2017 FL Award Finalists Announced

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Future Leaders Award Finalists 2017 (Left to Right) Rebecca Mahoney, Dr Jane Cunningham, Shivani Uberoi, Dessy Ohanians, Sarah Abrahams, Melissa Davey

 

Last night Women in the City announced the 2017 Finalists at the Future Leaders Award Celebration Dinner held at Chartered Accountants’ Hall in the heart of the City of London.

The Future Leaders Award was developed to recognise achievements to date and the leadership potential of women working in larger companies in the UK.

Now in its eighth year, this Award has delivered on its original promise to ensure a pipeline of talent for the C-suite, executive committee and board.

Gwen Rhys, Founder & CEO of Women in the City said:

The standard of applications this year was extremely high and I’m grateful to all the Judges on the three selection panels for the time and dedication they’ve shown to help select our Finalists.

I have no doubt they will follow in the footsteps of previous Finalists who have all gone on to be promoted and/or secure more stretching roles within their organisations.  I shall watch their progress with interest.

The overall winner was Dr Jane Cunningham

 

Luxury, style and elegance for our FL Award Winner

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This year Maurice Sedwell, Savile Row tailors, are proudly crafting an Ultra Bespoke suit for the winner of our 8th Future Leaders Award who will commission the suit according to her own style and needs.

Style – it’s all in the detail

The foreword in luxury, style and elegance, Maurice Sedwell is one of only three tailoring houses on Savile Row to exclusively create totally bespoke suits for their customers. Unlike at most other tailoring houses, their customers don’t simply order a new suit, they commission a sartorial image through a consultation process with highly skilled tailors.

From the choice of cloth through to such details as the number and positioning of pockets and the shape of lapel, Maurice Sedwell customers have the freedom to design the suit or garment which will meet her (or his) needs entirely.

It is not just the perfect fitting of cloth to the body which is the hallmark of Maurice Sedwell – it is that indefinable element of style. Every single suit is individually designed, hand cut and hand tailored to the highest standard attainable.

Dressed to perfection

Established in 1938 and incorporated on Savile Row in 1964, its reputation for delivering quality is as solid today as it ever was. Politicians, captains of industry and international business people from all over the world make their way to Maurice Sedwell with the knowledge that they will be dressed to perfection.

But it’s not just for men

Maurice Sedwell

Maurice Sedwell has cherished its female customers for decades. In fact, over 25 years ago it caused a stir when ladies’ garments were placed onto mannequins in the windows of its Savile Row store.

Maurice Sedwell’s Master Tailor, Prof Andrew Ramroop OBE, particularly enjoys the creativity which comes with tailoring exquisite suits for women, saying:

I enjoy the flexibility to be creative and opportunities to design outfits in a vast array of colours, textures and fabrics. Women bring a sartorial freshness to the boardroom, whereas men tend to conform to a traditional image. They express their stylistic needs in a way that makes my job more desirable and encourages me to give them more than they expect from an outfit.

Long lasting, with built-in flexibility

A Maurice Sedwell suit should last at least ten years and can be adjusted to accommodate figure changes, renew linings and adjust lengths in response to fashion changes.

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To find out more about Ladies Tailoring at Maurice Sedwell visit their website and please do not hesitate to contact them with your queries.

Final Award Judges named

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The final three 2017 Future Leaders Award Candidate Selection Panel judges are Mark Husband,  Managing Director and Head of Commercial Litigation and International Arbitration, Cogence Search,  Sumita Shah, Regulatory Policy Manager, Public Sector team, ICAEW and Dara Kirton, Manager – Consulting, PWC.

 

Mark leads Cogence Search’s legal recruitment services with particular responsibility for formal lateral partner search work.

He has led successful national and international partner and team searches in all areas of dispute resolution for firms ranging from boutique litigation and/or arbitration specialists to Global UK and US Law firms.

Sumita, who is judging for the second year, is an ACA, CPFA and a Fellow of the AAT.

She has a strong background in all things public sector. She has led on key public sector initiatives both in the UK and internationally demonstrating her ability to meet the diverse challenges that working with global economies brings.

Dara is joining the panel for the first time having been a Finalist in the 2016 Future Leaders Award. A champion for diversity and inclusion her professional experience includes global centralisation and consolidation of the world’s largest manufacturers.

2014 FL Award Winner Naomi Bowman joins judging panel

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Naomi Bowman

Naomi Bowman

 

2014 FL Award Winner Naomi Bowman is the Global Chief Operating Officer for HSBC’s Legal function where she is responsible for the operational management of the function (including budgetary oversight for internal and external legal spend, operational risk management, technology, strategy and planning).

Naomi has achieved notable career success to date having worked on some of the most prominent banking administrations, integrations and mandatory regulatory changes in recent years. She began her career in the Big 4 – training as a Chartered Accountant at PwC before moving into Financial Services Advisory at PwC and latterly EY – with a specialism in operational effectiveness.

Naomi is known for her entrepreneurial and pioneering problem solving approach to complex issues. She is passionate about building high performing teams and takes time to understand how to unlock the potential of individuals.

