When a boutique coaching consultancy for women met western democracy’s most patriarchal political chamber, the impulse to discuss gender inclusion strategies with hereditary male peers was compelling.

Despite the 1958 Life Peerages Act that introduced women into the House of Lords, the UK parliamentary website (January 2017) indicates that glass ceilings are as impenetrable as the limestone from which Westminster itself was hewn: men comprise 74.3 percent and women 25.7 percent of the House, with a mean age of  69.

Yet, this aside, the Lords is a venerable institution and is served by some exceptionally talented peers and peeresses.  As the second chamber of the UK Parliament, it complements the work of the Commons. The Lords, (and Ladies) serve a vital task in “making and shaping laws, and challenging and checking the work of government”.

So, swallowing our gender diversity questions, we demurely concentrated on the business in hand: enjoying a tour of the Lords that culminated in a most civilised champagne soirée with our sponsors, Lord Grocott of Telford and Lady Val Corbett (widow of Labour Peer, Lord Corbett of Castle Vale, a tireless advocate for penal reform, animal welfare and the anonymity of rape victims).  Lady Val’s devotion to Prisoner Rehabilitation via the Corbett Award deserves, in our opinion, its own peerage.

Bruce, Lord Grocott shared with us his twin passions:  first, his commitment to abolishing by-elections where hereditary members of the House of Lords vote for hereditary replacements when incumbents die; and secondly, the architectural heritage of the Palace of Westminster.  This included the brilliant mastermind behind its neo-Gothic lines, Augustus Pugin.

It was a memorable visit and one that we were most grateful to Lord Grocott and Lady Val Corbett for engineering.

Over the last decade, money raised from Lady Val’s lunches has generated funding that enables those on probation to gain experience in the catering industry via the Robin Corbett Award for Prisoner Rehabilitation.

This Thursday, we were delighted to hear Jules Chappell OBE, a former Ambassador to Guatemala, address the networking lunch. Her speech: ”The future of activism in a pussy-grabbing world”, was adapted from her recent Ted Talk.

During her career with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Jules was based in London, Guatemala City, Addis Ababa, Washington DC, Baghdad and Amman. She was awarded an OBE for her work in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein

Over lunch, Jules spoke about activism and leadership in the context of her appointment, at the age of 31, as Britain’s Ambassador to Guatemala (2009-2012). Her commentary on activism explored ways in which  we might move away from being passive petition signers, to achieving more active and tangible results, whatever the cause one has chosen to support .  (Digression: I thought this part of her speech was serendipitous because the guest I had brought to lunch was Sarah Lucas, CEO of Action for Dolphins, a charitable foundation dedicated to ending dolphin and whale captivity, which had its origins in Sarah’s desire to do something beyond mere petition signing).

Jules then gave a vivid account of how it had felt to be one of four women ambassadors out of more than eighty. She recalled feeling “horribly out of place – half the age of most of my counterparts and one of just five female ambassadors”.  While many were supportive of her arrival, there were some in diplomatic circles who regarded her appointment with skepticism, opining that she was not a “proper” ambassador and worse, that she owed her position to nepotism: either her father’s friendship with David Miliband or, even more insultingly, to sexual favors.

One of Jules’ closing observations resonated strongly with our own work coaching young women who are moving into early leadership roles.

“If I have learnt anything about being a young leader, it’s that assumptions about what we can achieve, depending on our age, are ill-conceived”.

Brava, Jules.

We are immensely proud of our relationship with The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation. The IICF in the US has positioned itself as a leader of the global conversation on diversity and female empowerment in the insurance sector.

House of Beaufort has been invited to address the IICF’s UK flagship conference “Leading Across Generations”, involving leaders from across the insurance industry.

Companies that successfully unlock the potential of all generations within their business will not only attract and retain future talent, but will also create unique opportunities for innovation, performance and competitive advantage.

Dr. Susan Laverick is delighted to be speaking to women, at all stages of their careers in the insurance sector, about mentoring and sponsorship.

Update:

The January conference was an excellent opportunity for House of Beaufort to hear CEOs across the sector articulate, honestly and comprehensively, the key challenges that the industry faces. There was universal agreement that future business growth can only be assured if solid leadership pipelines are in place and a concerted policy to identify, develop and retain talent is implemented.  This resonated with the text of our own presentation that suggested well-conceived and organised sponsorship programmes can go a long way to securing female talent.  We subsequently reached out to CEO Dave Brosnan (CNA Hardy), Hew Evans (DG of ABI), Sian Fisher (CII) to explore how we could contribute to this important strategy. We are now pursuing discussions with individual talent managers.

Dr Susan Laverick – House of Beaufort