Hey everyone
It feels like everyone is limping through to the end of the year, and the decade. I'm getting on a jet plane out of here this week (before whatever happens on December 12th happens) so this is our final newsletter of the decade. Indulge me whilst I take a moment to recap a fulfilling, challenging and successful decade.
2010 saw me trying to juggle fertility issues with pushing to get on the management team at the media agency where I was working. 2011 saw the birth of my first son, certification in coaching and a realisation of how tough returning to work was for women in the ad industry. It was in 2012 that The Hobbs Consultancy was born.
I started The Hobbs Consultancy because I was sure that we could do better for our female talent. I wanted to support women through their maternity transition and also in to leadership positions. We had no issues attracting women, rather holding on to them through their family years and also ensuring an upwards career trajectory for them. And really this conversation wasn't happening that much back in 2012. One of the first people I told about my new business purpose responded, 'Rox, are you going to start burning your bra now?'. He worked at C-suite level.
I have learnt that it is not just women that might feel excluded from the workplace. And I have learnt that we can't just focus on the minority groups, but instead need to look at systems and how systems can change. Back in 2012 it was difficult getting this on the agenda. I felt like people knew this was important but didn't see it as a priority. It's been amazing to watch the conversation gain in attention and importance.
2012 saw me get married, and the most random wedding present ever (thanks to Anna Shaw who was then at Mindshare) of a ticket to see Brené Brown speak at Conway Hall. It was a sliding doors moment for me, and I soon found myself in 2014 on a plane to Texas to add Brené's work to the tools that I can offer to support inclusion in the workplace. It was around this time that we took on our first associates and developed a central team.
In 2015 I attended the Emerging Women conference in San Francisco and realised that I wanted to create inspiring events in the UK. HeANDShe was born as I sought to bring men and women together to have conversations about gender. We've gone on to collaborate with Token Man and held three Masculinity in the Workplace events now, the most recent having David Lammy and Mary Portas speaking. In 2015 The Hobbs Consultancy started setting a theme each year to support our learning and focus, and it was masculinity in 2017.
In 2018 our theme was Neurodiversity prompted by my eldest son's autism diagnosis. I realised with some shame I hadn't spoken about Neurodiversity in the workplace and made it my mission to spread the word about this. This started with a breakfast in 2017 and since then I've written a book (Diverted), co-hosted two DiverseMinds events alongside Creative Equals, got trained in coaching autistic adults and developed a coaching programme for line managers.
Our theme this year was Mental Health and we've taken on Hilary our mental health specialist who has been running Resilience programmes and Mental Health training programmes for line managers. As seems to happen so frequently, the personal and the professional have collided as I decided to tackle my own anxiety once and for all. I have (for the moment) given up drinking, am doing much more exercise and had hypnotherapy - and I feel great!
I really can't believe how much has shifted in the past 10 years - for me personally, for me professionally and in the workplace at large. I have felt a hopeful and upward trajectory over the past ten years, and have found it hard to reconcile recent political events against that backdrop. This is a time to take stock. We've come a long way - however this change is creating fear for some. Equally we haven't achieved some of the diversity targets that have been set (e.g. by the IPA). However a critical mass has been mobilised and I (mainly) feel hopeful.
Thank you to IPG Mediabrands, Havas, Xaxis, DTV, Lucky Generals, DMG, Core Media Ireland, Forpeople, McCann London and Central, AB Foods, Rapp, R/GA, Blue Latitude Health, Creative Equals, Kinetic, Major Players, Innocent, Mother, Buzzfeed, NBCUniversal, Southwark Council, Publicis Health, Mullen Lowe, The National Gallery, B-Reel, Gravity Road, CALM, Deutschbank and many more for leaning in and having courageous conversations with us.
Our theme for 2020 is LEADERSHIP. We believe that leadership is accessible for everyone. It's not about the C-suite. It's about us all recognising what is going on around us and mobilising to create change. It is about having courageous conversations and facing in to uncomfortable truths. We have two leadership products 1) Inclusive Leadership: a modular programme that equips leaders with the skills needed to lead more diverse and inclusive teams. We will enhance self awareness, increase the ability to understand others, teach systems awareness, learn how to handle conflict, and finish the programme with agility and accountability. 2) Dare to Lead™: teaches the skills of courageous leadership, that is, increasing your capacity for vulnerability, operationalising trust, living in to your values and resilience.
Things to look forward to in 2020:
Unconscious Bias and Diversity Lunch and Learn, 22nd January, Ireland.
We are setting up an Irish office so please do spread the word to your Irish colleagues. Register for your free place here.
Resilience training, 6th February, London.
For those wanting to try the training themselves before running in your companies or to send individuals on. Tickets here.
Dare to Lead™ open course, 26th & 27th February.
Ticketshere
Daring Greatly™ for Female Leaders, 18th & 19th March.
Tickets here.
DiverseMinds 2020: Neurodiverse Leadership - save the date coming very soon!
Masculinity in the workplace,19th November.
We will finish the roll out of our new branding with a new website - the whole project was started when we were told how dyslexia unfriendly our materials were (with writing frequently over images).
See you on the other side and here’s to courageous leadership in 2020. I think we’re going to need it.
Rox, Emma, Tanya, Derek, Harriet, Lisa, Sonia, Iain, Ade, Hilary, Dorit, Derval