Caroline Stockmann, non-executive director, coach, and speaker, draws on personal learnings from a full and varied career. Caroline is a former Chief Executive of the ACT.
The drive behind the series is the belief that we do not focus enough time on personal development outside the ‘technical’ – those areas with which we more often feel comfortable, and which link very directly to our roles and job functions. Our very busy day jobs, as well as culture, tend to have us leave such considerations to the occasional leadership/management training which is not followed up on, nor ‘practised’ sufficiently after the event for its learnings to become embedded. We do not treat our communications and relationship-building skills like other work projects, yet expect somehow for them to be as successful. And we can get frustrated with the world and people around us, leaving us feeling somewhat helpless and demotivated, when by focusing on the things we can change, we will improve our health, happiness and career.
By developing our non-technical skills, we can differentiate ourselves from others more effectively, and increase our likelihood of progressing professionally. And although people’s expectations of work are changing, as are their brains (according to neuroscientists), the insights in this series are likely to remain relevant, and in fact become even more important in the future. Whether it’s about becoming a board member, the value of diverse teams, the power of visualisation, identifying and putting into action our values, or resilience: all these insights can help us manage our careers in the future, whether we change jobs frequently, develop portfolio careers or indeed change professions every so often.
Why podcasts? Easily digestible, and you can come back to this library time and time again – as it’s practice which makes perfect!
The strategic insight podcasts complement other ACT resources available for members – including the career hub, mentoring scheme, CPD podcasts and blogs as well as articles in The Treasurer. Do take a look at these to support your business and behavioural skills development, and remember to record this in your CPD record.
Be the change you want to see in the world
In the last of our series of Strategic insight podcasts, Caroline reflects on how we can all impact the world around us. It's up to you how you ‘present’ as a person, how you react to things, and whether you choose to allow difficult situations to affect you.
During this series, Caroline has shared a host of tools to help you identify anything that is holding you back from being the person you want to be, and maybe your assessment of the values most important to you has revealed a little bit more about that person.
Caroline reminds us that it's all about practice, so practice being a person who makes a positive change in the world, and… you will be one!
Leaving things behind and letting COVID regrets go
In this episode, Caroline shares her insight on how we can learn to leave things behind us. The stress of the pandemic can exacerbate this problem, and cause us to dwell on the past. So, how do we learn from our experiences, but not let them affect us in a negative way by fixating on them, or worrying to a degree which isn’t healthy?
Flexible working post-COVID
The general feeling in the business world is that after the pandemic abates, we won’t go back to how we used to work - yet people will really appreciate the benefits of coming together and physically working alongside their colleagues again. So it seems fairly clear that a hybrid model is what will result. But how do we see this as working optimally? Caroline offers some pointers on what needs to be thought through before deciding on an organisation's future way of working.
Interviewing techniques under COVID-19
Interviewing remotely has become more common under COVID-19 and presents the added challenges of coming across well on a virtual platform, and getting a good feel for your future organisation and boss. In this short podcast, Caroline shares tips on how to approach one of the most important challenges for career progression.
Being present in times of pandemic and crisis
When we're not truly present, we miss out on what is going on in the here and now as we are not as good at multi-tasking as we think we are. And research shows that we lose 28% of our productivity through switching between things and not really focusing. In this episode of the Strategic insight podcast series, Caroline shares her top tips to help you train yourself to be more in the present.
Useful approaches to communication in a virtual world: listening and voice
Our voices are so important to our communication, especially in terms of the emotion we relay. For meetings in a virtual world, we need to focus even more on voice as body language is diminished. In this podcast, Caroline shares tips and techniques for effective online communication.
Useful approaches to communication in a virtual world: being explicit and physical ‘presence’
In the latest episode of ACT's Strategic insights podcast series, Caroline talks through ways we can enhance our communication in order to overcome some of the challenges of remote working, particularly a significantly reduced ability to read body language. How can we build good relationships across a virtual 'wall'?
Diverse teams and inclusion: how COVID provides new opportunities
In this episode of the strategic insight podcast series, Caroline Stockmann continues her exploration of diversity in teams, with a focus on the opportunities and obstacles presented by remote working and technology.
Diverse teams and inclusion: new opportunities from a global talent pool
In the latest episode of the strategic insight podcast series, Caroline explores the benefits of diversity in teams. It has been proven that diversity at senior levels can increase the innovation and profitability of an organisation exponentially. Diversity widens the talent pool, better reflecting the customer base; improves corporate governance as well as organisational culture; and breeds innovation. Listen now to learn about the factors coming into play due to the pandemic and remote working which can make diversity and inclusion easier to have, and how you might think about them, as well as the potential dangers ahead and what to watch out for.
