WHY HONESTY IS

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QUALITY OF A LEADER

News from everywoman and our partners, coupled with the latest thinking from the world

of leadership and diversity.

WHAT'S NEW AT

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REWARD DRIVES

AMBITION ON THE

EVERYWOMANNETWORK

EVERYWOMANCLUB

MEMBERS PAVING THE

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'WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP'

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06

Motivating, inspiring, empowering,fun, thought-provoking,informative and punchy!

Welcome to UPDATE, here’s a quick round up of the key happenings at everywoman.

In March, 600 women from around the globe came together at the inaugural ‘everywoman Forum 2015: Advancing Women in Technology’. 'Motivating, inspiring, empowering, fun, thought-provoking, informative, punchy, energising and thoroughly enjoyable' are just a few words used to describe the day.

And the great news — many said it opened their eyes to possibility, that it would help them meet their goals and that they felt more confident and capable. A big thank you to EMC, Salesforce and all the other partners that made this possible. You can find out more about this exciting programme at www.everywoman.com/forum.

The very same evening we were delighted to unveil ten amazing role models at the FDM everywoman in Technology Awards, including rising stars and leaders. The highlight of the evening was when Sheila

Flavell, COO of FDM presented the coveted ‘Woman of the Year Award’ to Lt Cdr Roxane Heaton RN of the Royal Navy. Find out more about the winners at www.everywoman.com/techwinners.

So far this month the spotlight has been on nominations. The NatWest everywoman Awards programme opened with a series of features in the Daily Mail and this was followed by a glittering reception at the House of Lords to celebrate the launch of the Specsavers everywoman in Retail Ambassadors programme. If you know amazing entrepreneurs or women in retail, please do nominate at www.everywoman.com/awards

We’d like to extend a very warm welcome to our new corporate partners: E.ON, Npower, SSE and Virgin Media.

We hope you enjoy this month’s edition of UPDATE.

Maxine Benson MBEFounder everywoman

Karen Gill MBEFounder everywoman Page 1

During our recent risk taking webinar held by Sally Kettle, a record-breaking ocean rower and everywoman Expert, we polled our members on what sparks their ambition and how their desire impacts their risk-taking.

53% are driven by reward, and are most willing to take risks if they think it will earn them greater recognition amongst their colleagues, a pay rise or benefit their career in some way.

A quarter are compelled to take action because of ‘sensation’, and will seek pleasure enhancing experiences above anything else. These individuals, in particular, will make efforts to spice up their work routine and can’t stand the monotony of repetitive tasks; while 22% are motivated by change, and thrive in unpredictable work environments.

Why does it matter? When you understand your colleague’s desires, you can implement rewards that encourage determination: while one colleague may be driven by the prospect of a pay rise, another may prefer their role to reflect their needs for a fast-paced and challenging environment.

You can listen back to the ‘risk taking – building self-confidence & competence’ webinar on the everywomanNetwork. Log in and visit www.everywoman.com/webinars

drives ambitionReward

In every edition of UPDATE we give you a snapshot into what our everywomanNetwork members are thinking. This month we reveal what motivates them.

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Melanie Eusebe and Sophie Chandauka

pave the wayfor workplace

diversity

in

CLUB

SPOTLIGHT ON

Now has never been a better time to spearhead workplace equality. Report after report reveals

an imbalance of men and women at the top and the importance of gender balanced teams: there are more men called John than women of any name leading UK FTSE 100 companiesі, organisations with gender-diverse teams show

an increase in profitabilityіі, and the gender pay gap is now 19.1%ііі.

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Findings like this have propagated a number of initiatives such as the Think Act Report by the Government Equalities Office – which we’re proud to support – and the 30% Club founded by Helena Morrissey CBE. It’s clear to see that the gender debate has become commonplace, as more companies are making commitments to create gender-balanced organisations.

But parity extends beyond gender equality; ethnic minorities are increasingly becoming a target of discussion. In the latest report Why Diversity Matters by research company McKinsey, they discovered that: “companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35% more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians.” So, like gender equality, ethnic diversity makes commercial as well as moral sense.

The report outlines: “Diversity matters because we increasingly live in a global world that has become deeply interconnected. It should come as no surprise that more diverse companies and institutions are achieving better performance. Most organisations, including McKinsey, have work to do in taking full advantage of the opportunity

that a more diverse leadership team represents, and, in particular, more work to do on the talent pipeline: attracting, developing, mentoring, sponsoring, and retaining the next generations of global leaders at all levels of the organisation.”

