"Incisive Leadership & Compelling Communication"
Welcome
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Measured, proportionate and balanced Leadership with highly effective Communication are core ingredients to the success of any organisation
Maela's purpose is to enhance your approach to leadership & communication and create and environments where your people have the ability to develop and thrive for mutual benefit
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Our goal is to facilitate operational excellence through people who will be trained, coached and / or mentored to build and nurture highly productive professional relationships, lead teams and tackle any challenge
We will empower your talented people to synergise with mutual trust; encouraging commitment from all parties to achieve defined, shared goals with a common set of values at their core
About Us
Founded in 2021 by our principle consultant, speaker and trainer, Ross McDermott; Maela was formed in response to demand from existing partners, colleagues and organisations with which Ross worked previously
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The mission is to collaborate with organisations in order to enhance communication awareness, skills and abilities of their people - facilitating a highly effective approach to:
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Leadership and Teamwork through periods of destructive conflict
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High pressure / high stakes discussion or negotiation
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Difficult conversations
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Team performance under pressure
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All with a view to enhance Team and Individual performance relating to communication and leadership skills
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This is achieved through the design and delivery of bespoke services, in the form of:
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Training
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Group Consultation / Facilitation
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Mediation
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Coaching / Mentoring
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Our focus is always placed on making people and teams more aware of their impact, more collaborative and better partners; while supporting individuals in their own developmental journey
Ross McDermott
A 14 year career in UK policing from grass-roots through to senior ranks, endowed Ross with extensive operational experience in the following fields:
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Hostage & Crisis Negotiation and the design & delivery of training for these disciplines both Nationally and Internationally
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Specialist Operations, including Counter Terrorism Security Co-ordination
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Leading & managing complex investigations, and large teams predominantly focussed on tackling the most serious offences, affecting the most vulnerable in society
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Critical incident command & management, including joint protocols across public and private sector organisations; both operationally and as a trainer with statutory partners
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This unique blend and depth of operational competence led to a move to the private sector in January 2017, where Ross has enjoyed success in managing core elements of risk, resilience, customer service & focus as well as holistic corporate security and safety measures
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He is a qualified trainer and continues to design and deliver services for a diverse portfolio of organisations. Ross works hard to partner closely for long-term relationships, focussed on operational excellence and continuous improvement
Consultancy
The consultancy element of our work is focussed on fact finding and will start with clarification and recording of the following points:
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The issue or challenge you face and 'the why'
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The desired outcome(s) you wish to achieve
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How we will work together to achieve the outcome(s)
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The focus is then placed on preparedness at strategic, tactical and operational levels, with particular emphasis upon communication in the management of:
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Leadership and Teamwork through periods of destructive conflict
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High pressure / high stakes discussion or negotiation
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Difficult conversations
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Team performance under pressure
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All with a view to enhance Team and Individual performance relating to communication and leadership skills
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This is a bespoke service and will set out clear accountability, responsibilities and ownership of actions and will support delivery throughout
Such work often leads to further investment in training and exercising​ or individual coaching / mentoring support: the heart of our services
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Training & Exercising
Our training and exercising is tailored to the needs of the organisation, team or individual(s) and focusses on:
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Communication skills, models, tools and processes
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Leadership & Decision making methodologies and structures
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Specific delivery can be designed for teams or their individual members, and may target their roles and responsibilities in any given scenario, from the strategic to the operational 'front-line'
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All materials and training contents have their foundations in academic research, live case reviews and operational learning from Ross' roles as an incident commander, hostage & crisis negotiator and senior investigator, as well as his experience in the private sector within corporate risk & resilience, mediation and coaching / mentoring
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The training is always immersive, with both theory and practice interwoven. This is to ensure that skills are learned, understood and then embedded through simulation and practice, to appeal to all learning styles
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The training events are designed to be testing yet enlightening and ultimately hugely rewarding. They offer development to the individual and push the organisation to continually reflect and improve
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We offer classroom, desktop and live-play options for every training iteration
Speaking
Ross is an experienced public speaker and an inspirational communicator
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He has presented at a variety of events; talking about different aspects of his varied career. An area that often draws significant interest is his work within Hostage & Crisis Negotiation along with his transition, use and development of these skills within the private sector and in particular within global organisations
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The subjects of his training, skills and deployment of them in operational settings are in demand: They are tangible, and depict transferrable elements; applicable to a variety of situations in business, sport and everyday life
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The topic and focus of the delivery can be designed to meet the needs of any audience
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With a bias towards critical communication and making vital decisions under pressure as core themes; the elements of teamwork, structure and preparation are central throughout. These also play a significant part in Ross' approach to his Training and Consultancy work
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All these strands are reflected within his public speaking, giving broad appeal with a compelling and motivational edge