Women Emerging Podcast Women Emerging

What happens behind closed doors of a Board meeting often remains a mystery - a Chief Executive therefore learns on the job when working for a Board. In this episode of the podcast Julia is joined by Bhagyashri who brings with her some solid advice on how to work for a Board. She presents the predicament most Chief Executive's experience, a rather lonely existence, caught between the Board and your own 'Top Team'! There is so much at stake with each and every decision, and it is a Chief Executive's responsibility to be articulate assertive, and open to feedback from both the Board and their 'Top Team' for an outcome that is in the best interest of the organisation. It is a difficult task, but also one that is deeply rewarding!
About the Guest: Bhagyashri Dengle is an experienced leader who works in the non-profit sector with extensive experience in institution building, strategy development, program design, advocacy, corporate social responsibility, governance and building strong teams.

In the words of Albert Camus, "(...)good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence, if they lack understanding". In this week's episode, Julia is joined by Unjela as she reminds us that while it is important to be an empathetic leader, it is equally important to never overstep even with the best of intentions. In times of crisis, where there is a split second to make a key discussion, she reminds us to question our need as leader to be the one to fix it! Sometimes, even with the best of intentions, this urge may lead us to crossing a line. The added layer of navigating diverse cultural contexts and degrees of appropriateness in a globalised world can put even the most experienced leaders in a fix. Tune in for all this and much more!
About the Guest: Unjela Kaleem has 20+ years of experience as a senior leader across Oceania, Europe, Africa, MENA, and Asia in strategic communications, stakeholder engagement and public affairs with diverse organizations such as Nestle, UN Office of Project Services (UNOPS), The World Bank, International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Association (IFPMA), SITA aero, Overseas Investors Chamber (OICCI), Dow Jones newswires, and the BBC. She was also the first female CEO of an international chamber of commerce in Asia. 

In this week's episode Julia and Valérie talk about all things energy. Drawing from Einstien's works, Valérie suggests that when leading a team, the role of the leader is not that of generating energy but it is to recognise how to release the energy that already exists and resides in each member of the team. As leader, we often tend to think of ourselves as the norm, that is, we lead the way we want to be led, however to help a team reach its full potential, it is important to lead people the way they want to be led. Valérie draws on the laws of nature to explain how we as humans can find our own ways of both leading and being led.
About the Speaker: Valérie Lucq is an engineer by education, medtech scale-up leader by experience and life explorer by heart. She loves to combine philosophy, physics and day-to-day observations to lead teams to sustainable success.

As leaders, when do we learn to delegate? Is it as easy as assigning the job to the right person? Join us in the week's episode as Julia speaks to Katy who gives us a guide to delegating, and reminds us why it is important to have it in our toolkit. With her knowledge from years in policing, she reminds us that one must delegate wide and outwards to create a vibrant team that harnesses everyone's talents and strengths.
About the Guest: Katy Barrow-Grint is the Assistant Chief Constable at Thames Valley Police, Greater Oxford Area. She is the founder of Thames Valley Police Academic Journal and Editor in Chief of Going Equipped publication from the College of Policing. Katy is Runner Up in the 2024 World Police summit for the 'Inspirational Female Police Officer' award!

In this episode, Julia speaks to Veerle about the fine line between a disruptor and a destructor in a team. As a leader you need disruptors to push you and bring energy into the team, however, when that thin line is crossed, and a disruptor becomes destructive, it can become dangerous for the team and the integrity of the organisation. Join us in this episode to gain insight on how to create a diverse, thriving environment that fosters the creativity of disruptive individuals while balancing team dynamics.
About the Guest: Veerle Simoens is the General and Artistic Director of Flanders Festival Ghent.

When we belong, we can bring our selves wholly, and authentically to our work, our team and most importantly ourselves. In this week's episode, Julia is joined by Rebecca as she shares the lessons she has learnt over the years from building multicultural teams across the world. She reminds us that belonging is not bout fitting in, that rituals and systems, no matter how unsexy can go a long way when building a strong team and that bringing vulnerability and courage to the work space when leading will open up and hold space for people to truly be themselves.
About the Speaker:
Rebecca Crook is an educator and entrepreneur committed to supporting communities of leaders to reimagine education. She is the Co-Founder of Metis and is currently facilitating, coaching, running, and reflecting.