By founding the Black British Business Awards (BBBAwards), everywomanClub members, Melanie Eusebe and Sophie Chandauka, areuncovering role models to encourage black and ethnic minority Britons to join the upper echelons of business – two thirds of FTSE 100 companies in the UK have no full-time minority executives at board levelіv.

And in recent years the number of black leaders has regressed. For Sophie, the Head of Group Treasury (Legal) for Virgin Money Group, this reveals the necessity of the awards programme: “It is so important to Great Britain because the statistics are thought-provoking. Between 2007 and 2012, the number of black British people in top management positions decreased by a huge 42%.”

Melanie, founder of the Fresh Ideas Company and an Adjunct Professor at Hult International Business School adds: “I started these Awards to showcase the contribution made to the British economy by black

business people, and with the tremendous support we have received from our sponsors, judges, partners, community and government, we now have a sold-out ceremony that is raising awareness, changing mindsets, and inspiring the next generation of business leaders.”

And she’s right, support for the Awards has spread far and wide: EY is the key partner and endorsements have been rife, gaining praise from the likes of Karen Blackett OBE, CEO of MediaCom; Paul Reed CEO of Integrated Supply & Trading, BP; former apprentice winner, Tim Campbell MBE Head of Client Services, Emerging Talent at Alexander Mann Solutions and the Prime Minister.

As a supporting partner of the BBBAwards, everywoman is delighted to join Melanie and Sophie in celebrating and promoting diversity in the workplace.

To find out more about this year’s Black British Business Awards on Tuesday 20 October 2015 go to www.thebbbawards.com

іwww.theguardian.com | ііWhy Diversity Matters, McKinsey & Company, February 2015іііAnnual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Office for National Statistics, November 2014 | іvFTSE 100 Leadership 10,000 report, Green Park, February 2014

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Hazard a guess at the most essential trait of a leader, as uncovered by a recent survey of employeesі: good in a crisis; charismatic; inspirational? What we want, in fact, from our leaders is the good old-fashioned virtue of honesty, a facet of moral character defined by leadership experts Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner as one that “connotes positive and virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness, and straightforwardness, along with the absence of lying, cheating, or theft”.іі

IS YOUR LEADERTELLING THE WHOLE TRUTH, NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH?

Page 5

Honesty was considered an ‘absolutely essential’ quality of a leader by 84% of respondents – putting it ahead of intelligence, decisiveness, organisational skills, compassion, innovation and ambition. And where honesty is concerned, women appear to have the advantage – while 67% of adults saw this characteristic as one displayed equally in men and women, 31% said female executives bring more ethics to their

positions (only 3% thought the same of males).

“It’s only natural that people would want to work under leaders who are open about what the company is doing [and] where it’s heading in the future,” writes Dan Schawbel in Forbesііі. But for this essentially human trait to outstrip the more popular leadership qualities on our wish lists – is there something bigger going on? John Kotter, Professor of Leadership at Harvard Business School, believes so: “We want the truth from our leaders. But we have become cynics, accustomed to twisted messages from politicians and company

marketing communications so wordsmithed that they lack meaning.”іv

In the post Enron era, the general public are more clued up than ever about the dirty dealings that can go on in the corporations we work with and buy from. “[We know that] corruption distorts markets, creates unfair competition and hurts wider society,” says Rachel Davies, Senior Advocacy Manager at Transparency International UK.

After all, we live in a world where nearly half of workers across Europe think bribery and corruption are acceptable ways to survive an economic

downturnv; where 40% of board members admit that numbers have been manipulated by their companiesvі; and where each year an estimated £73 billion is lost to corruption and fraud in the UK alonevіі. Almost one third of businesses have experienced at least one case of fraud – in the public sector, 67% of it being committed by employeesvііі.

“There is a sense of psychological impact – as well as the more obvious material damage – when companies act in a corrupt way,” says Transparency International UK’s Rachel Davies. “Dishonest practices damage the brand, [and the] trust between

companies and customers, employers and employees.”

