12 CEO MONTHLY / CHAIRPERSON AWARDS 2021 , Aug21797 Business & Executive Coaching Chairman of the Year (Yorkshire): Kevin Kerley Bethebestyoucanbe Ltd was founded by Kevin Kerley, who was recently recognised within the Chairperson Awards 2021. BTBYCB specialises in coaching andmentoring CEO’s and business leaders through individualisedmeetings, senior team, and board strategy retreats that help accelerate their personal and business growth. Kevin Kerley, the founder of Bethebestyoucanbe Ltd, has 16 years of experience working at an executive level within the hospitality industry and 21 years of entrepreneurial experience founding and growing a multimillion-pound facilities company that he exited through sale in 2019. Kevin explains, “Entrepreneur led businesses are a speciality ranging from £2m to £280m including PLC`s, working on three-to-five-year strategy, scale-up, team building, exit strategy, succession planning, personal development and inner work.” As Kevin moved through promotion to new businesses and roles every two years during his corporate career, he gained valuable experience regarding a wide range of business topics and acquired strong financial acumen. Founding his own business, Kevin enjoyed the rapid growth that eventually led to employing over 500 staff. He was the architect of the unique quality control systems, management structure and exit strategy in place as CEO and stepped up to company chairman. Ten years ago, Kevin became Chairman of the Academy for Chief Executives before founding BTBYCB 4 years ago where he ran two peer-to-peer groups of CEOs and business leaders and started coaching and mentoring business leaders. Trained as a Master NLP business practitioner, Kevin is consistently embarking on personal development and working with a range of mentors to increase his skill set, self- awareness, and perspectives. Kevin states, “The coaching success is largely down to the chemistry between the coach and the coachee. Once an enquiry is received, an initial complimentary one-to-one is set up. Thus, establishing the outcomes that the client is looking for and allows the parties to discuss if the chemistry and fit are right.” Once the terms, chemistry and fit are agreed upon, the coaching process will begin monthly for as long as there is a requirement, ranging anywhere between 12 months to 3 years and beyond. Regarding his leadership approach, Kevin explains, “I am a firm believer of constant positive reinforcement. I encourage team members to step outside their comfort zone, offering motivation, empowerment and regular reviews of improvement and the learning taken along the way. Moreover, team members are boosted to set goals by visualising techniques to focus the mind and exceed targets.” Overall, the coaching industry has transformed because of Covid-19 and with the popularity of Zoom, Teams, Skype, and other platforms, much of the coaching has moved online. Kevin explains, “This has enabled worldwide coaching, increasing the geographical area that you can operate in, which has resulted in new clients from as far afield as Canada.” However, for Kevin, the biggest challenge faced while running BTBYCB has been the 2008 recession and its economic downturn. Kevin states, “Managing a company and continuing the scale- up objectives and ensuring security for all employees and successfully managing not to have to make redundancies was difficult, hugely challenging but ultimately very satisfying.” With Kevin living a two-centred life with a second home in Spain, he has begun planning leadership summits twice a year in Spain, starting in May 2022. These will be run in collaboration with expert leaders over two days. Being in the fortunate position of having enjoyed an interesting and fulfilled career to date, Kevin wishes to continue to be of service to CEO`s and business leaders through coaching and non-executive roles. Kevin explains, “Helping a business to thrive and leaders to develop is hugely satisfying and personally rewarding.” Furthermore, Kevin is also exploring working with the homeless alongside a local organisation specialising in taking people with multi-complex needs off the streets and re-integrating them into communities. For Kevin and his team members at BTBYCB, the philosophy is simple, “Great leaders make other great leaders and empower people to achieve greatness beyond their beliefs. The key to success is a lifelong investment in the personal development of self and others.” All of which can be taught, discussed, and achieved by choosing BTBYCB and its services. Company Name: Bethebestyoucanbe Ltd Contact Name: Kevin Kerley Web: www.bethebestyoucanbe.co Email:
[email protected] LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kevinkerley