Introduction and Overview
The WISCAR/McKinsey NGWL mentoring event held successfully on Friday 6th April 2018 at the Wheatbaker Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos state and commenced at 12.25pm. The event attracted Fifty women from the corporate and entrepreneurial sector. Participants were inclusive of NGWL finalists, Mentors and staff of WISCAR and McKinsey staff. The event presented a unique opportunity for the NGWL finalists to meet with high profile female CEOs and Executives from the rich WISCAR Mentorship network. The NGWL programme targets female talent across Europe, Middle East and Africa. The participants are students and experienced professionals in diverse career lines who seek to develop and explore their leadership potential.
Welcome, Keynote Address and WISCAR Introduction
The welcome address was delivered by Mr. Rogerio Mascarenhas who stated that McKinsey exists to support clients to be successful and create an environment to attract and retain the best talent in the world. He further stated that the organisation is making effort to eradicate the gender barriers that exist in the workplace by recruiting at least 50% female talent to the organisation. Mrs Topsy Kola-Oyeneyin (Associate Principal, McKinsey & Company) delivered the Keynote speech. In her speech, Mrs Kola-Oyeneyin encouraged participants to have clarity on what they want to achieve in life so they can recognise and grab opportunities when they come. She also encouraged participants to pursue personal and career development so they can perform better at whatever job they find themselves. Following the keynote speech was a brief introduction of WISCAR by the Founder & Chairperson, Mrs Amina Oyagbola. She stated that WISCAR (Women in Successful Careers) is a non-profit organization focused on empowering and developing professional women to contribute to development and growth in Nigeria and indeed Africa. The WISCAR brand stands out as a result of the visible and concrete results recorded in the last ten years of strategic mentoring and provision of an excellent opportunity for personal and professional development for young career women. She encouraged participants to join the WISCAR network to benefit from the highly structured WIN-with-WISCAR mentoring programme.
2017 NGWL Winner/Group Discussions
The 2017 winner of the NGWL programme, Mrs Sakirat Olabisi Adenuga was introduced and briefly explained her experience as the winner.
The event also featured a panel discussion which had the panellists share their best and most challenging experiences in the workplace and how they managed to overcome those challenging experiences. The panel had WISCAR Advisory Board Member Mrs Suzanne Iroche (CEO, Marnaby Ltd), WISCAR Advisory Board Member Mrs Toki Mabogunje (Principal Consultant, TMC and Deputy President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry), Mrs Ayo Megbope (Founder & CEO, No Leftovers Nigeria Ltd), Mrs Yemisi Odunsanya a.k.a Sisiyemmie (Food & Lifestyle blogger), Mrs Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji (Founder, Rise Networks), who provided strategic career advice to the participants while sharing their personal experiences.
Below are some highlights from the panel discussions;
- Your accomplishments are only as good as the many lives you are able to touch.
- Always do your best when you are given an opportunity to serve in any capacity.
- Learn to handle yourself professionally in difficult situations. Emotional intelligence is key to career advancement.
- Do not limit yourself to the role assigned to you in your job description instead volunteer for extra work to gain more knowledge and acquire new skills.
Strategic Group Discussions
Following the panel discussion was strategic group discussions on the topics; Coaching Other Women, Work-Life Balance, Getting Your Vision Across, Growing from Passion To Business, Overcoming Biases in The Workplace and Having Difficult Conversations/Feedback. The group discussions gave the participants an opportunity to engage deeply with the WISCAR mentors and ask critical questions on how to navigate through career pathways, achieve their objectives, foster their ambitions as well as live their dreams.
Final Remarks
The closing remark was made by Mrs Amuche Okeke-Agba (Associate Partner, McKinsey & Company). Mrs Okeke-Agba in her remark reiterated some quotes that stood out for her during the panel discussion. Some of the quotes include;
- Lose sight of what you do not have and keep focus on what you have.
- Humility opens the door of opportunities. Make allies with people who know the work better than you.
- True success is not about how much money you make but the impact you make in the lives of others.
- Speak words of affirmation to the people around you to validate them, it helps.
- A woman is like a teabag, you do not know how strong she is until you put her in hot water.
- Do not give up your strength by believing you do not have it.
Closing
The event closed at 3.45pm. In pursuance of the WISCAR goal to empower and develop women leaders towards development and growth in Nigeria, WISCAR continues to collaborate with McKinsey to develop the next generation of women leaders for nation building.
