“As a manager, I want my team to flourish”

Adam Werlinger CMgr MCMI has led organisations with one thing in common: they’ve all tried to make the world a better place. That aligns with Adam’s values. He has always been driven by making a meaningful impact. 

“I find delivering strategic impact far more fulfilling than simply chasing KPIs,” he says. 

Adam has spent much of his career in the education, arts and voluntary sectors. Since September 2024, he has been chief operating officer at Diversity Role Models, a charity that promotes acceptance of individual differences and aims to end bullying in schools. In his role, he oversees operations, finance, governance and HR. 

Incremental innovation

Diversity Role Models is all about creating safe learning environments where students can be educated without distraction or fear. Adam has streamlined administrative processes to focus resources on frontline services, scaling operations while reducing overheads.

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“I’ve led digital transformation initiatives that integrate our major platforms to create streamlined workflows and enhance operational efficiency,” he says.

While Adam is a proactive technology adopter, he tends to approach it strategically, he says. Take AI: the focus is on identifying how it can help with tedious jobs, which makes an immediate difference to the team and helps them to build confidence. 

“The phrase ‘We’ve always done it that way’ often blocks progress, which is why I champion incremental innovation that adds up over time,” says Adam. “When you look back after a year, it’s amazing to see how these small, methodical improvements have transformed our operations."

He’s also passionate about team development and empowerment. His own positive experiences with managers has helped inspire his approach. He recalls a time when a line manager asked him where he saw himself in five years’ time. He said he wanted to become a COO. His manager’s response was: “Why wait five years?” That manager then helped him to reach his goals as fast as possible.

“It was such a lovely thing, because it both told me that she believed in me and reminded me that I could do it.” 

Help to Grow

As a leader, Adam is passionate about helping people develop, working with team members to understand their career goals and helping to create practical pathways to get them there. This benefits both the staff and the needs of the organisation, says Adam. “When teams feel supported to develop, everyone wins.” 

He first encountered CMI through participating in Help to Grow, a government scheme to support business leaders delivered by the UK’s leading business schools. As an alumnus of the Help to Grow: Management Course, Adam took advantage of CMI’s offer of a heavily discounted Chartered Manager application. He soon submitted all the paperwork, and he was awarded Chartered Manager status in late 2024.