Naomi is an advocate for Women in Leadership – having spoken at numerous events – including keynote speaker at the ICAEW’s prize giving ceremony 2015 and for Women in the City. She also recently fulfilled a secret ambition to deliver a TEDx talk entitled “Dear Accelerated Baby“.

 

 

 

 

I now try to make executive decisions every day

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Alison Hemsworth

It took the FL Award to make me realise I’m a a respected opinion leader

Alison Hemsworth, a 2016 FL Award Finalist, tells us what she learned and discovered about herself from being involved with the award process.

 

Firstly I never expected to be nominated because I didn’t consider that I had yet achieved the right credentials to be considered capable of future executive leadership. Knowing that others felt that I did have those competencies and skills was humbling and created a bit of an awakening.

Gave me more confidence

I’d done the obligatory post graduate qualifications in leadership and was proud of those achievements, not least because I was 45 when I achieved a MSc and still don’t have an undergraduate degree, but in fact being nominated for this award gave me more confidence to achieve my dreams than any qualification.

A reflective process

The application form itself forces you to be incredibly reflective and if you are nominated or decide to apply this year please make sure that you take plenty of time to complete it because the questions are far reaching and the allowed word count minimal.

One of the things I realised through this process is that I didn’t lack Board level experience. I sit on countless national programme boards and contribute towards a significant number of national decisions. It may not be ‘the’ Board but the skills I have are all transferrable.

It’s not about age, it’s about potential

Never having expected to be nominated I certainly didn’t expect to be short-listed. In a couple of weeks I’ll be 50 and for me the term ‘future leader’ conjured up a 30 something young woman but then I realised that if you took into account the 11 years I took out of the workplace to bring up my children I was probably at a similar stage in my career to younger women who haven’t had that career break.

I’d encourage all of your who might be returners to work to see this as part of your career development.

Valuable Coaching Session

One of the most valuable parts of the process for me was having the coaching session with Olivier Vidal of the Fair Hiring Project. As I live in Leeds and he is based in London that was done via Skype.

I didn’t even have a Skype account at that point but in the hour that I had with Olivier he drew a lot of information out of me that I would never have considered relevant. It was such a positive experience that I now use this technology with my mentees and that has enabled me to mentor individuals outside of where I live and work.

Job titles not a guide to achievement or potential

Another thing that I learnt is that job titles can be deceptive. I was shortlisted with women who had titles such as ‘Global Head of Sales’. In the public sector that would make you a recognised leader already never mind a future one.

And … it dawned on me …

Finally the presentation we were asked to give at the interview was the most daunting but most useful 3 minutes of my career to date.

I ran it past a colleague for an objective view and she asked me why I had failed to state in it that I was a respected opinion leader and then the penny dropped ….. That’s exactly what I am but it took the Future Leaders Award for me to realise it.

That’s changed the way I conduct myself. I now try to make what my current coach, who I met through Women in the City, describes as executive level decisions on a daily basis.

That’s in readiness for when I do have a seat around the table at ‘the’ Board.

Nominate yourself or someone else for this prestigious award

Army veteran, Kate Philp, to be Keynote Speaker at FLAward Celebration Dinner

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Kate Philp

Kate Philp

Kate is a Leadership Consultant, Coach and Keynote Speaker. Drawing on her military background as well as key lessons she has learned from dealing with a life-changing injury, Kate applies her drive and enthusiasm for personal development to help people and organisations to release their potential.

With a Masters in Classics from Oxford University, Kate has a keen intellect and natural curiosity that help clients to clarify challenges as well as provide collaborative solutions.

Front line army service in Iraq and Afghanistan have given Kate valuable experience in leading change, providing solutions under pressure and managing challenging relationships.

Rational and collected, Kate loves making sense of chaos and passionately believes in the importance of becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable. An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) put an end to her army tour of Afghanistan and Kate’s injuries resulted in her electing to have her leg amputated below the knee, becoming the first British female to lose a limb in combat. As a focus for her rehab, Kate trekked to the South Pole as part of an expedition organised by Walking With The Wounded. This earned her the honour of being shortlisted in the Women Of The Year awards in 2014.

Kate is a trusting and trusted professional who drives for results whilst bringing
out the best in those around her, applying the same mentality that has seen her
achieve significant professional and personal success to elicit the true potential
from others. Balancing an eye for detail with the big picture, and a ready ability
to switch focus between people and task, Kate is an energetic lady who thrives
on challenges, seeing them as opportunities for progress.

At ease with working at multiple levels, Kate has experience in a variety of
sectors including banking, finance, insurance, advertising, communications,
manufacturing, healthcare, education and scientific research and development.
Kate is also honoured to be an Ambassador for ABF, The Soldiers Charity, an advisor to Anascena and a Trustee of The Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre.