Resilience in the face of COVID-19
In the latest episode of the strategic insight podcast series, Caroline focuses on resilience, particularly in the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. Listen now to learn about some simple steps that we can all take to boost our resilience.
Leadership and external stimuli: how to develop while working virtually Part 2
In this episode of the strategic insight podcast series, Caroline continues to discuss leadership, and focuses on the importance of using your experience – particularly in difficult times such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Listen now to discover some of the actions you can take to become a better leader.
Leadership and external stimuli: how to develop while working virtually Part 1
Caroline talks further about leadership, and the importance of talking to new people and gaining new experiences so that we can keep developing, especially in this virtual world.
With thanks to Herminia Ibarra and her book Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader.
Positivity
A positive mindset can open the brain up to things we may not believe possible. In today’s episode of the strategic insight podcast, Caroline shares some more insights relevant to our new normal, this time around positivity.
The Zone: managing how we feel when locked down or in crisis
In this episode of the strategic insight podcast, Caroline talks about The Zone, or Willingness – one of her favourite models. This model focuses on motivational states and can help us move from a state of fear into one where we’re comfortable, creative and inspired.
With thanks to Janet Jones and K Bradford Brown.
Fear and anxiety under COVID: how can we manage the levels?
Although we have explored fear in previous episodes, today we look at fear and anxiety in the face of COVID-19: fear of contracting the disease, fear of loved ones contracting itand also fear of a changing world. In this episode of the strategic insight podcast series, Caroline shares practical tips on how we can conquer pandemic-related fear and how we can reduce our anxiety.
Authentic leadership in a crisis
In this episode of the strategic insight podcast, Caroline looks at authentic leadership during the pandemic. She shares insights on how we can develop into better leaders and reduce the fear of uncertainty within our teams.
Ideas for motivating teams when they are feeling low
In this episode of the strategic insight podcast, Caroline talks about motivating teams. She shares ideas on how we can encourage our team members when they are feeling low
Energy vs time
Working non-stop is not only less productive but also potentially dangerous. In today’s episode of the strategic insight podcast, Caroline talks about energy in relation to time. She explains how we can manage our time effectively and become more productive
How to optimise your day: focus and being intentional
In this episode of the strategic insight podcast, Caroline explores how being focused and intentional in our actions can make a big impact. She shares ideas that can help optimise our working day. This is an important area for us all, particularly at the moment, as gaining control helps us gain more certainty in uncertain times.
Pandemic coping strategies
In today’s strategic insight podcast, Caroline looks at some pandemic coping strategies to help you on a personal level. Listen to this episode to learn more about ideas for managing stress and boosting your wellbeing.
Life balance under COVID-19
In today’s strategic insight podcast, Caroline talks about life balance under COVID-19. She highlights the benefits that working for an organisation that mirrors our values can potentially have, especially during this crisis. Caroline shares tips on actions we can take to achieve more balance and harmony in our lives even during difficult times.
Time for me part 2: letting go of guilt
In today’s Strategic insight podcast, Caroline builds on the last episode and further explores how we can make time for ourselves and enjoy it, even in the middle of a pandemic. She talks about the importance of seizing the day, making a regular commitment to ‘me time’, and letting go of any guilt at being kind to ourselves.
Time for me
The last year has been very challenging and adapting to the changes that came with it hasn’t been the most natural thing to do. In this episode, Caroline talks about enjoying time for ourselves, within the restrictions of COVID-19.
Be the change you want to wee in the world
In the last of the current series of our strategic insight podcasts, Caroline highlights the importance of influencing others positively, and reflects on how we can be the change we want to see in the world by choosing how we react in difficult situations.
Saying 'No'
In this week's podcast Caroline reflects on when to say 'No' so that we can best manage our own priorities while still sharing what we have to offer. She also offers advice on how to position a negative response in a positive light.
Data garbage
In today’s hi-tech world, we are very reliant on data. In this episode of strategic insight podcast, Caroline discusses data garbage in the workplace and its dangers. She shares tips on how to ensure we are not overloading ourselves with unnecessary data and how it can help to increase our productivity
The evils of gossip
It is in the human nature to gossip, however, is important to resist every form of gossiping, especially in the workplace. In this episode of strategic insight podcast, Caroline points out the evils of gossip and shares valuable tips on how to resist gossip in the workplace and build an environment where everyone feels safe.
