We have partnerships across North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. We work with various organisations across diverse industries including global financial services, health and life sciences enterprises, retail businesses and public organisations – tailoring interventions specifically to the needs of the context and the client.
“A quick note to thank you for the training you conducted over the last few days. It was very well received and once again you have done a great job! I am always impressed how you land a project so well, in time and with grace! Every time I work with you - I gain so much!"
“It was a fantastic way to build relationships, expand my network and learn very practical methods to run meetings - making sure everyone is heard and building a safe, engaging, thinking environment where they feel comfortable to speak up. This is the one of the main goals of the Ethics and Compliance function and I have already scheduled a number of meetings to talk about the thinking environment to the broader E&C team. I would definitely recommend the program and not only for women!”
“The work that you do has long-lasting impact. I will forever be grateful for my experience and how it has shaped me as a women, wife, mother and leader."
“This is by far the best leadership program I have participated in. Your methods were simple but tremendously effective and I particularly appreciate how you connected with each participant and assisted our journey to self-awareness.”
“I wanted to take a moment to say a well-deserved congratulations. I couldn’t be prouder of what we have accomplished for the 2020 cohort, and it was all thanks to you and your leadership. Your thoughtfulness, adaptability and design capabilities continue to impress me and show in the feedback from the regional leads and participants. Thank you for all that you do for J&J."
“It was so good to reflect on the past eight years since I had participated in the Nestlé Leadership Advancement Programme in 2007 and to get reinforcement on the three key things that helped me since, to do things as a leader in a different way as in the words from the article: “What I am after is to help people genuinely embed new ways of doing things.
I still remark to my friends, colleagues and business associates what a profound impact NLAP had on my life, personally and professionally. I mention “personally” first intentionally, as NLAP indeed changed me deeply on a personal level in my day-to-day engagements and interactions with people from all walks of life in two respects; 1) listen – deep listening and 2) reflection – thinking deeply about what has happened, what are my responses and what are the potential consequences of my decisions and behaviours given any situation or circumstance.
Just this morning I was reading in my early morning devotion time about the power of that moment of silence which a leader must respect and harness when asking somebody else a question…to allow and afford the other person the opportunity to think - one of the most important things that leaders do not allow their subordinates and teams enough opportunity to do in my humble opinion.
So, just to say thank you and let you know that I will always be grateful for the opportunity I had, to go through NLAP and be blessed to have had you as a wonderful teacher and coach."
“I hope it doesn’t come as a surprise to you, you have blown me away! I have never participated on a program remotely resembling ASCEND. The atmosphere and open sharing you inspire is unprecedented. There is so much you have given me, that I could be listing it for pages. However, I’ll remain succinct and substantial.
I am most grateful for you gifting me myself. Finally, at the age of 42, I believe that what I am and what I bring is enough. You inspire me to make people surrounding me feel the same, so what you started has a domino effect and has the potential to change our world. I know there are trying times, we have even discussed some, but please never stop! There is a huge need for your kind of magic."
"Over the weekend I at some point had a moment where I reflected again on the SLDP experience of 2017 and the amazing impact it had on my career. It was actually triggered after Rigitte asked me how my new role was going – some context below – and my response was “SLDP prepared me so well for this challenge!
First things first – as you know, the SLDP kick-started a personal wellbeing journey for me, which featured strongly during 2018. During the year I continued with my exercise regime and I also actively prepared for the biggest challenge so far – running a 42km marathon. On the 3rd of November last year I woke up at 2am in the morning so that I could catch a bus from Nelspruit stadium to travel to Kaapsehoop (in Mpumalanga) where my race started at 5.30 in the morning. Exactly 4 hours and 55 minutes later I managed to finish my first marathon – a full 5 minutes faster than my personal target. J This was probably one of the most amazing personal moments of my life: as I crossed the finish line, I realised in that how very far I have come in this personal journey. Something that I – as you know – firmly attribute to the SLDP course and your kind and subtle encouragement during a lunch/dinner or two.
