British and Irish Lions offer Leadership Insights to DS Smith’s Future Leaders

DS Smith was delighted to welcome international rugby player Sam Warburton to DS Smith’s Future Leaders course, offering his insight on leadership in a session facilitated by former international rugby star Tom Shanklin, who is a Commercial Manager at DS Smith.

Future Leaders is a collaboration between DS Smith Learning and Development and the Professional Development Centre, a leadership organisation based in Wales, who worked with us to develop the bespoke training course. Future Leaders focuses on expanding the leadership potential of key talent within DS Smith, bringing delegates together from across our divisions and regions for a holistic leadership training course that focuses on developing employees through the company’s leadership competency framework.  

DS Smith Recycling is a sponsor of the Cardiff Blues, and Sam Warburton and Tom Shanklin, current and former players, joined the session to offer a sporting perspective on the meaning and challenges of leadership.

The course was described as going “above and beyond the scope of training” by the Future Leaders, as well as “offering insight on what ‘the best’ really entails”.

Dr. Arthur F. Turner, Director of the Professional Development Centre, said:

Sam Warburton and Tom Shanklin brought practical perspectives from the field of professional sports to the Future Leaders course, offering insight into leadership techniques from the high-performance world of internal rugby. Their unique view on performance and leadership offered our Future Leaders the opportunity to discuss first-hand the impact of performance pressures on teams, and how strong leadership can achieve great things.
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