Leaving things behind
If we don't learn to let things go, they can affect us in a negative way. In this week's podcast Caroline talks about how we can learn to change our self-limiting behaviour and move forward, embracing change.
with thanks to Marshall Goldsmith
How to deal with challenge
When someone challenges us in the workplace it is often an opportunity to learn, but it can be hard not to adopt a defensive position. In this week's podcast Caroline shares some thoughts and techniques to help us deal with challenge in a positive way.
Flexible working
The pandemic has shown us that flexibility at work is a necessity. Working from home has helped to save businesses, teams, and jobs. In today’s strategic insights podcast, Caroline discusses why flexible working is the way forward.
Courageous conversations
What happens when you allow people to truly speak their minds without fear of any repercussions? In this week's podcast Caroline looks at using a tool developed by Lenny Lind that can be invaluable if you are trying to understand your team better, or there are things in your organisation that are puzzling you and your HR team. Exploring this can work wonders for morale and engagement.
With thanks to Lenny Lind
Interviewing | part 2
Last week we touched on how to perform well in interviews whether in-person or online. In today's strategic insight podcast, Caroline shares tips on the next steps when you’re interested in the role, and how to assess your interviewers to see if you like them.
Interviewing | part 1
Interviews can be dreadful for a lot of us even if we have prepped for them. But the question is, how can we perform well in them? In today's strategic insight podcast, Caroline shares insightful tips on how to create a good first impression, as well as keeping that up during the interview process whether in-person or online.
My objective self: “The only people who see the whole picture are the ones who step out of the frame” – Salman Rushdie
Salman Rushdie said “The only people who see the whole picture are the ones who step out of the frame”. How can we step out of the frame and get to see the whole picture we are part of and look at ourself from outside, - as if we’re a performer? In today's strategic insight podcast Caroline discusses the importance of stepping back and viewing ourselves and situations from a distance, which can help us in both our work and home environments.
Listen first
We are often so focused on thinking of the next thing to say, or the next thing we need to do, that we don’t pay attention to what is being said or happening around us. So how can we become better listeners? In today’s strategic insight podcast, Caroline gives recommendations on how to be a better listener.
Being present
How can we be more present? Recently, the theory of mindfulness has become popular, and behind it is the concept of being very much focused on the here and now. In today’s strategic insight podcast, Caroline discusses the benefits of being in the present and shares tips on how to achieve this.
Giving and receiving feedback
Giving as well as receiving feedback can lead to improved performance, promotion, and outstanding results. However, giving or receiving feedback can be an uncomfortable situation for both parties. In this week’s strategic insight podcast, Caroline shares tips on how to examine our motives and judgements to be confident that our feedback is fact-based and fair.
The power of visualisation
In today’s episode of our strategic insight podcast series, Caroline draws on her experience to share her learnings gained over a full and rich international career. Last time she spoke to us about a useful coaching tool, RIVAS, and today she’s going to focus on the V - for visualisation.
With thanks to Dr Sam Collins, Ashanti Johnson, Jack Canfield, Herminia Ibarra
RIVAS
When setting goals and objectives, it’s important to understand how to achieve them. In today’s strategic insight podcast, Caroline explains a useful coaching tool called RIVAS (Result, Intention, Visualisation, Actions, Support) which can help us to achieve our objectives.
You can download the RIVAS guide sheet here.
Personal communications strategy
Effective communication and relationship-building skills are the key competencies that everyone needs to be successful, but how can we create our own personal communications strategy? In today’s strategic insight podcast, Caroline explains how you can effectively develop your own approach to personal communications, and why it’s a good idea to do so.
Different audiences
Communication is critical, especially during these unprecedented times. In this episode of our Strategic Insight podcasts, Caroline talks about different audiences and how best to communicate with them. She explains the importance of understanding our audience as well as we can before we engage with them, and shares valuable tips and insights to apply when you are facing diverse groups.
Be remembered for the right things: what’s your personal brand?
We all want to be remembered for the right things but how can we make that possible? In today’s strategic insights podcast, Caroline reflects on personal brand and the importance of being remembered for the right things. She shares tips on how being authentic can help build and develop a personal brand that ties into our purpose and core values.
