February 25, 2004 - Common Talk Weekly

An alchemist in the lead
By Enid Chen
Photo by Yao Fan

(Photo: Mr. Kirby and his wife Charlotte attending Common Talk's English Salon)

Mr. Robert Kirby, President of Kirby Leadership, a Hong Kong based foreign training company is renowned as an alchemist — a person who turns basic metal to gold. He recently delivered a workshop at The Marco Polo, Xiamen. His mission is to bring the best out of people and unleash their potential through his training, which is a tremendously enjoyable and fulfilling job for him.

2月20日至21日,在厦门马哥孛罗东方大酒店,一名洋博士为厦门中高层管理人员进行了一场为期两天的《卓越管理及领导课程》培训。培训师罗伯特·科比博士是香港高奔培训及顾问公司的总裁,他自称为一名炼金术者,希望通过他的培训充分挖掘每一个人的潜能,展示他们最好的一面。

On February 20th and 21st, a workshop called "Lessons in Leadership" was held at The Marco Polo, Xiamen by Kirby Leadership, a Hong Kong based foreign training company which provides a training and consulting service in Greater China. Dr. Robert J. Kirby, President of Kirby Leadership delivered an intriguing and lively two days of leadership training to the participants, most of whom came from middle management ranks of star-level hotels in Xiamen.

The workshop began with larruping introductions of each participant, who share among themselves one strength and one secret, which created an immediate bond between the participants. The training was highly interactive with lectures, table discussions, activities, video-shows, presentations, case studies, role-plays and assignments, which made all the participants highly involved and motivated in his class.
Mr. Kirby, known as an enthusiastic facilitator, is extolled as an alchemist — a person who turns basic metal into gold. "I believe that every one has a seed of greatness inside them and my vision is to bring out the best in people through training, coaching and mentoring." Indeed, he is a natural coach, who can find talent in almost everybody.

Mr. Kirby has over 25 years' experience in the international hotel business in UK, Switzerland, Italy and Hong Kong. In the early 1990s' when he was the General Manager of the Crowne Plaza in Leeds, he had an opportunity to attend a Human Resource Management Program at Disney University, Florida, U.S.A. This program inspired him and educated him on how quality training can have an enormous impact on the success of an organization. After attending the program, he started to apply what he had learnt to his hotel and he started to provide constant training to his staff. The hotel made a significant improvement on guest satisfaction levels, which also resulted in winning a number of highly recognized service excellence and training awards.

In order to sharpen his training skills, he kept traveling to different countries to attend world-class training programs. He also started to read a lot of books and do research on the topics of leadership, customer service and training. The goal of starting his training company began to take root during this period.

In 1993, he went to Hong Kong and worked as a hotel manager of an international chain hotel where he continued to place a strong focus on training, customer service and leadership. In 1998, he established his training company in Hong Kong.

He became an international speaker and facilitator, who is renowned for helping people grow and unleash their potential.

"We always get excited about sharing our knowledge and experience with more and more people, from which we have gained great satisfaction. Our clients are from diverse industries, such as banks and financial companies, utilities companies, airlines and airport authorities, telecommunication companies, hospitality and tourism industry, oil and shipping companies. Up till now, we have established a steady and long-term relationship with clients." With headquarters in Hong Kong, they have already set up Macau office and Shanghai representative office. They are planning to explore more opportunities in mainland China by giving workshops throughout the country.

About a year ago when Dr. Kirby set his foot on Xiamen for the first time, he was impressed with the cozy city. Although before his visit here, he had read about the "Garden City", he was still very impressed by what he saw. "I really like the city planning of Xiamen, the clean streets, the beautiful lake, the environmental awareness of the people and the kind, helpful and friendly citizens, which have gone well beyond my expectations."

"It's amazing to find out that people here are so open-minded and keen to learn and improve." Dr. Kirby said after attending Common Talk's English Salon one Friday night. "They never feel shy or afraid to make mistakes when speaking English. They are open-minded and adaptive to changes."

"The local government here seems to have put a strong focus on promoting education and tourism for the benefit of the community and I'm optimistic about Xiamen’s future growth. I feel that I have got something to contribute to this city, by offering our service to the people and organizations to help them grow stronger and larger. "
Mr. Kirby who was here for the fifth time is planning to establish an office in Xiamen. "We are planning to set up an office here in Xiamen in the second quarter of this year, and all being well we will consider basing ourselves in Xiamen, where we believe would enjoy a good quality life."
An upcoming program will be held on May 21st to 22nd (Friday and Saturday). For further information, please contact Mr. Kirby by email admin@kirbyleadership.com, or visit the website www.kirbyleadership.com for on-line registration.

(Photo: Mr. Kirby is delivering a training workshop to the participants.)

Kirby Leadership provides services as follows:
●In-house workshops
●Public seminars
●Conference key－note speaking
●Consulting and projects
●Organizational climate survey
●Personal coaching and mentoring

Leadership program objectives:
This program is designed for middle managers with potential for senior leadership positions. It provides an holistic approach in effective management and leadership at the organizational and interpersonal level. This program provides participants with the concepts and tools they need in order to lead and manage successfully in a competitive environment.