McKinsey identified a positive difference in return on equity of 47% between global companies with the most women on their executive committees. Nearly half of female executives feel a lack of role models holds them back and reduces their willingness to go for promotion. Top Flight is a leadership programme that addresses this gap by helping women with potential take that last difficult step to CEO and Executive Committee roles.
Top Flight is muscular and designed to be undertaken whilst participants remain at work where they can incorporate their new found knowledge into their day-to-day lives. Participants join us for one year, kicking off in January, and are introduced to thought provoking group sessions led by inspirational business leaders. They also experience one-to-one coaching and career planning sessions. Top Flight is demonstrably successful with many participants achieving in-year promotions. We advise organisations to begin at this senior level because women will not strive for promotion or remain if they do not see other women making it to the top.
Guest speakers include Sir Stuart Rose, Baroness Martha Lane Fox, Sir Mike Rake and Karen Blackett OBE.
Better business results with greater gender diversity
Increased female retention through better all-round relationships
Rapid promotion with stronger, more confident women
Improved organisational performance as participants apply insights gained from contributors and peers
Positions your organisation as more attractive to millennials and Generation Z who seek greater gender diversity
Wider pool of female role models to inspire and sponsor more junior women
Unrivalled faculty in an intimate setting with access to FTSE 100 CEOs, Chairs and other high achievers
Unique mix of rigorous research, practical application and personalised roadmaps
Led by women with successful careers bringing their experience of how to overcome the barriers women face
Establishment of great network and ongoing support to sustain new behaviours
Participants are from FTSE 100 organisations or equivalent and are typically one or two roles below Executive Committee. This is an exceptional programme with a maximum of twenty-two participants across all sectors and functions creating a fantastic network for the long term. Typically they work for large corporates in P&L and functional roles such as legal, marketing, finance, risk, financial crime, underwriting, HR, regulation, customer experience, digital and IT, as well as MDs of business units or heads of product lines. We also include two women from Whitehall that the Civil Service believes have the potential to become a Permanent Secretary.
Before the course begins there is a one-to-one exploration of each individual, within her organisational context, to fully understand her requirements. Progress is reviewed over the year so that each individual finishes feeling strong and confident about their new skills, ready to make a success of new challenges.
Peer support from fellow participants is another important factor in the programme’s success. Participants report that the camaraderie within a group of high calibre businesswomen is powerful and motivating.
Each year this programme starts in January and runs over three days in the following months.
January
March
May
July
September
November
Central London, residential
£28,500 (excludes VAT and accommodation)
Includes six three-day residential group training sessions, bi-monthly executive coaching, two tailored one-to-one assessments, career planning, reading material, meals and hospitality