On the work front – early this year I was promoted to head up the retail business in Momentum Investments. This was a massive opportunity for me personally – something which I have been working hard at for at least 6 months. This new opportunity came with two interesting challenges. The first being that I am not heading up the business alone as we are two executives that are collectively responsible for running the business. I have to admit that this is quite a unique setup (even for Momentum), but somehow it just works for me and Theo. I think the benefit of “diversity creates a better view of reality” really plays a massive role here as we complement each other incredibly well. And even though we sometimes think very differently about things, the two of us really work well together. I do believe that the skills from the course also made this unusual situation a success. The second challenge is that I was promoted out of a group of peers – hence, a peer became a leader. I am sure that you understand the challenges that this has introduced for me and Theo, from a people perspective. It is here where I truly value all the skills and techniques that we were taught at SLDP – I had to ensure that I approach this as very much “below the line”, and how I engage with the team members was crucial. This is not only true for one-on-one engagements, but also team rituals and engagements, ensuring that we empower the team. And I will confess, I did not always handle it as I should, but the beauty was that where I didn’t, it was so obvious afterwards what I did wrong (hence not what SLDP taught us) and I could quickly adjust and rectify it for the next engagement. I truly believe that this transition would have been infinitely more difficult if I were not so well equipped.
Quite a long story, but in short, I still value and apply the SLDP skills each and every day. I am eternally grateful for your input into my life and career and can never say enough “Thank you’s”. I really hope that thousands more can experience the incredible value that you and your teachings can offer…"
“I thoroughly enjoyed connecting with you again during the ASCEND R3 in SG last week. You have great poise, intelligence, presence and experience. The sharing and the discussion session of the last day of R3 leaves a powerful note that will continue to propel each and every one of us to practice our signature presence, articulate the strategic intent and accelerate to make a greater impact to the communities.
It is definitely one of the most significant moments of my career development and I have you to thank for this. I look forward to staying in touch with you and practicing on a daily basis the great learnings.”
“As I look back on the course, I truly believe that it was not the content or message that was groundbreaking, but the framing and delivery…and that, frankly, is owed completely to you. I have never been in a class/training/event where I have so quickly built trust and comradery, and I know that comes down to your very unique approach. You helped us to break down those barriers that we hold in place without even realising it…you embraced our scepticism and doubt and helped us to look for our own truth and, in doing so, help our peers find and embrace their own as well.
Introspection is something that I find extremely uncomfortable, but I really meant it when I said that this course showed me that discomfort can lead to great learning. I will carry that lesson forward, along with so much more. In the end, I just wanted to offer my thanks – for you being your authentic self and for showing us that different is good, introspection is necessary and that we are surrounded and now, supported, by a group of amazing, dynamic, intelligent, thoughtful, unique women who have the capacity to change the world.”
“ASCEND has truly, really been such a tremendous guide for me over the past year. Whereas most leadership courses leave a fantastic impression and fulfil you with good intentions initially, they then tend to fade away. With ASCEND, it is rather the opposite. My experience was somehow inspiring and shocking at the same time. Rather than fading away, I think some of the learnings intensify more and more as time passes on and new experiences cross my path.”
“In the Ascend 10 years booklet, you've described your job as a learning facilitation specialised in leadership practice program. This is a very humble description. In reality, you are empowering people to break down their own psychological barriers, free themselves from fate and realise their aspirations. For me, you are the magician of destiny.”
“I feel like I have transformed into a different version of myself, and I can feel that making me a better leader and a better person in general.”
“When I look back on my 7 years at J&J I can say without any doubt that Ascend was by far the most impactful experience of my personal and professional life. It changed the way I think about my career and myself, and opened up a future of possibilities I hadn't envisioned.”
“Your program is such a departure from the traditional Chevron leadership trainings, which shined an entirely new light on what it means to be a leader – a female leader in a male dominated industry. I can’t praise both of you enough for all the insights, philosophy’s, and for such a well thought out design and deployment of leadership “training”. You really taught me so much about my leadership style/journey, my signature presence and the pitfalls that seem to call us like a siren. I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to participate in a truly groundbreaking, pivotal experience.”