Linda Norris, team leader at Higher the Talent, explains why John Langley should win the Leader of the Year category of the Guardian Small Business Showcase competition:
I have been working with John for more than two years, since the inception of Higher The Talent. Having unlimited access to the managing director of a company is a big reason why I think he should be named leader of the year. John took a gamble and set up a business he believed in and is continuing to stick by his principles and standards of work.
He leads in a way that is inspiring and makes everyone who works here want to see Higher The Talent succeed and thrive. John constantly invests in everyone that works here, through organising training and development internally as well as inviting external trainers to present, and running courses or exclusive training days.
We are all rewarded heavily for our efforts through high salaries, excellent commission structure and many other benefits. Although this is a small business he allows a lot of flexibility in terms of working hours, home working and is very understanding.
He involves us in every business decision, be it where to advertise, what office space to get, as well as plans for the future. We are all involved in the hiring process of new staff, which for a small business I think is imperative but not something everyone would allow.
He has been the reason we now have over 130 clients when we started off with 0 just over two years ago.
All entries which meet the competition criteria are published and our judging panel select a shortlist of the top three for each category. Winners are announced at an awards ceremony in summer 2016.
