From Student to Future Leader: Aaron's
Aspiring Manager, Future Leader Journey

Aaron Mackay is a Sports Business Management student at Lincoln City Foundation and the University of South Wales. He is early in his career, building his experience across different departments and working out where he wants it to go. And he has just completed the CMI Recognised Aspiring Manager, Future Leader programme with Educationwise.

That combination, academic study alongside a practical leadership qualification, tells you something about the kind of professional Aaron is becoming.

The programme is designed for individuals working within sport, health and fitness who are ready to take their first steps into management and leadership. It is pitched at a Level 3 standard and built around practical leadership development rather than formal exams or assessments. Learners work through applied leadership tasks and reflective activities that develop real skills in a real context, covering areas including time management, emotional intelligence, motivation and decision making. There are no exams, no pressure and no requirement for previous management experience.

So what did Aaron actually take from it?

His biggest takeaway was around working with and leading groups of people. As someone managing multiple placements at Lincoln City Foundation simultaneously, observing and learning from the leaders around him has become a natural part of how he develops. The programme gave him a framework for understanding what he was seeing. He noticed himself looking out for different leadership behaviours more actively than before. In his own words, it had caught his eye slightly more than it probably had before he was on the course.

The self-reflection elements of the programme were another area Aaron found particularly valuable. Going through the CMI diagnostic tool and the reflective tasks gave him a clearer picture of where he already was as a leader and where he wanted to develop further. He was honest about it. There were areas where he realised he was being too hard on himself and others where he recognised genuine room to grow. That kind of clarity is difficult to get without a structured programme that prompts you to stop and look properly.

His confidence grew throughout. Before completing the course, Aaron had reservations about leading groups and speaking in front of others. By the end, he was stepping into situations at his placement that pushed him out of his comfort zone and finding them beneficial rather than overwhelming. He described himself as a lot more confident going into a role than he would have been without the course. He was also clear that the programme had helped beyond just his career development. He noticed the impact in his university work too, with his grades improving alongside his growing confidence.

The format of the programme worked well for Aaron. The ability to revisit material before assessments, the story based courses on the platform and the scenario based assessments all stood out as things he found particularly useful. He appreciated that assessments placed him in a real life scenario rather than asking him to theorise about situations he had not yet experienced. As he put it, they were very beneficial. He also valued the flexibility of being able to work through the material at his own pace and on his own device, fitting it around his placement commitments and his dissertation.

When asked what he would say to someone considering the programme, Aaron did not hesitate. One hundred percent do it. He has already said he will recommend it to business students coming through at Lincoln City Foundation, because he found it genuinely valuable to complete alongside his studies.

The Aspiring Manager, Future Leader programme is for people who are on their way to a leadership role and want to arrive with the right foundation beneath them. Aaron is a good example of what that looks like. He is still early in his journey, by his own admission, but he is further along than he would have been without the course and significantly more confident in the direction he is heading.

If you are working in sport, health or fitness and are ready to take your first steps into management and leadership, the Aspiring Manager, Future Leader programme is available now. Flexible, CMI recognised and designed around the realities of a busy professional life.