LISTEN: Former Army colonel on how the Armed Forces shaped his leadership style
As part of our content series to mark Armed Forces Week 2024, here is another chance to revisit an in-depth interview with Colonel Richard Maybery, the soon-to-be-retiring chief executive of the West Midland Reserve Forces and Cadets Association (WM RFCA).
Col Maybery joined Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce CEO Henrietta Brealey for an episode of her CEO Stories podcast ahead of Armed Forces Week in 2022.
It is available to listen to on all major podcast apps such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
A 35-year career in the army unsurprisingly had a profound impact on Col Maybery’s leadership style.
“The Armed Forces is a people business,” he says. “You learn very early on that you have to trust and get on with your people.”
After nearly four decades in the Forces, Colonel Maybery took on a leadership role of a different kind, becoming chief executive of the West Midlands Reserve Forces & Cadets Association (WMRFCA).
The organisation supports the reserve forces and cadets from the Army, Royal Navy, Royal Marines and Royal Air Force, as well as conducting engagement and advocacy to help the Armed Forces connect with the local community.
In this special episode recorded ahead of Armed Forces Day, Col Maybery tells Henrietta about the valuable lessons he learned from his early days as a teenager based at Sandhurst, right through to high-pressure roles such as leading a bomb disposal team.
Col Maybery also discusses the leaders who have inspired him, the importance of the engagement between the Reserve Forces and the business community and how the conflict in the Ukraine has demonstrated the importance of the Reserve Forces.
