Rachel Derry’s Journey to management with the Seventh Wave Programme

OT4me founders, Louise Newton and Lizzie Huxford, made the decision to step back from daily management to focus on expanding their business. During an annual appraisal, Rachel Derry was identified as a strong candidate for the clinical lead role. This created a promising opportunity for development, supported by the York and North Yorkshire Growth Hub.

OT4me, based in York, offers occupational therapy and sensory integration services, providing independent assessments to understand sensory profiles and their impact on daily life, aiming to empower clients to overcome barriers, operate more independently, and gain confidence throughout their lives.

The promotion saw Rachel take on management responsibility. To hone her skills, Rachel enrolled in the Seventh Wave programme through LEAD, with the support from our Skills Specialist, Adrian O’Neill.

Seventh Wave, funded through LEAD, is dedicated to nurturing individual growth within management and leadership, offering ongoing support beyond the training period to ensure sustainable change within organisations.

Rachel reflected on her experience. “The Seventh Wave training has been massive for me, particularly in building my confidence,” she said. Rachel noted her main challenge before the programme was overcoming self-doubt, especially being assertive within a management role, given her naturally empathetic nature.

The programme’s monthly sessions allowed Rachel to embed new learnings and reflect on them, creating a continuous cycle of growth over six months. This meant each session built on the previous one, leading to a noticeable development in Rachel’s skills and confidence.

One activity involved exploring different personality types, which Rachel later introduced to her team during an away day. This exercise allowed her and the team to reflect on their styles of learning, and the type of individuals they are, and what drives them to do the job they do.

Rachel was part of a diverse group of professionals, including engineers, which enriched her learning experience. The training models provided practical tools to address challenges and implement effective actions within her team. One of the models Rachel connected with the most was the Monkey management model.

Rachel said: “It’s this idea that you get given a job, and you imagine it’s a monkey, and that monkey needs caring for, it needs nurturing. It needs looking after before you can release it back out into the wild again. You can only have so many monkeys on your back at one time. You then need to decide which of the monkeys to focus on, to be able to manage and release before you take on another one. And that metaphor just works.

“It’s kind of fun, but it works well for me and supports my ability to say no, and when you say no to something, you’re saying yes to something else.”

Rachel is now more confident and assured of her abilities as a manager. Her story highlights the benefits of dedicated professional development, and the growth that can be achieved with the right support.

Adrian O’Neill is dedicated to helping York and North Yorkshire businesses build a skilled and engaged workforce. He offers personalised support via email, phone, and in person, addressing needs from workforce development to recruitment and leadership and management training.