The effects of corporate dishonesty impact lives in more personal ways still: 64 million people were pushed into poverty by the economic crisis, caused in part by lax regulation and lack of financial transparencyіx. Our craving for honest leaders is a sign of the times, perhaps not just because of these singularly depressing statistics, but because of a darker, more internal factor: we know human beings are, simply put, hardwired to lie and cheat in certain situations. “It’s just come to my attention that the person

JOHN KOTTER, PROFESSOR OF LEADERSHIP ATHARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL

“We want the truth from our leaders.But we have become cynics, accustomed to twisted messages from politicians and company marketing communications so

wordsmithed that they lack meaning.”

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to your right is a liar. Also, the person to your left is a liar. Also the person sitting in your very seat is a liar. We’re all liars,” so began Pamela Meyer’s seminal TED talk on lie spottingx.

The relationship between our ability to lie and economic crisis is explored by author Dan Ariely. “In a world where encounters with dishonesty are frequent, it’s important to know if exposure to other people’s unethical behaviour can increase or

decrease an individual’s dishonesty,” he writes in The effect of one bad apple on the barrelxі.

In Our Buggy Moral Codexіі he relays his experiments into cheating. Students will steal Coca-Cola from a communal fridge but not dollar bills, pencils from the office but not ten cents from petty cash. They won’t follow suit when a plant wearing their house colours appears to cheat in an exam, but they’ll consider it when that same plant does so in a competing college’s clothing. There’s a groupthink mentality at play: “[People who cheat] are insensitive to economic forces. So what happens in a situation

where you pay people a lot of money to see reality in a slightly distorted way? What happens when you remove things from money – call them stock options, mortgages, derivatives, securities? Its many steps removed from money for a much longer time. All of those forces work in a very bad way in the stock market.”

Are we all destined to take the wrong path in the right group circumstances? Absolutely not. Take Peter Eigen, former Director of the World Bank in Nairobi. On discovering that “grand, systematic corruption was undermining everything we were trying to do”, he set about addressing

the issue, only to receive a memo warning him to stop meddling. He left and founded the Advisory Council of Transparency International.

And there are leaders who foster cultures of honesty and transparency; deriding the ‘yes people’; rewarding those brave enough to speak out; encouraging sharing; warring against secrecy and groupthink; and willingly admitting their own failings. Barrack Obama became the poster boy for honest leadership when he confessed in his first month of presidency that he’d ‘screwed up’ by appointing tax-evading top officials.

Organisations like Whole Foods set new standards in transparency, allowing employees to look up salary and bonus data.

The swarm of leaders taking to online networks has given rise to the term ‘The Social CEO’. The executives they lead perceive in them openness, communication skills and inspirational abilities up to 17% more than they do their digitally disengaged counterpartsxііі.

Rand Fishkin of SEOmoz published his own performance review online; Tony Hsieh shared his emails to the facilities management team at Zappos on Twitter; Arianna Huffington is on record saying: “We need to

PAMELA MEYER “It’s just come to my attention that the person to your right is a liar. Also, the person to your left is a liar. Also the person sitting in your very seat is a liar. We’re all liars,”

Page 7

accept that we won’t always make the right decisions; that we’ll screw up royally sometimes.”

“Such practices as open-door policies, ombudsmen, protection for whistle-blowers, and internal blogs that give voice to those at

the bottom of the hierarchy can help [counteract the problems created by dishonesty in the corporate world].” writes James O’Toole in A culture of candorxіv.

“It is vital to set a strong tone from the top –

leadership by example, and ensuring ethical values are well communicated throughout the organisation,” says Rachel Davies. “But promoting values alone is not enough – staff must also be provided with the tools to implement them. Training at all

іwww.pewsocialtrends.orgііThe Leadership Challenge (John Wiley & Sons: 1987)іііwww.forbes.com

levels, including senior management, is important to ensure that honest values are taken on throughout the organisation.

This training should ensure it provides staff with the tools to understand what problems can arise and

how to deal with them. Training that demonstrates how to navigate challenging scenarios is essential to equip staff to do business ethically and well.”

“It is vital to set a strongtone from the top”

іvwww.hbr.orgvwww.ey.com vіIbidvііwww.gov.uk

vіііwww.pwc.comіxwww.siteresources.worldbank.org xwww.ted.com xіwww.people.duke.edu

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xііwww.ted.com xіііwww.webershandwick.com xіvwww.hbr.org

‘WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP’ PROGRAMMES why wouldn’t an organisation have one?

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To quota or not to quota? The debate around compulsory targets for women on boards has been one of the most hotly contested of the millennium, with everyone from tabloid newspapers to the Harvard Business Review weighing in with an opinion.