With thanks to John Purkiss and David Royston-Lee, authors of Brand You
Authority of voice
Our voices are so important to our communication, especially in terms of the emotion we relay. The words themselves can at times score very low in communicating meaning, so experts such as Albert Mehrabian tell us, it’s the way we say them that indicates our intent. Caroline focuses on how we can use our voice and words, in different contexts, to help strengthen our communication
Physical matters
Today we focus on the more physical aspects of influencing, and how we can successfully influence others to get our messages across. Caroline shares the top tips we can apply in any situation to influence our audience.
With thanks to Chris Heimann, Janet Jones, Jessie Gordon
Being explicit
In today’s strategic insights podcast, Caroline reflects on 'being explicit'. Caroline explains how being clear and explicit can help get our point across in an effective manner. She also highlights the importance of finding time for explicit conversations, even if they are on general topics, especially with our colleagues. This approach not only builds relationships but gives a better understanding of how others view the world, which is useful to help overcome barriers and misconceptions.
Diverse teams
Why is it that we so often don’t see businesses reflecting the diversity of society? What can we do to attract more diversity and retain it? In today’s episode of our strategic insights podcasts, Caroline reflects on understanding the importance of diverse teams. She shares a few thoughts on how we can make our existing teams more diverse, inclusive and functional as it’s proven that diverse teams outperform homogeneous teams
The picture on the box | with guest speaker Paul Boyle
In this episode of our Strategic Insights podcast series, Caroline welcomes guest Paul Boyle, ex-CEO of the FRC, ex-Chief Audit Officer of Aviva, experienced NED and current ACT advisory panel member Paul uses the analogy of a jigsaw puzzle to explain the importance of the picture in helping us to identify and successfully overcome business challenges, and illustrates how we can apply this in our daily professional and personal development.
Paul highlights the importance of us having a clear picture when taking on a new challenge. He then explains that the picture on our box might look different from others’ and shares his thoughts on how to understand that by having thorough conversations with our colleagues and teams.
Resilience - how can you build and maintain it?
At times when we have been working too hard, or are going through significant stress - both of which are front of mind in the current COVID-19 crisis - we need to think about our own wellbeing, and in particular how we can boost our resilience. A coach who has worked with the ACT, Gavin Aubrey, talks about the 5 boosters: learning, being in the present, connecting with family and friends, being active, and giving. In this podcast, Caroline focuses on two of these: learning and giving. There is an astonishing 87% improvement in mental wellbeing when someone joins an education programme, according to The National Institute of Adult Education, and the positive effects are backed up by other research too.
With thanks to Gavin Aubrey.
Resilience – what differentiates those who are resilient from those who are not?
Being resilient is important as it determines how quickly we can ‘bounce back’ from events or situations, but there is often a misconception that we are either resilient or not. In this episode, Caroline talks about the characteristics of resilient people in order to see where we sit in terms of resilience as well as consider ways that we might like to approach life to strengthen our resilience.
Muscle memory
Taking on new approaches can be daunting. In this episode, Caroline talks about muscle memory and how we can apply it in the business world. She shares with us her experience as a classically trained flautist and piccolo player, and reflects on how strong the analogy of learning an instrument is with developing ourselves in other ways. She gives us tips on how to overcome the challenges of taking on new approaches or adopting different styles when they might not feel exactly authentic. Caroline also shares her learnings from the late Mark Hemstedt, as she highlights the themes of repetition and ‘little and often’ when implementing new learning.
With thanks to the late Mark Hemstedt
Guest speaker: Peter Cheese, Chief Executive, CIPD
For this week’s strategic podcast we have a special guest presenter: Peter Cheese, Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development. CIPD is the professional body for those in HR and people development. In the podcast, Peter speaks about the challenges and opportunities for leadership, culture and organisations in the current COVID-19 crisis. He shares his thoughts and recommendations on how we respond positively to the issues caused by the pandemic, ensuring that our businesses re-set to emerge stronger. He emphasises the importance of staff well-being and the duty of genuine care leaders have towards their staff. Peter tells us how this crisis has shown we can work differently, with agility and flexibility.
Networking as a positive
Operational, personal or even strategic networking can prompt some negative reactions to some of us. In today’s podcast, Caroline explores the importance of networking in our development, as well as the need to stay authentic to our values and treat others with respect, as we embark on the networking journey. She shares recommendations on how we can view networking as a positive and gain something from our interactions with those we engage with. Although the times are unpredictable, it is important to remember networking can still be achieved in a virtual world, which is something the ACT will be talking about (and practicing!) at its forthcoming Festival of Treasury Transformation, virtual event.