Connect with Kate:

EMAIL
TWITTER
LINKEDIN

 

Two 2016 Finalists to Judge 2017 Candidates

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We’re pleased to announce that Alison Hemsworth and Tracy Waind, both Finalists for the 2016 Future Leaders Award have agreed to join Jane Galvin and Vinay Kapoor as Candidate Selection Panel Judges for the 2017 Awards.

The Candidate Selection Panel Judges assess the Application Forms submitted by the Award Candidates.

Each Application form is read by three different Judges and from their assessment 20 Candidates are selected to go forward to the Adjudication Panel which meets in person on 10 May to discuss each Application Form.

The Adjudication Panel then short-lists a maximum of 10 candidates who will be  interviewed in person by the Main Judging Panel on Friday 26 May.

 

 

Ann Francke, CEO, CMI joins Main Judging Panel

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Ann Francke, CEO, CMI

We’re delighted that Ann Francke, CEO of Chartered Management Institute (CMI) has agreed to  join the Main Judging Panel for the 2017 Future Leaders Award.

She’ll join Sharron Gunn, Commercial Director, ICAEW and Daniel Howlett, Head of Large Corporates UK and Regional Client Coverage Europe.

The Main Judging Panel will interview each of the 10 short-listed candidates who will already have gone through a rigorous 2-stage judging process involving the Candidate Selection Panel and the Adjudication Panel.

About Ann Francke

Ann Francke, Winner of the Louis Armstrong Award for outstanding leadership of a UK professional body 2016 and Author of: Financial Times Guide to Management: How to Make a Difference and Get Results.

Ann is a transformational leader with vision, pace and proven ability to deliver profitable growth and build organisational capability. At CMI, she uses her experience in leading organisations to promote best practices in management and leadership, and improve management standards across the UK and beyond. Ann has been named in the top 100 women to watch in the 2015 Female FTSE report from Cranfield and is an expert on current challenges facing women in the workplace.

Ann is Strategic Advisor at Tongal and a Non-Exec at Grant Thornton International. She is also a member of the CRUK Women of Influence Board, WACL, MGGB and an Advisory Board member of Lancaster Management, Nottingham Trent and the Open University Business Schools. Ann speaks frequently at conferences and in the media on all aspects of management best practice.

Prior to CMI Ann was Global General Manager at the British Standards Institution, held executive board positions at Boots and Yell and was European Vice President at Mars. Ann began her career at P&G and managed a variety of international brands including Pampers, Always and Olay before rising to global general manager.

Ann holds a BA with Distinction from Stanford, an MBA/MS from Columbia; Honorary Doctorates in Business Administration from UWE and Nottingham Trent Universities and a Doctor of the University from Oxford Brookes.

Ann and her husband live in West London; she has one daughter.

 

 

ICAEW offers Prize for 2017 FL Award Winner

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ICAEW Women in Leadership Programme (WIL)

Research shows that organisations with women in leadership roles perform better against competition.

Leadership is an internal experience for women and being able to talk about challenges and successes in peer network groups allow women to optimise themselves as leaders.

WIL provides a unique platform for current and future female leaders to share and learn from each other, and also gain external perspective from mentors or coaches. Carefully designed to support you in achieving your career goals, WIL is suitable for women working in any function or sector, whether you are aiming for senior leadership, partner or board-level positions.

The ICAEW is passionate about bridging the gender inequality in leadership roles and understand that the challenges faced by female leaders are different from their male counterparts.

Peer networks

Peer networks are the secret to women achieving their career goals, gaining access and closing the gender equity gap for themselves and each other. The WIL programme offers each delegate four one-to one 90 minute coaching or mentoring sessions with experienced industry leaders selected by ICAEW, over a period of six months.

Some of the mentors are:

  • Moira Siddons – NED and Audit Chair of MGM Insurance
  • Gill Avery – Change consultant, coach, and mentor
  • Mike Bishop – Regional Chair of the EMEA region for Nexia International
  • Christine Champion – Strategic Leadership specialist
  • Carla Stent – NED and Trustee of Christian Aid (a Women in the City, Woman of Acheivement Category Award Winner)
  • Caroline Hudson – UK/ROI Finance Director at Specsavers
  • Jan Babiak – Royal Mail board member

WIL isn’t restricted to ICAEW members  or, for that matter, women working in financial services.

This is a highly prestigious programme and is worth around £10k.

Click logo to read more.

Read about WIL programme

 

Women in Leadership Publication wants to publish your experiences

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We’re delighted to welcome the Women in Leadership publication as one of our 2017 Future Leaders Award Partners.

Launched by Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, The Women in Leadership publication delivers exclusive and tailored content from trailblazing women from around the world. Its content consistently gratifies the requirements and mirrors the behaviours of the highly driven, ambitious and connected woman.
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The publication offers leading editorial focused around women’s interests.  It inspires, advises and encourages women to succeed in both life and work.

As part of its commitment to the Future Leaders Award, The Women in Ledership publication will feature each of our Award Finalists.

In the meanwhile, if you have an inspirational personal experience story that you’d like featured in an upcoming issue, please complete the form below.

(If you cannot see the submit button please click HERE)

Fill out my online form.

 

 

WIC