Re-fuelled by the March 2015 Lord Davis review into female representation on British boards (despite doubling in four years, the figure fell 1.5% short of target, or, to put in more concrete terms, 17 women away from meeting the 25% goal), the debate is now focusing less on the ‘what’ of gender balance on boards, and more on the ‘how’.

Less emphasis then on how women already knocking on the boardroom door can smash those glass ceilings; more “highlight[ing] the challenge that most women face in climbing the glass slope to reach senior level,” says a CIPD report published in February 2015і. “Female progression to top roles is not sustainable unless organisations provide a strong and sustainable framework to recruit and develop women at every stage of their career,” concludes Gender Diversity In The Boardroom.

Such ‘strong and sustainable frameworks’ have taken shape behind the boardroom doors of

everywoman’s corporate partners. At Telefonica, O2’s HR Director Ann Pickering is in the process of launching the mobile giant’s latest iteration of the Women In Leadership Programme (WILP). It will reach women across the organisation’s 41% female workforce (28% of whom aspire to the position of CEO) - from entry-level right through to leadership roles.

“I’ve been lucky enough to spend my career working for organisations who value their female talent, sending me on development and emerging leader programmes, and providing strong female roles models who were raising families and organisations

simultaneously,” says Ann.As one of O2’s three female board members, Ann knows that formulising a WILP to demonstrate commitment to female talent isn’t just about doing the right thing: “Developing women is a sound business decision. Having more senior women in organisations is just commercial good sense. How are we meant to understand our customers if our workforce doesn’t reflect them?”

O2’s WILP is more than just a masterclass in how to get to the boardroom. It puts power in women’s hands by focusing on two key development needs, identified by the would-be participants themselves

in employee engagement surveys: nurturing self-confidence and growing strong networks (uncertainty around the latter being something that 26% of women say holds them back).

‘Boosting your self-confidence’ is one of the most downloaded of the everywomanNetwork’s elevator workbooks for female members, the need for which Ann can relate to: “One of the most pivotal moments in my career came when a boss was about to go off on maternity leave, and, thanks to the encouragement (and pushiness!) of my incredible mentor, I had developed the self-confidence to ask if I

ANN PICKERING,O2, HR DIRECTOR“I’ve been lucky enough to

spend my career working for organisations who value their

female talent...”

Page 10

could stand in for her. The request proved to both the company and myself that I was ready.”

As for networking – another topic core to the everywomanNetwork – Ann attributes her rise to senior leadership in part to her ability to build strong communities during life periods when she needed to take her foot off the gas: “When my children were young I let my career tick along. I chose interesting rather than stretching roles. But I maintained a solid network internally by putting my hand up for projects both in and outside my remit. I built a reputation as someone who would do

things. As my children got older, I used that network to start motoring ahead.”

While O2’s WILP rolls out across the business, another of everywoman’s corporate partners has been busy analysing the return on investment of their inaugural 2008 programme, attended by 425 women across four continents – measuring its success through one-to-one interviews with attendants and an anonymous online survey.

“Most interesting for us was the breadth of impact that the programmes have had,” says Fleur Bothwick, EMEIA Director of Diversity and Inclusive Leadership.

“It has re-energised some of our women, encouraged them to think differently about what they want from their career, and has helped them develop strategies that will improve their navigation of the organisation. [They] have decided to relocate countries, take on new products and sectors, start external charitable trusts and launch internal networks.”іі

Over half of participants said they networked more following the programme; 63% took more control over their career advancement, formulating a plan and communicating their ambitions to decision makers; 48% spoke up

more frequently; 38% embarked on a mission to make partner; 16% went on to expand their area of specialism.

EY’s findings touch on some of the perceived negatives of such programmes, highlighting that many women feel stigmatised by being singled out on gender (a factor backed by O2’s report, which found that one in four women surveyed felt this way): “This needs debunking. The value needs to be espoused and that requires advocates from within the programme and at the most senior levels of the business. It’s about identifying the game-changers who will

help you get traction and credibility.”

This particular measure of success would appear to get a firm tick from EY, where 29% of females-to-watch went on to be promoted following their attendance (16% to partner).

Both O2 and EY laid significant groundwork before launching their programmes, with the latter attributing the success of their WILP to its ‘monitoring the gender profile of the workforce… understanding the proportion of female employees being recruited, developed and promoted’.