With thanks to Herminia Ibarra
Building buy-In
How do we build buy-in from others? When working with others we are dealing with the complexity of different people’s perceptions and experiences, political and personal aspects that the particular project will stir up; and different people’s styles and ways of working too – so it can be a bit challenging. In today’s episode, Caroline talks about building buy-in and shares with us a useful approach she developed when looking at a strategy for a new team or organisation, or for a particular project which has produced some great results. She also reminds us that the key to success is always thinking of the bigger picture and specifically highlights the need for diversity and inclusion.
Negotiations and partnerships
Successful partnerships lead to greater success in business, and partner management is something we should all be thinking about. Today Caroline reflects on partner management and talks about the importance of effective negotiations with others, and how successful negotiations can lead us to win-win partnerships. She shares recommendations and tips that can help us build long term, successful and sustainable partnerships that will be beneficial and contribute to achieving our overall business objectives.
With thanks to Janine Driver and David Meade
Step across the bridge
In today’s episode, Caroline looks at business partnering and explains how we can truly understand the business as a whole, irrespective of our roles. Every day we work with others and collaboration and teamwork are extremely valued. Nevertheless, it can be very difficult to truly appreciate how others think, what their working life is like, and what their challenges and successes might be. Here, Caroline shares ideas on how to improve our ability to successfully partner with others.
With thanks to Wiet Pruim
Leadership and external stimuli
In today's podcast Caroline reflects on how we can learn to act as leaders. She looks at why external inputs are important to continuing development, and offers tips on how we can hone our leadership skills.
With thanks to Herminia Ibarra, Angela Duckworth and CFTE.
Values into action
As with a lot of thoughts, theories and analyses, if they remain just that and don’t translate into definite actions, then they don’t have any great value. In last week's episode of our ‘Strategic Insights’ series of 5-minute podcasts, we talked about identifying your core values. In today’s episode, Caroline talks about putting your core values into action and shares tips on how to do this in practice.
Holding to our core values
The message of today’s podcast is that the more you live your values, the more effective you will be in terms both of personal achievements and strategic influencing, to get the right things done. But how do you effectively identify your core values? In today’s episode of our strategic insights podcast, Caroline shares top tips on how to identify your core values.
Trust first
It can be very hard to perform at your best if you are not trusted. Trust is very important in all aspects of life, but it can be difficult to earn. So what do we do, when we want and need to be trusted, and it’s not happening fast enough? In the latest episode of our strategic insight podcast, Caroline explores the importance of trust and shares a few key things to be aware of when building trust ourselves and trusting others.
Negativity has its place
This is the 15th of our Strategic Insight series of 5-minute podcasts, and today the topic is negativity - following on from our earlier podcast on positivity.
In her book, Emotional Agility Susan David maintains that the happiest people have learned to ‘unhook’ themselves from unhelpful patterns of thought and behaviour.
David also talks about the upside of negativity. When in a state of happiness or positivity, we may be less thoughtful about things, less discerning, and this can cause a sub-optimum outcome. Whereas a negative mood may summon a more attentive, challenging but accommodating thinking style – leading to greater creativity.
With thanks to Susan David
Self-belief and mantras
There’s a popular English expression ‘pride comes before a fall’ which warns us not to be too confident – or else! However, in this day and age, many of us find it hard to believe in ourselves and our abilities and those of us that do might be scared to express this to avoid being labelled too confident.
Low-self esteem can be a hindrance to our career as well as our personal lives in various ways. In this episode, Caroline draws on her wide experience and shares the learnings she has found most valuable in overcoming this hurdle.
Positivity
The Coronavirus pandemic has fundamentally changed the way we live. It’s an anxious and upsetting time and channelling our positivity can be very challenging when the things surrounding us are quite negative. How can we stay positive? In the latest of our series of short podcasts, Caroline reflects on positivity.
Mind or event - what can we control?
How can we manage our reactions to situations? A particularly relevant question in today's time of crisis, with many of us working under pressure and at a physical distance from our teams and peers. Reflecting back on the motivational states model in the last podcast: what drives us into those various motivational state boxes? Is it as simple as an event occurs, causing a reaction and emotion in ourselves – leading to a state of ‘survival’ or ‘impossibility’, for example? Research tells us that it’s not the event that causes our reaction, but our mind. So, how do we start training ourselves in this potential conflict zone between ourselves and our minds?
