COMMENT: I was invited to participate in the 2021 EG Future Leaders programme. At a time when the country was still emerging from Covid-19 lockdowns, I was simultaneously daunted at being back in a room with so many people but looking forward to speaking to others in the sector about their experiences. I was also keen for a new challenge to expend almost 18 months of pent-up energies on, not only to improve myself but also to tackle some wider industry issues.
What I found was a great opportunity to meet and network with an impressive cohort of women from a variety of different backgrounds and circumstances, all of whom were passionate to learn or improve their skills to enable them to give voice to the issues most important to them. Through training touching on everything from how to use body language and tone to create the most impact, to when to pause and place emphasis to land our messages clearly, together we all grew in confidence. By the end of our week, we were empowered to go back and be advocates for change in the areas we had each identified, whether in our organisations, with our clients, or in the wider industry.
Positive change
For me, the issue that I was (and remain) most passionate about really came to the fore during lockdown: how hybrid working can improve gender equality by helping to retain women in business. As someone in a transactional role, where typically senior women are outnumbered by men, it was evident that the increased flexibility brought by the pandemic had already started to bring positive change to women’s working lives.
I therefore chose this as my topic to present on at the conclusion of the programme. I would recommend that others embarking on it do the same: identify a subject that is important to you personally – something that at times may even make you frustrated – and focus the skills you will learn on that. This will ensure your emotion is communicated in your final presentation and that you maximise the opportunity on offer. Being in a safe and supportive environment away from your usual colleagues also offers a chance to gain others’ insight into the topic; to have your arguments or assumptions around it challenged, debated or honed, as well as becoming part of a community of individuals to gain support from after it ends. I’m still a member of the WhatsApp group that my cohort started where advice is still sought, and updates shared.
The programme should also be approached as the starting point or springboard to begin discussions and to keep developing them as expectations and conditions evolve. It should be used as a platform to go back into your organisation to lead or push forward a conversation to deliver change. Often, particularly when a topic is thought of as ‘awkward’, it is easier for others to avoid raising it rather than risk getting it wrong or inadvertently cause offence. To return to your day-to-day role, empowered to be the voice and advocate on a very specific concern, knowing you have the collective power of a wider group in the industry behind you – but also that your organisation endorsed you taking part to begin with and wants to hear your feedback – is a very powerful position to be in.
Most recently, our business has started a new family sub-group as part of our diversity and inclusion initiatives, but the journey is not over; the programme has been instrumental in starting conversations across the business, at all levels. I remain incredibly grateful that EG Future Leaders gave me both the opportunity and confidence to share something I am hugely passionate about.
Davina Clowes is head of London residential investment at Savills
