Iwan Jones,
Legal Means Team Manager
“What was significant was how everything linked together so clearly from the centre and out.”
I’m not the most artistic person, so when faced with the task of creating a Personal Leadership Compass, I initially felt out of my depth. The idea of having to visually represent something so personal and abstract was intimidating—and truthfully, I struggled to even picture what the end result might look like. It took me three attempts before I landed on a version, I felt truly captured what I wanted to say.
But something shifted once I began the process. With each draft, it became easier and clearer. What started as a daunting creative challenge turned into a powerful act of self-reflection. Slowly, a structure emerged, from the centre outwards, that connected everything: my core values, leadership traits, and personal drivers. While all of this had been in my head through personal reflection and the leadership programme itself, I had never laid it out in such a visible, tangible way.
Creating the Leadership Compass helped me connect the dots. By starting with what matters most, my family, my values, I could begin mapping out the traits I want to lead with across four distinct compass points. Giving each quadrant a single, meaningful word brought emotional clarity and focus, while linking those values to specific behaviours gave it practical weight.
The real value of the exercise was in uncovering just how multi-layered leadership really is. It showed me that leading well isn’t just about strategy or decision-making, it’s about aligning who you are with how you lead. The process gave structure to my thoughts, highlighted connections I hadn’t seen before, and deepened my sense of authenticity and purpose.
In the end, what seemed like an artistic hurdle became a reflective breakthrough. And I walked away not just with a drawing but with a clearer sense of direction.
