May 6, 2024
News and views
February 9, 2023
Manager-As-Coach: Build responsive high-performing teams and thriving employee experience
We know that stress, burnout and anxiety levels have increased in organisations. We also know that a manger's role is key to creating the conditions for teams and individual team members to thrive. Maximising employee engagement remains an underutilised strategy for growth, customer retention and innovation. Managers who apply effective coaching skills are better able to disrupt the path to burnout, are tuned in to their teams, and embed collaboration into the foundation of their management strategy Our latest Insights Report spotlights ‘Manager-As-Coach’ as an important skillset in both supporting team and individual performance. We explore: What employees are telling us about their experiences...
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July 6, 2022
Leading for renewal: Achieving high performance in times of turbulence and change
May 13, 2022
WDI reflections: The future of work trends 2022
Some of the findings from which are summarised in this article The 7 Areas Dominating Future of Work Trends in 2022.
May 3, 2022
Women in Tech: Retention by design
To download and read the full report click here.
March 31, 2022
Leveraging your gender network to create real change
March 8, 2022
Celebrating and retaining brilliant women
Amplifying the voices of the amazing women we work with
This International Women’s Day we want to celebrate the global communities of women we have been privileged to lead, join and be part of over the last year.
In particular, we wish to call-out the amazing women we have got to know through our Leadership for Gender Equity programmes. Your passion and courage fuels our purpose at WDI.
We’ve heard stories of how women tenaciously navigated obstacles and opportunities to enable their authentic ‘superpowers’ to manifest through qualities such as commitment, compassion, creativity, and collaboration. From these stories, we’ve learnt much about what’s driving and motivating women leaders and what’s needed to create a gender equal workplace.
We have collated three key themes from our Leadership for Gender Equity community that includes women leaders from tech to research, regulatory to healthcare, diplomacy to finance, across 15 countries. This International Women’s Day, we want to amplify the voices of the amazing women we’ve worked with.
December 1, 2021
XpertHR Podcast; Improving Gender Diversity – a case study
You can find the 30-minute podcast here, and in this short article we have summarised some of the key points.
September 22, 2021
Closing the gender gap and creating a gender equal recovery
August 20, 2021
Perfect partnerships
We recently partnered with Elsevier delivering WDI’s Women’s Leadership Programme as a core component to Elsevier’s Developing Female Talent Programme 2020, which reached women in 11 countries. Elsevier continue to prioritise gender balance and inclusion as a strategic imperative. Awards recognising their leadership in this area include Best CEOs for Diversity 2021, Best Company for Diversity 2020, and Best Company for Women 2020.
The impact of the 2020 programme has been significant and we are delighted to be partnering again with Elsevier in 2021 for their Developing Talent For Gender Equity Programme.
July 21, 2021
Gender intelligent leadership matters
Why? The pandemic has impacted women leaders significantly because of an amplified carer tax, that has created a regression in the progress to gender balance.
The ‘broken rung’ of the talent pipeline into executive roles is significant and especially alarming when you take an intersectional perspective. The significant under-representation of women of colour in senior leadership roles is only one such example.
Yet the business case for diverse talent and inclusive cultures has never been stronger, both economically and morally, so how do we overcome the barriers to change?
June 9, 2021
A collection of videos exploring Inclusive Leadership and an exciting opportunity!
Being an inclusive leader is an aspiration for many, and we know is rarely something that ‘just happens’. In our work with teams and individuals developing inclusion, we often hear a strong desire and commitment to be inclusive, and concern or hesitancy about how to do it well – authentically, consistently, when you perhaps know there are difficult topics to consider and conversations to have.
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April 19, 2021
Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust – being there for their people
A year on from the beginning of this pandemic, like so many, I have been inspired by the generosity and support people have offered in this unprecedented time of COVID-19.
It has been a positive experience to see that question ‘what can I do to help?’ asked and be answered and I’m pleased to work with people who, like others, have done just that.
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April 7, 2021
Coaching Success Stories: Leading with your head, heart and gut
In this article Lucy Knight, Human Resources, Diversity, Change Leader (in multi-sector FTSE firms) shares her experience of coaching and the impact of her partnership with WDI.
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March 4, 2021
#ChooseToChallenge and create your leadership credo
March 3, 2021
Masthaven Emerging Leaders and Cohort 2021 Launch
We are currently delivering the Inclusion module, the fourth and final module...
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February 12, 2021
Harness energy for change and use resistance as rocket fuel
As part of our experience in organisational change over the last 20 years, we have developed seven WDI change principles which align our approach. These principles underpin our consulting practice and inform how we coach individuals to effectively lead change.
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January 11, 2021
Women in Diplomacy 2020-2021 programme FCDO DIT
Last month saw the launch of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and Department for International Trade’s (DIT) Women in Diplomacy 2020-2021 programme. WDI Consulting are delighted to be in partnership with FCDO and DIT and to have designed and be facilitating this exciting online programme.
Now in its third year as a programme, the design has moved online to reflect the changing nature of the way we interact, and to provide greater flexibility without any loss of deep learning, skill development and connection across the European network. The programme is being delivered through interactive webinars, small group coaching, specific learning assignments and extensive 1:1 and group networking. Our visually striking workshop materials tap into the energy and engagement of the participants to lift the content and the learning from the page into each woman’s experience. After the Launch and first Module in December, the programme will continue through a total of six modules until March 2021.
After only a few interactions so far with this talented group of women Diplomats across Europe, we have experienced a commitment to their own deep learning as leaders as well as the culture they are building to unlock potential talent and new ideas. We are already looking forward to supporting the participants extend the depth and breadth of their learning.
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December 16, 2020
Back to Better
We launched our online Women’s Leadership Programme in 2020 and are proud to have already delivered the programme to women leaders in 13 countries and across sectors. We have been reflecting on the challenges we all faced in 2020 and how we can best support organisations to achieve a vision of 2021 that sees them returning Back to Better.
If gender equality remains a priority for your organisation in 2021, we ask you to take a few minutes to watch our Back to Better video and hear our thoughts on how you can ensure you continue to attract, retain and develop your female talent.
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December 9, 2020
Coaching Success Stories: The authentic leader
In this article Paul Lawrenson, Global Talent Leader at Expedia Group shares the experience of his coaching journey and how he has benefited from his partnership with WDI.
Paul views coaching as one of the key differentiating factors in securing two significant promotions, retaining his work/ life balance and continuing to thrive as an authentic leader.
His leadership impact is visible in last year’s annual employee engagement scores where Paul’s team rated the highest. He believes this was aided by “not shielding them from the situation around them, and enabling and empowering them to do great work.”
However, as he says, this hasn’t always been the case.
“In the past I used to over plan for literally every single conversation. I wanted to have all the data, context and answers ahead of time; it was a sort of security blanket for me. I would show up as rigid, more focused on the process than building the relationships, and that really inhibited my ability to be fluid and have a free-flowing, high trust conversation.”
“As I reflect now, I realise I acted as though I did not trust my team to deliver – seeking to control and limit risks around their performance. I also recognise that Imposter syndrome was definitely a thing with me; I paid far too much attention to the things I wasn’t good at. However, through our coaching work, I now focus far more on my strengths and how I achieve the outcomes I want rather than worrying about one underdeveloped trait.”
Over a 2-year period, Paul had a series of coaching sessions with Lynn White, WDI and some of the development areas included:
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