On 13^th January 2022, WIL Europe held its first event of the year – a Meet and Networking which brought Talents and Alumni from our Women Talent Pool (WTP) Leadership Programme together for the first time to connect, exchange and further build their network! 

The event was opened by WTP Alumna Marie-Louise Weeda, a Partner at Osborne Clarke Amsterdam, who shared her experience of a recent promotion along with a few tips on how to reach one’s career goals.  

Attendees were then invited to break out rooms where they shared their expectations for this new year with each other, and, in doing so, sought to build important relationships with other talented women from different sectors across Europe. 

With Christmas around the corner, on 9^th December WIL Europe organised a Virtual Networking Cocktail especially for our WTP 6 participants. This was an occasion for the Talents to get together in a relaxed atmosphere over a glass of bubbly and connect with each other. We could feel the Christmas spirit in the air as the participants showed up not only with huge smiles on their faces but also with the festive backgrounds on their screens! 

Thank you very much to our Talents for joining us on this occasion. We are looking forward to an even more eventful 2022! 

For the eighth workshop of the WTP programme, on 18th November Eléna Fourès, Founder and Top Executive Coach at Idem per Idem Consulting, showed our Talents how to embrace risk as a positive concept, guide them towards a better understanding of what are real or imaginary risks, and in turn give them the tools to “think Big” and achieve your professional goals.

For the seventh workshop of the WTP 6, WIL Member Catherine Ladousse, Co-founder & Honorary President of Cercle InterElles and Former Executive Director of Communications at Lenovo EMEA, gave our Talents the tools to define their very own strategy to promote their brand, without compromising their values and who they are, and to increase their impact internally and externally.

Following a first workshop on Wholeness and Purpose in June, in which Pinuccia Contino showed our Talents different ways to connect with their whole selves through meditation and self-reflection exercises, Pinuccia offered a second session focused on how greater compassion and self-compassion can lead to a greater sense of purpose.

Together with special guest, Alena Skrbková, these unique sessions led by Pinuccia aimed to guide our Talents towards a deeper connection with themselves, who they are and what they can contribute to the world, and thus towards whole self-leadership. 

In July 2021, 18-months after the start of the sanitary crisis, remote working is still the rule for most companies and is likely to remain a big part of our lives. The ability to communicate effectively in a virtual environment is therefore a skill which all leaders and professionals need to master effectively. How do we manage human relationships remotely? How does a good leader communicate ideas and strategy at a distance? How is it possible to drive productivity without ever meeting clients, stakeholders and partners face-to-face?

During this workshop, WIL Member and former WTP Talent Myriam EL Ouni, Managing Director Sales for Financial and Insurance Industries at Pegasystems, drew on her experience in the digital sector to respond to these questions during a highly interactive session.

Academic studies in the field of medicine, psychology, sociology, business administration and management from the last decade have provided considerable evidence that human beings are and interact in their entirety, and that compartimentalising or pretending being different from who we are comes with a price. Issues of wholeness and purpose, of who we are and what we do, are therefore vital for consideration if we are to be, in Mahatma Gandhi’s words, “the change you want to see in the world”.

During this self-developed workshop, and leaning on her experience as a student in ACT - Applied Compassion Training at Stanford University, WIL Board Member and Secretary General, Pinuccia Contino, delivered an interactive session combining theory, practice and discussion, to help our Talents lead the way to a better world.

For this third workshop of the Women Talent Pool 6th edition, WIL Member Despina Anastasiou, Global Business Development Director - Corporate Strategy at Dow Europe, drew on her 30-year experience to show how purposeful and strategic networking can have a positive impact on our Talents' career development and leadership brand. 

On 29th April, Christelle Cuenin, Career Development and Public Speaking Coach and Alumna of the 4th edition of the Women Talent Pool (WTP) programme, kicked off the second workshop of the 6th edition of the WTP with an interactive Masterclass on developing a "Speaking Utility Vehicle". Many people struggle to give speeches and presentations with real impact, and Christelle showed our Talents how they could achieve this, drawing on examples of famous speeches like Oprah Winfrey's at the Golden Globes in 2018, to illustrate what good looks like.