Ric Hayden, LearningCog’s Founder and Managing Director

We are delighted to be nominated and finalists at this year’s virtual Sussex business awards, being proud members of the Sussex business community it was great to receive this recognition.

Ten years ago, when I founded LearningCog, my intention was to earn a living doing what I love the most; helping people to learn more about themselves and reach their full potential through learning, training and development. I never expected that 10 years later I would have built a global business that has supported so many clients and individuals.

Setting up LearningCog I made a promise to myself to keep my passion first and foremost in everything I do. Back then I got first-hand experience of what it takes to run a business, on my own, and what happens when you challenge yourself and are pushed out of your comfort zone.

The first client I worked with saw me travelling around Asia for nine months delivering a Leadership and Management Development programme to 350 people across 9 different countries. Being out of my comfort zone was an understatement! But through the success of this initial client, we have continued as a business to build on the success of this programme.

The biggest thing I recognised from my career, and from the travelling across different cultures is that people have far more potential than they think they have. I include myself in that statement too. I recognised that I have so more in me and so much more to give. The commitment I made then is the same as the commitment I make now; support people with anything that is holding them back. Allow them to understand how they can be even greater than they already are.

From years of working with individuals and organisations my view has always been the same, people are inherently good. No one ever has the intention to be bad, or horrible. Many problems that individuals and organisations face, stem from fear which leads to a lack of trust, lack of skills and knowledge and no authenticity. Some people can come across as being arrogant, or withdrawn, or incompetent when they do not access the right skills and knowledge to be able to be their authentic self.

Insights Discovery has, and always will be, at the core of the work we do. In the fifteen years that I have been working with the internationally recognised psychometric tool, it has been amazing to see the level of change and understanding people take away. Originally, we worked with small teams and groups on various Management and Leadership programmes. Now, we keep on doing those great things and work with organisations to develop highly engaged teams that work with and support each other. Many people reading this will remember attending an Insights Discovery programme with LearningCog and the life-long learning that they took away. I often speak with people who were on workshops ten years ago who still use the Insights model in everything they do.

Looking to the future – we have exciting plans. We have recently launched a new offering Pitch Community www.pitch.community to help support sole traders, small and medium business to grow and build much needed skills to bounce back from the current pandemic.

We are designing our own Digital Learning platform. We are taking a unique approach to support learning and development for everyone.

During the last ten years we have worked with so many clients from a variety of industries. We have employed and worked with some of the most talented people in Learning and Development, many of whom have stayed in contact with us or are still working with us. We have met thousands of learners along the way, and the ongoing feedback we get has been great. I want to say a massive THANK YOU to everyone who has been involved in LearningCog’s journey for the last ten years and hope you stick around for the next ten.

Ten years ago, I would not have anticipated celebrating our anniversary and the Sussex business awards in this way. No party, no dancing, no hugs (most people know I’m a hugger). We are currently in a time where self-understanding, change, development, authenticity and agility are the key ingredients to help ourselves, our society, and organisations grow again. Now more than ever the support LearningCog offers has become so important.

Our first ten years has been an amazing rollercoaster and we look forward to working with more Sussex businesses over the next ten years.