On Tuesday, 3 December 2024, we welcomed senior and aspiring leaders from our member organisations to come together for our annual CXO event.
The in-person event gave our members an invaluable opportunity to discuss what good inclusive leadership looks like and how we can support the progression of inclusivity in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths).
This year’s event was hosted at The Hospitium in York where we welcomed representatives from Sulzer, AstraZeneca, BorgWarner, Capgemini, Ocado, Balfour Beatty and Amey.
The CXO event focused on the crucial role of digital leadership.
We welcomed data philosopher and researcher Ola Gwozdz as our guest speaker. She spoke about how to develop a more dynamic, resilient and sustainable organisation using a three-pathed approach centred around value, complexity and identity.
We also had an insightful training session from Jack Painter, Head of Products and Services at WISE, who gave us an abridged version of the reverse mentoring training that WISE has on offer.
We maximised our time together to share insights and personal reflections to learn more about what’s working well and where the barriers to overcome, still lie. The discussion in the room highlighted the importance of our in-person events, as it provided an invaluable opportunity for our members to share what they’re already doing, and what problems they’d like to tackle.
Guest speaker
Ola Gwozdz, University of York
Ola Gwozdz is a data philosopher, an award-winning researcher and IoT innovation specialist with over a decade of experience in technology adoption in major projects (such as the Olympics, CrossRail, Tideway, HS2).
Ola has been appointed this year’s UN Women UK Delegate to the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68).
She has an MSc in innovation, leadership and management, and in her current doctoral research she is investigating not one but three big topics – digital, inclusivity and sustainability in the emerging context of global polycrisis.
Summary of Ola’s session
Ola took a step back to reflect on her own ‘leadership recovery’, acknowledging the impact of recent challenges, such as COVID-19, and how we must bring leadership into the 21st Century to create robust practices to future-proof organisations.
Ola’s research highlights three main areas of modern organisations that are necessary for inclusive leadership: innovation, sustainability, and culture, diversity and inclusion. To create successful leadership we must get ‘the big three’ correctly implemented from the outset with this being the foundation of all that we do.
She spoke about the need to create a robust and scientifically sound process for an inclusive and protected future. She has carried out extensive research within the STEM sector to learn what leaders in our sector are doing well, and what barriers they are facing.
Following this insightful presentation, we opened up to the room for a discussion about how to enable inclusion, innovation and sustainability in leadership at your organisation.
Group discussion and learning points
What makes a good leader?
Challenges over recent years, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, have highlighted the importance of a resilient and robust leader, who is able to react and innovate to ensure the future of an organisation. It’s time we step away from stereotyping leadership traits that are often associated with men, and instead understand what the business needs and who’s best to provide this.
Investing in leadership
We can’t expect someone to just know how to be a good leader. It’s key that organisations are investing time and resource into harnessing existing abilities and upskilling their workforce, and giving people in leadership positions the tools they need to be competent and effective.
Empower every colleague to recognise the things that they have ownership or leadership over within their role, and equip them with the tools to manage this effectively.
For example Belfour Beatty introduce emotional intelligence into conversations from day one. This is to help all employees understand the importance of communication and valuing one another’s opinions. By making this a standard across all colleagues, it builds the skills for later down the line to help support the future pipeline of inclusive leaders.
Let’s better connect
There’s no standardisation for leadership across the industry. We need to come together more often to share best practice and help the sector as a whole to embrace inclusive leadership, and provide opportunities for women to thrive. Sharing experiences and hearing first-hand from those who have implemented effective strategies is an essential way to learn and utilise the community that WISE has built.
Keep an eye out for our 2025 events calendar to see what in-person opportunities we have at WISE for you to connect with other members.
Leadership is not a solo role
There was an important discussion about the loneliness that comes with being a leader, and this isn’t an issue that only effects women (who are generally the minority within leadership roles). There is a power that comes with connection. We shouldn’t just connect with someone based on gender, ethnicity or background. There are a million things that connect us all, so it’s important we start looking for things we have in common rather than the things that make us different. This can better support women in leadership roles and remove the stereotypes around ‘male traits’ being better or more associated with leadership.
Surrounding yourself with good people is essential for ensuring psychological safety and support, especially if you’re in a role that involves making challenging decisions or leading large numbers of people or projects. There is power in the collective and we thrive as a team rather than individuals working towards the same goal.
Data and measurement
Data is essential but often we don’t know what to do with what we’re measuring, or how to use the data to implement effective strategies that create real change. Rather than focusing on creating individual KPIs that end up being something to tick off the list, we should focus our efforts on shifting the culture and effecting long-term change.
For example mandating training to ensure leaders are working fairly and inclusively, this could be unconscious bias or inclusive recruitment training. This will better embed inclusive practices across the business, including at top levels.
Resources
At WISE we offer a variety of training workshops which focus on key topics to support members with their EDI journey.
As part of the CXO session, we gave leaders a whistle stop tour of our reverse mentoring training. We outline the key aspects of reverse mentoring and the impact a programme like this could have on leaders within their organisation.
We have a case study which uses HS2’s experience with reverse mentoring to highlight top tips and key actions for implementing a successful programme. You can read the case study on our website.
WISE members have exclusive access to our how-to guides within the member area of our website. See our ‘How to be a mentor’ guide, which outlines the key takeaways from the session and helps you get started with reverse mentoring in your organisation.
If you’d like to learn more about reverse mentoring or running a workshop, please email info@wisecampagin.org.uk. You can read more about our training offer on our website.
