How I grew from a “doer” to a leader of people

Just a few minutes into a conversation with Dahlia Stroud CMgr MCMI, and you’ll learn her favourite word: challenge. Whether discussing her leadership style or her own personal development, she’s found that challenging herself and others is the key to continuous improvement.

A 15-year career in FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) brought her management and leadership roles with Nestlé, Asda and Co-op, but a constant desire to keep challenging herself prompted her, most recently, to complete an MBA at Manchester Metropolitan University. “I’ve always had an appetite to expand my knowledge and progress my development, so when the opportunity arose to do an MBA with Asda via the Apprenticeship Levy, I jumped at it,” she says.

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The MBA programme began in 2020. Covid meant that after some initial in-person teaching and outdoor team-building exercises, most of the course was delivered online. “It was a very different learning experience, as most of us were learning to learn online for the first time. But it was a great opportunity for me to challenge my thinking, who I am as a manager, how I lead and to grow my self-awareness as well as awareness of how others lead.”