Unsung business heroes of north coast tell their stories in book that hails their leadership role
SMALL Northern Ireland companies selling products from luxury leather handbags to medical products are the subject of a new book on leadership by an Ulster University academic.
Dr Karise Hutchinson’s Leadership And Small Business: The Power Of Stories is inspired by her research into businesses on the north coast as provost at the university’s Coleraine campus.
She spent four years researching the book, including a year spent as an affiliate at Harvard Business School’s Authentic Leadership Institute.
The book features the stories of handbag maker Taylor Yates, medical test-kit firm Armstrong Medical and coffee chain Ground Espresso.
For example, Karen Yates writes in the book about how she was inspired to start making leather handbags after she couldn’t find a suitable birthday present for her 18-year-old daughter.
Dr Hutchinson said: “We have a rich heritage of storytelling in Northern Ireland, yet the story of small business leadership remains untold.
“The study of this sector has guided my research for over 16 years and I firmly believe that the business leader’s life story exists as a powerful resource not only for leadership itself but as a role model for other businesses.”
She said the leaders of small
❝ We’ve a rich heritage of storytelling in NI, yet the story of small business leadership remains untold
businesses could become “unsung heroes” despite employing nearly half of the UK’s private sector workforce.
“My book provides a detailed examination of leadership as the X Factor of small business survival and success,” she said.
“I am most grateful to the many remarkable entrepreneurial leaders from across the north coast who have allowed me to tell their stories as a guide for others seeking to find purpose in achieving their professional and personal goals.”
Nick Craig, president of Authentic Leadership Institute at Harvard, said he had worked with business executives to help them harness their leadership purpose for the benefit of their organisations.
“Clarity of purpose, particularly in a small company, is the only way to steer towards success,” he said. “Karise’s book, with its focus on storytelling as a way to discover, reclaim and communicate personal and organisational purpose offers readers a way to mobilise excellence.
“By attending to the lessons in this book, many readers will find the pathway to growth.”
Other companies featured in the book include Articlave Day Nursery, Causeway Enterprise Agency and the environmental services specialist ATG Group. Professor Mark Durkin, executive dean of Ulster University Business School, said the author had succeeded in demonstrating academic research could help businesses in a practical way.
“Her research has also further strengthened the Business School’s relationship with Harvard Business School which is of great benefit to our students and I am delighted that Nick Craig was able to make the journey to Coleraine to further endorse his support,” he said.
Dr Hutchinson joined Ulster University in 2004 and was awarded a PhD in SME international management in 2006. She is also a member of the university’s Business Management Research Institute. Last year, she received the British Academy of Management Education Practice award for her research.