and has participated in a number of global mastermind groups. Since the inception of her company, Lynne has also been on the Editorial Board of Child Care in Practice Journal, helping take it from a local project to a globally recognized publication that enjoys readership throughout the world. More recently she has been supporting the British Association for Social Workers in the provision of a complementary mentoring service for Social Workers experiencing challenges, in recognition that they have had to cope with an accumulation of stressors during the pandemic   on top of what is already a challenging profession.

“Agencies really need to focus on self-care and staff wellbeing at this time, because if we don’t take care of ourselves and our staff, then we can’t show up as the leaders and role models that are needed.”

While empowering leaders is her passion, Lynne runs several other investment businesses including a large real estate portfolio in the UK and USA, which keeps her on her toes. She says, “I think the key is ensuring that you enjoy what you do and you do what you enjoy so that work does not become a chore.” Whenever Lynne does get some down time, she likes to read and watch crime movies. Wherever she is in the world and whatever the weather she fits in a daily walk as part of her own self-care strategy. One of the benefits of Covid is we now meet friends for a walk instead of a drink, she says.

When asked about female leaders who inspire her, Lynne pays tributes to her own coaches, one of whom is a successful, fun and motivating female entrepreneur who has been in her corner for many years. She also has great admiration for the queen as “she is so committed and also has such wonderful communication skills and a wise charisma.” 

Lynne is of the firm belief that as well as a strong mindset, leaders need the right tools and strategies as well as a commitment to take action to get there. To that effect, her present goal is to collate and make more accessible what she considers to be the most important materials for individuals aspiring to become distinguished leaders. The digital leadership library on her website contains information on every potential issue that could possibly arise when leading a team of people. So, all you aspiring leaders out there, don’t forget to check out www.lynnepeyton.com/leadershiplibrary.

An Inspiration to Women

Today, Lynne Peyton Consulting is responsible for influencing the lives of leaders at all levels.

When asked about the difficulties women in leadership roles face, Lynne explains “It’s not just about gender. There is no doubt that male and female energy is different and that we need both to bring a balanced perspective to the workplace and specific situations.” One of the biggest challenge women are facing at present is coping with the dual responsibility of parenting and progressing their careers to greater heights. Having brought up 3 sons while managing a busy department, during a time of political unrest in Belfast, while married to a busy trauma surgeon, Lynne acknowledges that women are often expected to juggle all the competing demands. She is currently mentoring many young women who have the potential to be outstanding leaders. She says, “For me, these women represent true grit and determination.”

“We have to acknowledge and support the important role women play at home as well as in the office and learn from other cultures such as Denmark, where there is huge financial as well as practical support for parents with young children and investment in providing high-quality early years services.”

As for Lynne Peyton herself, she continues to empower ordinary individuals, male and female, to become exemplary leaders through her multi-level C.O.R.E. leadership program. Ultimately, “Self-belief is key,” she says, “If we don’t believe in ourselves, then it is going to be hard to persuade anyone else that we have what it takes to be a great leader.”