The Latest Insights from Leading NOW

Research Identifies Key Elements to Build a Culture of Belonging BOSTON, March 21, 2024 -- Leading NOW, the award-winning leadership authority and advisor to organizations seeking to create more equitable cultures, today released the latest research from its global think tank, the Center for Diversity & Inclusion (CDI) on The Importance of Belonging in the Workplace™. Research shows that underrepresented populations have a significantly lower feeling of belonging @ work than their counterparts, resulting in higher and more rapid turnover––a serious issue for organizations. However, what that research does not do is tell organizations what to do about it. Until now. The Executive Summary of the CDI research is available upon request and breaks down the think tank's discoveries by identifying the barriers and key elements that organizations must address to build a culture of belonging. The findings include how to understand an organization's culture type, its impact on belonging & engagement, leadership mindsets and the behaviors of leadership styles and how they impact belonging @ work. Kelly Lockwood Primus, CEO of Leading NOW, says "In a tight talent market, building a culture of belonging is critical to retaining top talent. And while organizations have been focused on engaging and retaining employees through inclusion initiatives, the problem persists because expectations are different for today's talent than previous generations. Our research delves into the why and what leaders should do to shift their behaviors and mindsets to support expectations of the newest generations, and to truly evolve the culture of their organization." Leading NOW will also present The Importance of Belonging in the Workplace research in a LIVE webinar on Wednesday, April 10, 2024 @ 12:00 pm/noon ET. This complimentary webinar is open to all, but seats are limited. To learn more and to register, visit our event page.

As you begin to implement your planning for the coming year, it is important to recognize that leaders also need development opportunities.

It’s a wrap! After delivering 22 of our best-in-class leadership workshops to a sold-out crowd at the #1 ranked women’s leadership conference in Las Vegas, the early reviews by participants of our sessions rated them, in a word, spectacular. We couldn’t be more delighted to share that our amazing team delivered all of the skill-building workshops at WLC 2023, spanning three tracks of learning to over 1000+ attendees, with overwhelmingly positive accolades!

Leading NOW, the award-winning leadership authority and advisor to organizations seeking to create more equitable cultures, announces the expansion of its global team of experts. Joining the team as Senior Consultants are Abby Wen Wu, Allison Conigliaro-Hubbard, Joyel Crawford, Quendrida Whitmore, and Alison Lazenby––all accomplished business leaders with impressive credentials, to contribute to Leading NOW's work with its growing roster of clients. "As our business continues to flourish, I am thrilled to add such amazing talent to our global team of senior consultants, each of whom bring with them a broad range of leadership knowledge," said Kelly Primus, CEO Leading NOW. "One of our key differentiators is our focus on bringing together experienced business people to solve the problems businesses face. These successful and inspiring women are a natural fit for our team and the work we do, as they can speak from their own unique experiences to help our clients achieve successful business outcomes." Abby Wen Wu joins Leading NOW with an extensive background in Leadership, Organizational Transformation and Change. Abby worked in private equity and corporate finance at Bank of America and as a consultant for Deloitte where she supported organizations, including Apple, Celgene and Amgen, through large-scale change projects in HR and digital transformation. Allison Conigliaro-Hubbard joins Leading NOW with over 26 years in global tech enterprise Sales and Product Marketing Leadership within large and mid-sized organizations that include Cisco, Brocade, Autodesk, Riverbed, and a start-up exit to Microsoft. Allison holds coaching certifications from the International Coach Federation (ICF), Co-Active Training Institute (CPCC), and Cornell University in Women's Executive Leadership, and Diversity and Inclusion. Joyel Crawford joins Leading NOW after an 18-year career at Verizon Wireless where she was a Manager of Management and Employee Development in charge of the Leadership Development programs for over 20,000 Verizon employees. She is a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC), hosts a podcast called "Career View Mirror®" and is author of the Amazon Bestselling book "Show Your Ask: Using Your Voice to Advocate for Yourself and Your Career". Joyel holds an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Quendrida Whitmore, a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC), joins Leading NOW after a successful 25-year career in the retail industry where she gained extensive leadership experience at Target Corporation culminating in the role of Senior Director in Operations. Her retail trajectory took her to Ross Stores where she was promoted up to Regional Vice President of Operations before her career led her to become a Senior Vice President in hospitality and operations with WeWork as Head of Community. Quendrida holds a EdD in Organizational Change and Leadership from USC and an MBA from Texas Woman's University. Alison Lazenby re-joins Leading NOW after a brief hiatus while completing her permanent move back to her native United Kingdom. Alison's decades-long cross-industry experience as a change and leadership expert, includes a 15-year run as Managing Director of Leadership Development at Root Inc. Prior to Root, she was an executive in the premium drink industry in Europe for Diageo's iconic brands, Archers, Smirnoff, Malibu, Cinzano, Gilbey's Gin, Bombay Sapphire. Please join us in welcoming these dynamic business people to our global team of experts. To learn more about all of our experienced business consultants visit Leading NOW's Team page.

For over 20 years, Leading Women, a division of Leading NOW, has been advocating for gender parity in leadership by supporting women’s organizations around the globe. But did you know that one of the many ways we do this is through providing our proprietary leadership content to conferences for associations and organizations across all industries? Our skill-building and development workshops focus on business, strategic, and financial acumen; strategic relationships; and mentoring, and provide the kind of training needed for career advancement and success. To reach as many women as possible, we have been bringing our exceptional leadership development content to our partners’ industry conferences, creating customized certification programs, and creating events that have literally changed an entire industry. Here are just a few examples of the different kinds of programming we offer.

BOSTON, MA – May 2, 2023 – Leading NOW, a global consultancy that provides customized leadership development solutions, is pleased to announce it has been recognized by HR Tech Outlook as a Top 10 Leadership Development Services Provider for 2023, and featured among an elite group of companies in the Leadership Development special edition of HR Tech Outlook magazine.

According to a recent article in CEO World, among the top 3 things that are keeping CEO’s up at night is the strength of their people. But it’s not physical strength that keeps them awake. It’s the strength of their current and future leadership talent that has them concerned.

Having a culture of Inclusion is not only about checking off the boxes for diversity. It’s about diversity of thought, and making sure everyone in the organization feels secure enough to express themselves without fear of retribution. It means creating a psychologically safe workplace where those on teams feel comfortable enough to take risks, express their ideas and concerns, ask questions, and admit mistakes – all without fear of negative consequences. How do you create a psychologically safe workplace and what are the benefits of doing so?

A dedicated professional development program to diversify leadership and empower underrepresented talent in the industry

Women-owned organization, Leading NOW, to support the women's leadership conference, C-Store Women's event.