2017 FL Award Finalists Announced

by

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

 

2017 FL Award Winner Announced

by

Dr Jane Cunningham

Leadership Fellow/Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Specialty Registrar, Health Education England

Dan Howlett, HSBC presents Dr Jane Cunningham with the 2017 Future Leaders Award Trophy

In selecting the 2017 Future Leaders Award Winner, the Main Judging Panel agreed that Dr Jane Cunningham clearly demonstrated her achievements to date and her leadership potential.

In particular they were impressed by her clarity of vision, intelligence, boldness and balance.

The Panel’s Chairman, Gwen Rhys, Founder & CEO of Women in the City said:

During her interview, Jane displayed a great sense of humanity and it was clear she has the ability to bring others with her. All the Judges agreed that the external validation offered by winning the Future Leaders Award would undoubtedly give Jane a personal boost and were confident that she would both gain from and give a great deal to the other participants on the ICAEW’s Women in Leadership programme.

Dr Cunningham’s nominator, Dr Katie Wallace, Clinical Oncology SpR, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals,  said:

Jane is fantastic. She is passionate and dedicated and delivers above and beyond the expectations because of her passion to help and enable colleagues to develop in their careers. She is a joy to work with and this drive will take her far in her future career. She has a wide range of skills which she uses to engage others and develop innovative approaches to problems which leave others perplexed. I have no doubt that she has already improved lives and will continue as she grows in influence over the coming year.

 

Luxury, style and elegance for our FL Award Winner

by

 

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.

YouTube Preview Image

 

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

Thoughtworks Group MD joins FL Award main judging panel

by

Chris Murphy, Thoughtworks

Chris Murphy

 

The final Judge to join our 2017 Main Panel is Chris Murphy, Group Managing Director for global software consultancy, ThoughtWorks, across Europe, the Middle East and South Asia.

Chris has responsibility for over a dozen ThoughtWorks offices across Turkey, India, Spain, Germany, Italy and the UK.  He works closely with leading organisations in those regions to help them obtain a sustained competitive position through the innovative application of technology.

A qualified lawyer, he is admitted to practice in Australia, England & Wales.

Read more

Stephen Ibbotson joins FL Award Adjudication Panel

by

Director of Business, ICAEW

Stephen Ibbotson, ICAEW

Stephen Ibbotson

 

Stephen is a graduate of Birmingham University and the final judge to join the 2017 Adjudication Panel.  He joins former 2014 FL Award Winner, Naomi Bowman; 2013 FL Award Finalist, Rachel Bulford and FL Award Partner Cynthia Davis. Together they will review the 20 application forms assessed by the Candidate Selection Panel in order to select the 10 short-listed candidates who will be interviewed by the Main Judging Panel.

He trained as an ICAEW Chartered Accountant with Ernst and Young in London where he worked in audit on a diverse range of companies before moving into a career in industry. First working for BTR PLC and subsequently into his first operational role at Dunlop Footwear, following BTR’s acquisition of Dunlop PLC. He then undertook roles at the Littlewoods Organisation PLC as the head of planning and profitability for the mail order business and Finance Director of the retailer Toy & Hobby Limited in Liverpool.

In his business career Stephen gained a wide range of experience in transformational initiatives including restructuring, outsourcing and major IT systems implementations.

Read more

Duran Duran fan and leadership lecturer to judge FL Award

by

Dr Terri Simpkin

Dr Terri Simpkin

 

Dr Terri Simpkin is a senior lecturer in leadership and corporate education at Anglia Ruskin University and Managing Director of Mischief Business Engineering (UK and Australia). Having worked widely with governments, industry associations and businesses, she has a long standing interest in the development of leaders for the ‘second machine age’; recognising that current managerial practices will not serve us into the future.

Her current research investigates the impact of the impostor phenomenon on the careers of women and how it may be contributing to the lack of a robust female presence at board and senior organisational levels. As a staunch advocate of technical education she is a Trustee of the Baker Dearing Trust, a Churchill Fellow and a rabid Duran Duran fan!

 

Braver, Stronger, Smarter

I now try to make executive decisions every day

by

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

Dan Howlett, HSBC, joins main FL Award Main Judging Panel

by

Dan Howlett

 

Having graduated from Exeter University with a BA (Hons) in History, Dan joined HSBC in 1990 on its investment banking programme.

After roles in sovereign risk, financial institutions, and leveraged finance, Dan was appointed as Head of Large Corporates UK in 2011, a role extended to Regional Head of Client Coverage for Europe in 2016.

Dan is responsible for delivering strategy and driving performance in UK Corporate Banking and event activity for Europe.

He leads a team of over 450 colleagues in Corporate Banking Centres across the UK, including Leveraged Finance and Corporate Real Estate. The aim is to deliver funding solutions across all sectors – both domestic and cross-border – and advisory and risk management services.

Dan is married with two children.

 

Read about the other Judges

Ann Francke, CEO, CMI
Sharron Gunn, Commercial Director, ICAEW

 

Recruitment specialist, Sarah Austin, joins Judging Panel

by

Sarah Austin

Sarah Austin is Regional Director for Page Personnel, a FTSE 250 recruitment business.

Sarah oversees two brands across London and the South specialising in HR and Business Support. Having been in the final 5 in 2015, Sarah knows what it takes to be a future leader.

A graduate of the ICAEW Women in Leadership programme Sarah has recently been promoted to her new role and is currently putting together a Seminar and Events programme for female HR professionals looking to expand their career further into Senior Leadership roles.

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

by

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

 

WIC