Students all over the UK are either celebrating their A level success and looking forward to a future at University with excitement or have been shocked into a “What am I going to do now?” dilemma when they didn’t make the grade.

If you or your offspring are faced with the latter it’s not the end of the world. Do not despair, some of the richest and most successful entrepreneurs in the world dropped out too! In fact, 6 out of 10 of the world’s richest people have no formal higher education qualifications, and some no qualifications at all. Great leadership skills are rarely learned at school or even university, although our training will give you some insights. Determination, hard work, enthusiasm, dedication and motivation may get you a lot further than you think.

Bill Gates – Microsoft

Co-founder of Microsoft Corporation, Bill Gates was the world richest man for thirteen consecutive years. Worth $62 billion he is still number two, second to Carlos Slim Helu. Bill dropped out of Harvard. Bill Gates says: “We were young, but we had good advice, good ideas and lots of enthusiasm.” Good ideas and enthusiasm can earn you lot more than qualifications.

Amancio Ortega Gaona - Zara

Spanish billionaire Ortega had no higher education and began working for a shirt maker at the age of 13 and continued to work in the textile industry until the early 1960s. At the age of 27, he founded his own company manufacturing fine bathrobes. Today he is worth $37.5 billion according to Forbes.

One of the most important things to us is that those who come on our training courses get the most possible out of their day/days/week with us. We feel that one of the reasons our Train the Trainer course is so popular is because people know that we train well - they trust our training – and therefore see us as the best port of call to train their own trainers.

Many growing businesses find themselves in a position where established members of staff have to train new recruits, or that cross-training becomes increasingly important. It’s often the case that the people training others have little or no guidance in how to most effectively impart their knowledge and skills to others. We wrote a blog post on Why Trained Trainers are Better at Training a while ago, which goes into this in depth, but for the moment I want to talk about barriers to learning. This is one thing that’s rarely intuitive and can cause additional time and cost to businesses whose internal training practices are not efficient.

Barriers to Learning

When training others, there are a number of factors that affect learning, beyond basic intelligence and the quality of the training given. Individual differences such as those below can make a huge difference to a training session, especially in group settings where different barriers may apply to different members of the group. If a training session is not going to plan, a trainer should consider whether any of the issues below are coming into play.

By gaining a basic understanding of common barriers to learning, a trainer will be easily able to identify the warning signs and adapt their practice accordingly.

One of the most important things to us is that those who come on our training courses get the most possible out of their day/days/week with us. We feel that one of the reasons our Train the Trainer course is so popular is because people know that we train well - they trust our training – and therefore see us as the best port of call to train their own trainers.

Many growing businesses find themselves in a position where established members of staff have to train new recruits, or that cross-training becomes increasingly important. It’s often the case that the people training others have little or no guidance in how to most effectively impart their knowledge and skills to others. We wrote a blog post on Why Trained Trainers are Better at Training a while ago, which goes into this in depth, but for the moment I want to talk about barriers to learning. This is one thing that’s rarely intuitive and can cause additional time and cost to businesses whose internal training practices are not efficient.

Barriers to Learning

When training others, there are a number of factors that affect learning, beyond basic intelligence and the quality of the training given. Individual differences such as those below can make a huge difference to a training session, especially in group settings where different barriers may apply to different members of the group. If a training session is not going to plan, a trainer should consider whether any of the issues below are coming into play.

By gaining a basic understanding of common barriers to learning, a trainer will be easily able to identify the warning signs and adapt their practice accordingly.

Managers often have the heaviest workload in the department, especially when their management responsibilities are as well as another job role. Because the demands of being a manager can ebb and flow, it's especially important for managers to be aware of how they manage their time.

In particular, those who've recently been promoted to management may find themselves struggling with their new responsibilities on top of their old job.

Of everyone in the organisation, it's most likely that a

manager finds themselves with shifting priorities and unexpected demands through the working day - dealing with issues from the team can mean other work is left to pile up.

Here are our Top Ten Time Management Tips for Managers:

1. Plan - take time to make time

Time spent planning is not time wasted at the expense of doing. A bit of time spent in understanding what needs to be done, and planning how to achieve it, will have a massive return on investment. Training and coaching staff can seem like an interruption to other work, but will pay off in the long run.

Try not to plan for every moment of your day; leave time for dealing with unexpected tasks and for adapting to interruptions and changing priorities.

Managers often have the heaviest workload in the department, especially when their management responsibilities are as well as another job role. Because the demands of being a manager can ebb and flow, it's especially important for managers to be aware of how they manage their time.

In particular, those who've recently been promoted to management may find themselves struggling with their new responsibilities on top of their old job.

Of everyone in the organisation, it's most likely that a

manager finds themselves with shifting priorities and unexpected demands through the working day - dealing with issues from the team can mean other work is left to pile up.

Here are our Top Ten Time Management Tips for Managers:

1. Plan - take time to make time

Time spent planning is not time wasted at the expense of doing. A bit of time spent in understanding what needs to be done, and planning how to achieve it, will have a massive return on investment. Training and coaching staff can seem like an interruption to other work, but will pay off in the long run.

Try not to plan for every moment of your day; leave time for dealing with unexpected tasks and for adapting to interruptions and changing priorities.

Adoption of Collaborative Software Solutions

The use of collaborative technologies is on the rise. The use of Google Docsand SharePoint is becoming more commonplace. Virtual workers and projects require efficient ways of communication and collaboration.

Automatic and central distribution and control of documents has never been easier.

Agile Project Management

As projects become increasingly complex, project managers need to be increasingly flexible. Businesses and organisations are beginning to adopt Agile Project Management practices and combining them with traditional project management. Many are using Agile to inform and develop a new set of strategies for coping with projects, adapting methods for team collaboration and communication.

Agile Project Management Training enables you to gain Agile Practitioner Certification, enabling you to successfully manage Agile projects.