WeAreTheCity speaks to Mandy Flint, CEO of Excellence in Leadership & Co-Author of ‘The Leader’s Guide to Impact’ and Elisabet Hearn, Co-Founder of Think Solutions, CEO of Katapult Partners & Co-Author of ‘The Leader’s Guide to Impact’.
Mandy and Elisabet are also two of the keynote speakers at our upcoming WeAreFutureLeaders conference on 24 May.
Mandy Flint is an international expert on leadership impact, teams and cultural behavioural change. She is CEO of Excellence in Leadership and works across the world delivering transformational change programmes and C-suite coaching. Mandy studied at Harvard Business School and is a fellow of the London Metropolitan Business School. She is also an established speaker at leadership and cultural change events around the globe. Mandy worked as a senior leader for American Express internationally for 14 years.
Mandy and Elisabet have written two multi award-winning books on team leadership. Their third book “The Leader’s Guide to Impact”, by Financial Times Publishing is released April 2019.
Elisabet Vinberg Hearn is an international expert on leadership impact, teams and people-first digital transformations, operating as leadership strategist, speaker and executive coach. She is co-founder of Think Solutions and CEO of Katapult Partners. Elisabet has an MBA in Leadership & Sustainability and has studied Sustainability Management at Cambridge University and AI strategy at MIT CSAIL.
Mandy and Elisabet have written two multi award-winning books on team leadership. Their third book “The Leader’s Guide to Impact”, by Financial Times Publishing is released April 2019.
At the conference, Mandy and Elisabet will be discussing impactful leadership. Discover the full agenda for the day here.
WeAreFutureLeaders, now in its third year, is a conference aimed at women (below Director level) who wish to progress in their career or who are preparing for promotion. This is not a conference that labours about the lack of women in leadership positions, this full day learning event where our guests will gain real tangible skills that they can take back in to the workplace the following day.
You can find out more about the conference and book your place here.
Can you tell us a little about your background? Where you’ve come from, where you’ve worked, how you got to where you are today?
Mandy worked for American Express for 14 years and Elisabet for 13 years, both working in various of leadership roles at a senior level and wanting to help and inspire people. Have loved building up a big, strong network with contacts all over the world, having worked in an international environment for 25+ years.
Did you ever sit down and plan your career?
Mandy: I planned where I wanted to get to, what I wanted to achieve – but not the steps to get there. I never took my eyes off the ultimate outcome though.
Elisabet: I don’t like detailed plans, but being strategic and future focused, I have always been driven to move forward all the time – and to always be true to myself, which has greatly helped me in the choices I’ve made.
What inspired you to get involved with in motivational speaking?
We chose to write books (our 3rd books is out 17 April) together in order to reach more people, sharing our experience and stories – and that has led to more speaking, but it wasn’t necessarily what we sought. We enjoy it very much thoughJ
Do you have a favourite experience from your career?
Elisabet: Realising that I am completely in charge of my own experience, career and life.
Mandy: If I just trust myself and believe in myself, then the results just happen. Focusing on what I’m good at, not what I’m not good at.
What do you think WeAreFutureLeaders guests will gain from your talk?
Insightful reflection on the impact they have and can have on themselves, others and the world around.
What are your top three tips for success?
- Use your strengths
- Be open to others to be able to be more innovative (diversity and difference is great)
- Think bigger than the job you have (=be strategic, think long-term)
What has been your biggest challenge during your career?
We find this question difficult to answer…. We see challenges as opportunities to learn and push ourselves, to innovate – and as such there is not one (for either one of us) that sticks out as the biggest.
Which female role models are you most inspired by?
This is easy! Our mothers; who are dynamic, genuine, accepting, loving and endlessly optimistic.
In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle for women at work and how can it be overcome?
We have never felt that we were ever treated differently for being women. We both worked for Amex for 13 and 14 years respectively and reflecting on our experience, we realise that we were part of a forward-looking organisation in a formative part of our career. So, with that experience of equality, we continued to expect equality and have genuinely had that.
If you could change one thing to accelerate the pace of change for Gender Parity, what would it be?
Equal pay, from a gender perspective.
What piece of advice would you give to your younger self?
Be yourself, be authentic, you’re great!
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