Now that I have had a few days to process, here are my takeaways from the WILS22.

Last week, as part of the Anthony Harper senior leadership team, I attended the UN Women in Leadership Summit organised by United Nations Women Aotearoa New Zealand and Global Women . Over 200 women across all walks of life, organisations, roles, and titles attended. The event was a great platform to learn, network and participate in discussions on a number of very important topics. The quality of the speakers was incredible with the like of Agnes Naera (CEO of Global Women), Traci Houpapa MNZM JP CFInstD (Federation of Māori Authorities) – who is named in the BBCs 100 Most Influential Women in the World; and Sara E. (UN Women Aotearoa New Zealand) - who is a multi-award winning behavioural change expert and leadership consultant, recently returned from a trip to Number 10 Downing Street. And the list goes on…

My top takeaways from the conference are:

1. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion has to be at the centre of every company’s core strategy to attract and retain talents and make us attractive to clients.( Sara E. , UN Women Aotearoa New Zealand ). What an inspirational opening speech that was!
2. Everyone can exemplify diversity if one is open to learning how to unlearn – we must be able to unlearn what we have always known (Jeff Greenslade, Heartland Bank LTD ).
3. We must get better at Cultural Capability – if we want to understand our people and clients we need to understand their culture ( Mai Chen , Superdiversity Institute for Law).
4. Making a difference makes the difference. If your vision and purpose is true it will get you and your people through the tough times. Amanda Malu told us the amazing transformational journey of Whānau āwhina Plunket - one of my favourite presentations of the conference!
5. If all fails, PAUSE. Between stimulus and response there is a space. It’s called a pause. In this space lies your pause to choose your response ( Brenda James , Leadership and Career Development Consultant, Leadership Reboot).
6. The power of mentorship -?we forge our own paths and help people behind us rather than wait for someone to do it for us ( Erika Barden , Head Of Agile, Frank Innovation & Transformation).
7. COVID asked for courageous leadership which would have been rare before. We cannot go back. We must review our licence to operate and remain courageous ( Traci Houpapa MNZM JP CFInstD , Federation of Māori Authorities).
8. "Be a Cassandra" – she knew what was up and no one believed her. Don't be afraid to be heard! ( Susan Basterfield , Partner And Co-Owner, Greaterthan)
9. Neither paying for someone nor paying someone’s wages ought to give you power over them ( Susan Basterfield , Partner And Co-Owner, Greaterthan).

Melisa Cohen also helped us "make things happen" by giving us the tool to write a good plan to achieve our goal(s). I am pleased to say I am on track with my retirement plan.

Two particular moments stood out for me:

1. Ember-Leigh Backhouse shared her amazing story about what employers and employees should/must do to make the workplace a safer place for everyone. Thank you - it has made me ponder ever since on what I must do better!
2. Cassandra Crowley - your session was thought provoking and made me realise I have some thinking to do. What I thought was the natural next step is perhaps not so. Important to really think about what it is we want in life and for our career.

?It was an amazing couple of days and my brief summary does not do it justice!?