Mary Beary is a is corporate trainer specialising in Leadership and Personal Development and is also a widely experienced business mentor and career coach. She has trained and coached hundreds of people to achieve business success and personal career goals and is the first Irish Business Coach to graduate from the European Systemic Business Academy in Austria. She has a degree in Business Management and Marketing, she is also an NLP Practitioner and has further qualifications in Career Coaching, Business Coaching, Training & PR.
Mary began her career in Marketing and Business Development roles in the hospitality and international tourism sectors before spending many years working for Sony in Europe. Her corporate experience spans Marketing and Sales, Advertising and PR, Product Management, Area Management and Business Planning roles. Since moving to Kerry, Mary has spent the past 19 years working as a Business Coach, Mentor and Trainer where she has helped hundreds of small businesses start and/or expand their reach in diverse market sectors. As a trained and experienced Career Coach, Mary works with people at all stages of their career enjoying great success in helping her clients achieve their personal career goals and ambitions.
Can leadership be taught? If so, how?
Yes, I believe leadership can be taught if the person is open to learning and genuinely wants to develop and improve their interactions with colleagues, customers and/or team members. Teaching leadership requires a guided approach involving self-reflection, a strong understanding of human behaviour and trigger points, and coaching to practice and hone new skills.
What do you think is the difference between management and leadership?
In my opinion, management’s primary concern is implementing structures and procedures to run a successful and viable business whereas leadership is focused on developing, empowering and encouraging the people working in the business to achieve the overall business goals.
The world around us is changing faster than at any time in human history and we need more leaders to emerge. How do we make this happen?
By recognising and encouraging the many places leadership qualities can emerge in young lives e.g. sports, quizzes, debating, projects, competitions. If nurtured in the early years, self-confidence and self-belief can be increased and by providing more positive opportunities for young people to experience the benefits and buzz of inspiring and leading others towards a common goal.
What is the one mistake you witness leaders making more frequently than others?
Not getting to know their team members or people as individuals and not recognising the untapped potential that lies within most people. Liberating people with trust produces amazing results!
What advice would you give to someone dealing with a high-pressure situation in their life or work?
Try to eliminate the emotions and focus only on the facts. In times of pressure focus first on what absolutely must be done, and then re-focus and decide what is the next most important thing to be dealt with.
What are a few resources (books, blogs, podcasts, courses etc) you would recommend to someone looking to gain insight into becoming a better leader?
As a trainer and coach, I regularly recommend short chapters from the Harvard Business Review Guides as they cleverly illustrate key learning points in a quick and easy-to-digest format. I am also an avid Podcast fan; I listen to a very wide range of broadcasts and I find inspiring snippets and stories from other people’s career and business lives which, when re-told, often act as reassurance and motivation for others to practice on their leadership paths.
