Commtel has never been short of talent. But knowing your best people, and equipping them to lead, are two different things.

In this interview, we speak with Commtel MD Di Mill, who has put one of her team, Bryan, forward for the programme. She talks about why structured development matters, what she's hoping they will take from the programme, and why investing in future leaders is important for growing businesses.

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You've enrolled Bryan on the gdb Future Leaders Programme. What made now the right time?

As a business grows, you need people throughout the organisation who are confident taking responsibility and making good decisions. We've got some really capable people at Commtel, and part of our responsibility is helping them develop beyond the technical or functional part of their role.

We can obviously do a lot of that internally through coaching and giving people opportunities, but having some external structure brings something different. It makes the development deliberate, gives them exposure to different businesses and perspectives, and gives them dedicated time to focus on their own development rather than it getting lost amongst the day-to-day.

Why Bryan? What marked them out?

Bryan has shown that they're ready for the next stage of their development. They've built strong knowledge and experience in their own area, and is asking more commercial questions.  I think there's a real opportunity now to help them broaden that across the wider business.

For me, that's what this programme can add — exposure to areas such as commercial decision-making, managing people, strategy and finance, alongside people from other businesses who are at a similar point in their development. The potential is already there; this gives them another environment in which to develop it.

What would you say to another MD weighing up the investment, both the £990 fee and half a day out of the business each month?

For me, you have to look at it as an investment rather than simply a cost. £990 and half a day a month isn't insignificant, particularly for an SME where taking somebody out of the business has an impact, so I wouldn't pretend otherwise.

But if somebody comes back into the business more confident, better equipped to manage people and able to make stronger commercial decisions, the return can very quickly outweigh that investment. And because it's delivered locally over six months, it feels very manageable for a business of our size.

The syllabus covers a lot of ground: leadership mindset, people management, tech and AI, selling, strategy, finance. What stood out as the priority for Commtel?

The breadth of it is actually one of the things I like. As people progress into leadership roles, they need to understand much more than their own function. Strategy, finance and decision-making are obviously important because understanding how the business makes money, where the risks are and how individual decisions affect the wider business changes the way you think.

But people management is equally important. Managing and developing people well isn't something everyone instinctively knows how to do. Giving future leaders some practical tools around communication, delegation, performance and difficult conversations early in their development can only be a good thing.

Why in person, at the Crawley Innovation Centre, rather than a remote course?

There's definitely a place for online learning, but I think something is gained by putting people in a room together for this kind of development. Leadership is about people, communication, influencing and dealing with situations that aren't always straightforward.

Being able to talk those things through with people from other local businesses, in an environment where the conversation can be open and candid, is really valuable. You hear different perspectives and quite often realise that other businesses are wrestling with exactly the same challenges.

There's also the network they'll build. Those relationships could continue well beyond the six-month programme.

There's also an individual project, aligned with CMI Professional Standards. How will Commtel support that day to day?

One of the things I like about the project is that it makes the learning practical. There's no point somebody attending six sessions, taking lots of notes and then putting them in a folder and carrying on exactly as before.

Bryan will be able to apply what they're learning to a real business challenge, and our job is to give them the space and support to do that — including trying things that may not work perfectly first time.

The CMI alignment gives the programme some additional credibility and structure, but for me the real value will be seeing the learning translated back into the business.

What will success look like once the course ends?

I want to see Bryan making confident, well-reasoned calls, without needing to run everything past me first.

If they come out the other side with a clearer commercial head, better communication, and the authority to actually lead their team, that's the return on investment right there. And honestly, having trusted leaders around you is what gives an MD the headspace to think about strategy, instead of firefighting every day.

Diamond Future Leaders is a six-month, six-session leadership development programme run in person at Crawley Innovation Centre, delivered exclusively by gdb members for gdb members and aligned to Chartered Management Institute professional standards. The founder price for the first cohort is £990 (excl. VAT). To register interest, complete the expressions of interest form at the top of this page.