Lorraine Heggessey

You can’t escape change in the modern business environment, whether you’re trying to get ahead of the competition, refresh your brand or manage the impact of fast developing technology. Change is very exposing for leaders and organisations.  It takes courage to drive it through.  Get it right, and you will unleash positive energy that will drive your organisation forward.

As a leader who initiated change in her roles across the commercial, public and third sectors, Lorraine has learnt that failing to take risks is the biggest risk of all. Her inspiring keynote considers the catalysts for change, alongside the obstacles that may stand in the way and how to overcome them.

Most people are promoted into leadership positions because they excel at their job. They will have spent years getting good at what they do, going on the right courses and keeping up to date with what is happening in their field. They therefore assume they can just ‘do’ leadership. However, inspirational leaders have to work hard at developing new skills to thrive, especially in a world where command and control simply does not work anymore.

Lorraine explains that the key to success is creating a straightforward, attainable strategy, that is well communicated across all channels. She encourages leaders to be yourself, use your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses, and lead by example to make sure you get the best out of people.

Encouraging a freelance mentality, where staff seek out opportunities and feel free to come up with ideas or initiate projects themselves, will create a vibrant, productive and highly motivated culture.  It will also help organisations attract and retain the best talent who want to work somewhere they feel valued and empowered.

To avoid a dependency culture where demoralised, passive people wait ‘to be done to,’ Lorraine encourages leaders to reward ability and potential, and make everybody responsible for their own career.

In this keynote Lorraine shares her experiences of working in large organisations, and what to do (and not do) to ensure you attract, retain, and empower employees to achieve their full potential.

There’s never been a better time for women to achieve their potential and to have the careers they want, but you’ve got to be prepared to seize opportunities and overcome obstacles.   All too often we hold ourselves back, not going for promotion because we don’t tick every single box, whilst we see people who are no better than us plunging in.

Having risen to the very top, Lorraine looks at how identifying your potential, letting people know what you bring to the table, and asking for what you want are fundamental to building a successful career. In this highly motivational, and confidence-boosting keynote, Lorraine advocates that it’s time to accentuate the positive and recognise that it’s an asset for a company to have women in leadership roles.

Drawing on her experience of working with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry on the “Heads Together” campaign, Lorraine talks about the stigma surrounding mental health and how this affects everyone in the workplace from the most senior executive to the most junior trainee.

At any given time, at least one in six workers will be experiencing mental health problems like anxiety or depression, but many of them are reluctant to talk about it because they feel it is a taboo subject and worry that it will affect their career. The Centre for Mental Health has estimated that this costs employers in the UK almost £35bn a year so there are good business reasons to tackle this stigma and normalise the conversation around mental health, making the mental wellbeing of staff a priority.