In this episode of Progress in Practice, Charlie Reading is joined by Mark Stanton, co-founder of Develop People- a leadership and personal development practice working with manufacturers, engineers, regulated industries, and professional services firms to help technically excellent people become genuinely effective leaders.
Mark spent nearly three decades in policing, retiring at a senior level having led teams of up to 600 people, before joining the business his wife Emma had founded 14 years ago. Emma's dual motivation was deeply personal: years of experiencing the damage caused by poor management, and a late diagnosis of dyslexia at 29 that helped her recognise the coping strategies she'd quietly built were skills others didn't know they had. Together, they help organisations surface those hidden capabilities and develop leaders who can lead themselves first.
Mark and Charlie dig into DISC profiling, emotional intelligence, and the above and below the line framework that underpins Develop People's approach. They also have a genuinely interesting conversation about AI- not as a threat to leadership development, but as a tool that's only as useful as the prompts you give it, and as a future lens for real-time feedback in meetings and culture.
This is a practical, honest, and thought-provoking episode about what it really takes to build high-performing teams, and why the blocker is usually closer to home than most leaders want to admit.
Key Talking Points
• Who Develop People serves: technical specialists and high-performers who've been promoted into leadership without ever being taught how to lead.
• The sectors they work in: manufacturing, engineering, pharmaceuticals, regulated industries, accountancy, and legal firms.
• Emma's founding story: leaving a series of jobs because of damaging management, and discovering her dyslexia at 29 and the hidden skill set that came with it.
• Mark's policing career: nearly 30 years, retiring at senior level, leading teams of up to 600 people and the moment he asked himself what he could offer the outside world.
• Why being brilliant at your job does not make you a brilliant leader, and why that gap is never explained to the people being promoted.
• How Develop People use DISC profiling to help clients understand their communication style, their strengths, and where they create friction.
• Emotional intelligence: self-awareness, awareness of others, and the difference between knowing how you are and taking responsibility for it.
• The above and below the line framework: ownership, accountability, and responsibility above; blame, excuses, and denial below.
• AI in leadership development: the echo chamber risk of self-coaching with AI, why prompts determine the quality of challenge, and the future potential of AI to give real-time feedback in meetings and on culture.
• The blocker in Develop People's business: reaching people who don't yet know they have a problem, and why self-awareness has to come before development can begin.
• Why Develop People no longer try to convince reluctant clients and how they focus on people who already know they need to change.
• The challenge of selling leadership development when the person who benefits from it isn't always the one signing the contract.
• Why high-performing teams produce better bottom-line results and how to make that case to a sceptical founder.
• What Mark would tell his younger self: be less concerned with the opinions of others, stay true to your original purpose, and establish your values from day one.
• Wisdom to pass on: be humble enough to remember where you've come from, and courageous enough to take the steps to where you want to go.
• Book recommendations: The Chimp Paradox by Steve Peters, Turn the Ship Around by David Marquet, and Start with Why by Simon Sinek.
• The above and below the line framework as a daily leadership tool and why it works precisely because of its simplicity.
About the Guest
Mark Stanton is co-founder of Develop People, a leadership and personal development practice helping organisations in manufacturing, engineering, regulated industries, and professional services develop effective leaders from the inside out. Mark spent nearly three decades in policing, retiring at a senior level having led teams of up to 600 people, before joining the business his wife Emma founded 14 years ago. Develop People works with clients through DISC behavioural profiling, emotional intelligence development, and the above and below the line framework, delivered through facilitated workshops, one-to-one coaching, and small group sessions, with a focus on long-term partnership rather than one-off interventions.
Find Out More
To learn more about Mark and Develop People visit: https://develop-people.co.uk/
To connect with Mark visit: linkedin.com/in/markstantondevelopsleaders
Resources & Links Mentioned
• The Chimp Paradox by Steve Peters- recommended by Mark for understanding how the brain drives communication and emotional response.
• Turn the Ship Around by David Marquet- Mark's long-time carry-in-the-bag leadership book, focused on intent, deliberate action, and strategic thinking.
• Start with Why by Simon Sinek- recommended by Mark; the TED talk alone is worth watching.
• The above and below the line framework- Develop People's core tool for assessing leadership behaviours and accountability.
• DISC behavioural profiling- used by Develop People to surface communication styles and areas for development.
About the Podcast
Progress in Practice is brought to you by The Trusted Team- helping professional service business owners build scalable, saleable businesses while working less and enjoying more.
Find out more: www.thetrusted.team
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