Prominent Irish business strategist, Margaret Considine, has said she feels “humbled and energised” by the accreditation bestowed on her this week by the All-Ireland Business Foundation.
The CEO of EQuita Consulting was named as the AIBF ‘Though Leader Of The Year’ on Thursday, bringing a very busy month to a close: Margaret was appointed by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to sit on the Independent Body on additional working hours for public servants at the start of May. In addition to working with EQuita’s portfolio of ‘Blue Chip’ clients, Margaret also serves as President of the Mediators’ Institute of Ireland and has established a reputation as one of the State’s ‘go-to’ experts on issues around Leadership, Strategy, Negotiation and Communication in the workplace.
AIBF’s ‘Thought Leader’ award is especially intriguing to the Offaly native because she prides herself on the ability to “give strategic concepts a practical and bespoke application”.
“That’s the work; that’s the challenge. We have to grasp the business ambition and vision and then identify and reference the internal leadership capabilities that will ‘motor’ the process. We match the business plans and ambitions with the specific qualities and capacities in the business that makes them much more deliverable. That’s what EQuita is doing, and the response is overwhelmingly positive”, said Margaret.
She is a notable proponent of the idea that ideas only have value in business if they have the capacity for practical application that delivers a return on investment.
“The business has to see a measurable return. It’s not that all ideas don’t have a value. Anything that makes us more conscious or more thoughtful is, on balance, good. But we are much more focused on the ideas and concepts that ‘fit’ modern business and corporate consciousness and there’s very exciting work going on in this area. EQuita works in that space and we bring what we know to a range of companies. Those companies and agencies can see the lessons and value in our modes of thought and practice. They see how we can collaborate and co-create in a way that gives a hugely focussed commercial drive. They see how it works and they want it to work for them.”
Margaret is evangelical about this ‘return on investment’ and specifically on devising habits and practices on leadership and principled negotiating.
“I concentrate on up-skilling home-grown leaders in client companies, directing their ambitions and self-awareness and aligning those with the business commercial goals and strategy. The business is the sum of the people and we make the business stronger and more focused by making the individuals stronger and more focussed”, she says.
“The single most important aspect of this is commercial negotiations: equipping each leader with the tools of principled negotiating, so that they learn how to see clearly where we all need to be and how to get there. It’s really notable that CEOs and CFOs are often the ones who identify quickest with our ideas because they have the ‘Big Picture’ and the commercial sensibility. They see – quicker than others – that ultimately any business plan is an exercise in strategic negotiation.”
It’s this ability to see clearly through the competing tensions and interests that attracted AIBF, who specifically cited her ‘outstanding performance in negotiation accreditation’.
“I know that the work is demanding and complicated. But I think it’s worthwhile and – at this granular level – really interesting and challenging. I welcome that challenge in the same way I welcome this award. I feel humbled by the recognition of AIBF and energised to keep working as hard and at the highest level I can.”
