Emma Codd (left) presents Kitty McCormick with her FL Award
We asked Kitty McCormick, Winner of the 2016 Future Leaders Award to tell us about her Future Leaders Award journey.
If you’ve been nominated and are in two minds about whether or not to complete the Application Form, we hope Kitty’s experience will encourage you to take the first step in the next stage of your career.
The seemingly simple act of being nominated for the 2016 Future Leaders Award was a big deal and that caught me by surprise. I hadn’t thought about how good I would feel to be nominated by a colleague that I look up to. Rachel Harrington is someone that I admire and to my mind she is one of the most talented women in my business. Her confidence in me and my potential had a meaningful and immediate impact.
The application process was thought provoking and the interview was arguably one of the hardest I’ve ever done. I know that many of my fellow nominees will agree! I learnt a lot about how I see myself and am able to better articulate my thoughts and feelings on leadership. I had my mettle tested and that can only be a good thing.
So what happened next? I have stood a little taller, on the inside and on the outside. I have different relationships with senior colleagues, not only in my business but in the wider organisation we are part of. I’ve been given the freedom to decide my current role by my Managing Director and his leadership team last summer. After winning the Award, they saw me in a new light and that gave me the chance to be the architect of my career. That wouldn’t have happened without the Award and without the self-confidence in the contributions I make today and will make in the future.
What I hadn’t expected was the public profile that the award has given me. It has brought invitations to speak at a wide range to events, about my career and to share what I’ve learnt so far. I’ve loved meeting so many young women and men and to help them realise that being a leader isn’t the end goal or a job title, it’s a decision we can all make each day.