You can have no dominion greater or less than that over yourself. Leonardo da Vinci
With thanks to Janet Jones.
The Zone: motivational states
In our current situation, facing great uncertainty, this model can help us get out of a state of mind of ‘survival’ or ‘impossibility’; when it all seems too much, we’re able with practice to switch our mood to a more positive one, which can help us make better decisions, and be less stressed overall.
With thanks to K Bradford Brown and Janet Jones.
Fear as words
Dealing with fear can be challenging, especially in times of crisis such as this. We all have our deep-seated fears – about not being liked, about not being successful, about not making our family proud, or even about failing publicly – there are infinite possibilities! In this episode Caroline shares her views on how to deal with fear and talks about the benefits of negativity.
With thanks to Susan David and Janet Jones
Leadership and followership
Leadership and followership are both critical to an effective working team, and ultimately to business success. Discerning when to lead and when to allow others to is at the heart of effective leadership. Caroline reflects on some instances in her own career and the lessons we can all draw from these.
Authentic leadership
Authenticity counts for a lot in life. Being true to ourselves makes us feel good, helps us communicate with others, building trust and respect even if our views differ. Caroline talks about authenticity and the struggles people face when it comes to being authentic.
Using your strengths
If you really understand yourself and your strengths and use them, a lot of great things can happen. By focusing on the competencies you are naturally best at you’ll also naturally be authentic – one of the key factors in gaining the trust and respect of others. Funnily enough though, as our talents come naturally, they are also very easy for us to neglect. The theory behind focusing on strengths, developed over time, is that you are far more likely to be successful by building on strengths rather than trying to ‘battle’ with weaknesses. Focusing on weaknesses can bring incremental improvements, whereas focusing on strengths brings exponential change.
With thanks to Marcus Buckingham
Life balance
Discussing work versus life balance can be unhelpful as it suggests that there is something inherently bad about work when, under the right circumstances, it can be very fulfilling. Work can set us interesting challenges, be the cause of things we want to celebrate, and it can also bring us new friendships. In this week's podcast Caroline reflects on the value of work in our life balance.
Women represent all women
It's been said that in the boardroom women represent all women, whereas men only represent themselves. So, a woman on a board really has a huge responsibility, and until there are more women on boards, that will remain so. What do women board members need to know to help them succeed? In this week's podcast Caroline looks at how you can grow and mature in the boardroom, whatever your gender.
With thanks to: Fidelio and Gillian Karran-Cumberlege
Barriers for women: internal
What barriers to success do women need to consider more than men? In this podcast, Caroline talks about dealing with internal barriers, bolstering confidence and how to be sure your voice is heard.
With thanks to: Herminia Ibarra, Sally Helgesen, Marshal Goldsmith, and Harriet B Braiker.
Barriers for women: external
Caroline talks through the external challenges that women in particular face and how they can be dealt with, and how their male colleagues can understand these better and help.
With thanks to Luc Limère.
Further resources:
Boston Consulting Group: The Mix That Matters
Ladder of inference
Caroline looks at an established model developed by Chris Argyris, the business theorist, which analyses the thinking process that we go through, usually without realising it, to get from a fact to a decision or action.
All our knowledge has its roots in our perceptions. Leonardo da Vinci
With thanks to Janet Jones.
Strategic vs operational
A leader and influencer ideally needs a mixture of both attributes, but getting a seat at the strategic table is critical for any professional who wants to do their job well.
People should not have to read 300 pages to find just one thing which speaks to them, that they can use to improve their careers and lives. I believe in sharing the best I have come across, having been too often disappointed by long and rather repetitive reads, and hope that this will make a positive difference in people’s lives.
Caroline has worked as a professional musician, youth development worker, internal and external auditor, senior finance professional and chief executive, as well as in non-executive roles, across a span of different industries. Chief Executive of the ACT until April 2023, and a trained coach, Caroline is passionate about many things, but especially, in this context, diversity & inclusion and treating our strategic self-development as seriously as the rest of our development. Caroline has run workshops, seminars and presentations on strategic influencing and leadership skills, for all-female as well as mixed-gender groups around the world, including women’s empowerment workshops for HH Sheikha Shamma, the UAE President’s granddaughter, and workshops for treasurers as part of the European Association of Corporate Treasurers’ annual summit. Other audiences include HKUST MBA Alumni, guests of White & Case in Dubai and Hong Kong, the Banking Standards Board (Strengthsfinder away day), Save the Children International and British Council, as well as open seminars in London.
