16th February 2021
Stories from an Inspiring Leader – Kelly Allison
Kelly Allison, CEO, KVA
Kelly is not a CEO that sits locked away in an office. She is always around, always at the end of the phone, always keeping the team in the loop with business updates. She has crafted a leader-centric, flat hierarchy for KVA, where everyone’s voice is heard and people are valued for who they are as individuals.
Kelly treats us all as her friends which helps open and honest communication and gets the best out of the team. This has been more important than ever in 2020 and has ensured that as KVA have rapidly grown, we’ve become a stronger, more tight-knit team.
Kelly is the most courageous person I know! She always puts her team first. For example in the last 12 months we have said goodbye to a +£1m client who was so misaligned to our core values and causing damage to our teams’ mental health on a daily basis. This decision was a challenge, but one Kelly embraced to ensure a positive impact on the team. The decision made a huge difference to the team morale, literally overnight and she will say herself that it was the best decision she has made.
I have never enjoyed my job as much as I do at KVA. Kelly and the senior team support us all on a personal and professional level, enabling us to grow and develop whatever the skills are that we want to pursue. Kelly has instilled confidence in me and over the last 2 years I feel like I have grown a lot and am looking forward to the next 5 years at KVA.
Endorsement
“Since joining KVA, Kelly has been such an inspiration. She is courageous and driven, without being ruthless and is calculated with the risks she takes. We work as a team and all want the business to succeed but Kelly will not put that success at the cost of her employee’s health and wellness. She is kind and caring and is always giving back to us – if something happens in her personal life she wants to find a way for us to have the same experience. At KVA we are not just colleagues, we are like a family, and that is down to how open Kelly is”
About Inspiring Leaders
The extract above is taken from the Inspiring Leaders 2020 initiative which recognised exceptional leaders during the Covid-19 pandemic. You can download the full eBook with all the leader stories here.
Inspiring Leaders was created as a vehicle to recognize people who stepped up to help individuals, teams and organizations navigate personal and business challenges, and make a contribution to make their business, their community and the world a better place.
Due to the success of IL 2020, we have brought it back in 2021. We are now open for nominations. For more information about how to enter Inspiring Leaders, dates and fees – click here.