FLEUR BOTHWICK, EMEIA DIRECTOR

OF DIVERSITY AND INCLUSIVE

LEADERSHIP,ERNST & YOUNG

“It has re-energised some of our women, encouraged them to think differently about what they want”

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JO COX,CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER, SURE

“Any company that adopts a proper Women In

Leadership Programme is a company to watch”

Handily, O2’s report on its WILPііі doesn’t just act as a ‘what we did’ but a ‘how you can too’ for other businesses – paying it forward, if you will, just as they encourage their WILP participants to do, following programme completion. Their step-by-step guide advocates pre-programme activities such as thorough analysis of, and engagement with, the workforce in order to define the agenda; setting goals and measures of success; defining participant selection criteria; the importance of credible trainers; strong post-programme line-management; follow-up

communications; and on-going mentoring and peer-to-peer schemes. Organisations can and should shape the process to fit their own core values, innovating where necessary to offer a unique proposition. Where networking is concerned, they might “[create] opportunities to network with people externally too – whether that’s encouraging people to join existing external networking groups or even partnering up with other like-minded organisations to create new groups, [something that can be] incredibly valuable to

both individuals and the company as a whole,” says everywomanClub member Helen Lamb, Executive Director, Managed Infrastructure Services, Fujitsu.

EY takes careful steps to ensure programmes focus on practical takeaways and that momentum continues post attendance. “I attend sections of the programmes and relate any research being discussed back to life at EY. And at the end of the programme each participant writes a letter to themselves about what they’ve learned and how it will be a catalyst for growth and change,” says

Fleur Bothwick. “Letters are sealed and posted to them two months later. We also have follow-up coaching sessions – both one-to-one and in peer groups — and what’s lovely is that some groups continue working together independently, practising presentations together. That kind of support network is great.”

With results that tell of a more engaged, better-connected, more confident and ambitious female workforce, perhaps the question shouldn’t be ‘do women in leadership programmes work?’ but ‘why wouldn’t an

organisation have one?’“Any company that adopts a proper Women In Leadership Programme is a company to watch,” says Jo Cox, Chief Commercial Office, Sure. “If you look at the most successful companies, there’s almost always a woman on the board. Any company that doesn’t – see you later alligator!”

EY has joined the everywomanNetwork –an online learning and development resource. Find out how your organisation’s female talent can benefit: contact kate@everywoman.com

іwww.cipd.co.uk Page 12

ііwww.ey.com іііwww.cdn.news.o2.co.uk

CLUB MEMBER FILMING DAYS:28 May18 June10 September14 October

Share your insight with the everywomanNetwork, contact ewClub@everywoman.com to confirm your filming date.

Technology Academy,

IBM Southbank, London

Engineering Academy, Royal

Academy of Engineering,

London

ELEVATING ROLE MODELS IN A VARIETY OF SECTORS.Nominate atwww.everywoman.com/awards for:

The Specsavers everywoman in Retail Ambassadors programme

The NatWest everywoman Awards for female entrepreneurs

LEADERSHIP AND DEVELOPMENTOver the past 12 years we have developed a portfolio of breakthrough programmes designed to develop female leadership and build the female talent pipeline.

Contact us to find out how we can help you develop:

• Your female leaders ― emerging or mid-level.

• Strong ambassadors and role models for women and men across your organisation.

• Leaders who understand what it takes to manage a diverse team regardless of gender.

CONTACT kate@everywoman.comor 020 7981 2574 to find out more.

Upcoming Awards Ceremonies

The FTA everywoman in Transport & Logistics, 3 June 2015, Hilton Park Lane

The Specsavers everywoman in Retail Ambassadors Programme, 17 September 2015, Claridge's

The Black British Business Awards, 20 October 2015, Hilton Park Lane

The NatWest everywoman Awards, 2 December 2015, The Dorchester

To find out more about how your organisation can get involved contact Joyce on 020 7981 2579 or Joyce@everywoman.com

Dedicated to developing leadership skills, these one day events provide future leaders with tools and techniques, real life insight and advice from successful industry experts.

www.everywoman.com/calendar

To view all of our events go to...

EVENTSTransport

and Logistics

Academy,

Hilton,

Coventry

AWARDS

ACADEMIES

An evening withHeather Rabbatts CBE 24 September 2015

Page 13

Masterpiece1 July 2015

Contact everywoman: 020 7981 2574 | Visit: www.everywoman.com

Join our growing list of everywomanNetwork corporate partners, including:

NEW PARTNERS