Our latest cohort of women leaders striving to advance their career ambitions in the Hospitality, Travel, Leisure and Retail sectors come from all four corners of the world, putting the ‘Global’ into Global Women Leaders Programme (GWLP): we have women participating from the UK, Europe, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, UAE and the US.

A lively kick-off session for this seventh cohort was just the start of a learning journey which will guide and support women to take the next steps in their professional lives towards C-suite roles. The GWLP was WiHTL & Diversity in Retail’s very first Leadership Development Programme and over the last 5 years has supported a staggering 600 women work towards achieving their potential and dreams, with another 600 mentors supporting them.

Kindly sponsored by McDonald’s, who have been instrumental in bringing our Leadership Development Programmes to life, the programme cohort was introduced by Suheily Natal Davis, VP, Chief Diversity Officer, who reflected on her career journey and outlined McDonald’s commitment to achieving gender parity through eliminating barriers to opportunity for growth at work and creating a meaningful impact globally.

We are lucky to have such an incredible alumni community — programme graduates who are already paying it forward by generously giving their time and experience to new cohort delegates. Our panel conversation, hosted by Joanna Auñon, discussed the topic of empowerment and the challenges of moving roles. Andreea Balanescu, Market Director at Kingfisher described how the programme helped her feel supported and empowered while going through a career change.

We were also delighted to hear from Lisa Disney, Retail Operations Process Manager at Waitrose, who was promoted just prior to graduating from the previous GWLP cohort. Lisa described how the support and encouragement of her programme mentor gave her the confidence to apply for a new role.

Kathrine Butler, Director of Talent Acquisition at SSP, rounded off the discussion by giving two important pieces of advice to new cohort delegates: the first was about finding your voice but ensuring that speaking up is always done with kindness, and the second was to prioritise time for self-development and making the most of the opportunity afforded to delegates by their organisations through taking part in this programme.

The undeniable highlight of the session was a conversation with Christa Small, Chief Restaurant Officer at McDonald’s. Christa has had a varied and brilliant career by working for McDonald’s in 10 different functions throughout her working life, and she explained how this breadth of experience has provided better opportunities but also enabled her to create her own personal brand. She shared these wise words with the group:

"Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise, risking more than others think is safe, dreaming more than others think is practical, and expecting more than others think is possible.” (Source: Ronnie Oldham)

Having spoken about how much of an investment this programme is for both the individuals taking part and their organisations, Tea Colaianni, Founder & Chair of WiHTL & DiR, brought the session to a close with a quote about self-doubt from Bonnie Garmus’s book, ‘Lessons in Chemistry’: “Whenever you feel afraid, just remember: courage is the root of change, and change is what we are chemically designed to do. So when you wake up tomorrow, make this pledge: no more holding yourself back, no more subscribing to others' opinions of what you can and cannot achieve, and no more allowing anyone to pigeonhole you into useless categories of sex, race, economic status, and religion. Do not allow your talents to lie dormant — design your own future. Ask yourself what you will change and then get started.”

The WiHTL & Diversity in Retail team are always thrilled to see the start of each new cohort and wish the very best of luck to all the delegates embarking on this exciting new career journey.

Click here for more information on the our Women Leaders Programmes.

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