2022
WIRexec Leadership Summit Europe Agenda


11-13 October 2022
Château de Guermantes, France

Thank you to this year's Summit Sponsors!

2022 WIRexec Leadership Summit Europe Agenda

Tuesday, 11 OCTOBER

19.00-21.00 | Welcome Drinks & Dinner

WEDNESday, 12 october

7.30-8.30 | Optional Group Walk around the Estate
8.30-9.00 | Breakfast
9.00-10.00 | Kickoff with Kristin Luck & Introductions
10.00-11.00 | "Reinvention as a Leader" with Gimena Diaz
Reinvention is not a point in time exercise for Leaders. It's not just about rebranding or creating a new product suite. Each day new opportunities and challenges require creative problem solving that can often lead to some form of reinvention. Whether it be reinventing a pitch deck or reinventing your brand position or even reinventing who you are as a personal brand, reinvention is not an optional skillset for a leader. It is a necessity. In this interview with Mathilde Lelièvre, Gimena will reflect on decades as a leader, investor and women's advocate, and the pivotal points that required her to Reinvent herself.
Gimena Diaz
Session Speaker:

Gimena Diaz

+ Full Bio

Gimena Diaz is the former General Manager of PayPal France. She has 20 years’ experience in business development and management in High Tech: online and mobile services, payments, digital ID, fintech/banks, telecom and e-commerce. She worked for companies such as Schlumberger/Gemalto and she joined PayPal France at the beginning of the adventure in October 2007 to build the Business Development and Innovation team before becoming the Sales Director in 2010.

In 2012, as PayPal France General Manager and European coordinator, she grew PayPal France from 4 to 7 million users and reached 40% of e-commerce websites penetration turning PayPal into the N°1 alternative payment leader in the country. She also launched new services and experiences for PayPal in Europe throughout the four years in the role. In 2016, she moved into a more entrepreneurial adventure as board member of Paris Business Angel helping start-ups with fundraising and international development. She helped as board member and investor a number of start-ups in the social network, health and digital marketing sectors.

In 2019, Gimena Diaz joined Onfido, leader in the Digital ID based on Biometrics and Machine Learning, as VP Southern Europe Middle East and Africa. She built the team and the business in the region for three years. In 2022, she moves back to the entrepreneurship by creating a Fintech, Kallpa Finance.

Finally, Gimena Diaz is actively working on gender equality through her UN Women France role as Board Member since 2016.

Gimena is Argentinian-Italian, she has a Master in Economics and Finance at Sciences Po (2000) and a Post-Graduate Master in Telecom and Media at Dauphine PSL University (2001).

11.00-11.15 | Coffee Break
11.15-13.00 | "Reinventing our Financial Selves" with Kristin Luck and Tiama Hanson-Drury
Reinvention is not a point in time exercise for Leaders. It's not just about rebranding or creating a new product suite. Each day new opportunities and challenges require creative problem solving that can often lead to some form of reinvention. Whether it be reinventing a pitch deck or reinventing your brand position or even reinventing who you are as a personal brand, reinvention is not an optional skillset for a leader. It is a necessity. In this interview with Fiona Blades, Diane will reflect on decades as a leader and CEO and the pivotal points that required her to Reinvent herself as a leader within and outside the Research industry.
Kristin Luck
Session Speaker:

Kristin Luck

+ Full Bio

Kristin Luck serves as an advisor and growth strategist to a number of cutting-edge marketing and analytics technology and services firms through her consultancy, ScaleHouse. She is the founder of two marketing analytics companies that she led to successful exits. Kristin co-founded OTX, an online research business that was named the fastest growing research firm in the world in 2002 and 2003 and was subsequently acquired by Pilot Group and again by Ipsos in 2007. She then founded Forefront Consulting Group, a research technology firm that was acquired by Decipher. Decipher was acquired by FocusVision in 2014 after seven consecutive years of double- and triple-digit growth. FocusVision merged with Confirmit in 2021 to become Forsta, where she sat on the the Board of Directors until its recent acquisition by Press Ganey.

Kristin is a licensed investment banker with Oberon Securities and a founder focused on helping fellow founders and executive teams scale and monetize their businesses. Her deal expertise on both sides of transactions comes from participating in both acquisitions and exits from $30 million to $225 million. She is also passionate about supporting founders in international markets execute their entry into the U.S. Kristin regularly contributes to both the commercial (Fast Company, Forbes) and academic press (Research World, Journal of Brand Strategy) where she explores emerging marketing and research methods. She is consistently ranked as one of the top 100 sales and branding experts to follow on social media.

In addition to Founding, Women in Research, Kristin has also served on the board of ESOMAR, the global insights and analytics association, for eight years; including a two year term as Vice-President and a two year term as President.

Tiama Hanson-Drury
Session Speaker:

Tiama Hanson-Drury

+ Full Bio

Tiama Hanson-Drury is Chief Product Officer at Minna Technologies where she runs the global product and design functions. Prior to that, she ran products for insights & research tech companies like Dynata and Zappi. She is passionate about building product growth engines and brings extensive experience in data-driven product development in the consumer and B2B Insights platform space. Her expertise includes Product Led Growth, Transformation, Consumer Insights, B2B2C data products, B2B enterprise platforms and the increasingly complex area of personal data privacy.

Tiama is actively committed to supporting diversity, she helped develop mentorship and diversity efforts at Kantar Profiles and Zappi and served as Dynata’s Executive Diversity & Inclusion sponsor. She is an active Exec member of Women In Research (WIRe).

13.00-14.30 PM | Lunch & Free Time
14.30-15.30 | "This is How We Rise" with Nadia Edwards-Dashti
The gross gender imbalance across Financial Technology is both a historical and a present one. While being a woman may have once held professionals in the industry back, new and intersecting issues have emerged to complicate a more equitable workplace in this space. In this session, we’ll look at feedback from over 200 female leaders and answers questions like:

- What can be done about the lack of gender balance?
- What can and should we all be doing to help?
- What barriers do we face?
- And, lastly, what positive steps are being taken by those in this field?

Session leader Nadia Edwards-Dashti will cover the journey of writing her new book, FinTech Women Walk the Talk: Moving the Needle for Workplace Gender Equality in Financial Services and Beyond. The text shares quotes with over 100 women leaders in the FinTech space as well as examples and findings that can be applied across industries. Nadia will also share experiences from her podcast series, FinTech with Nadia: The DEI Discussions, which has been interviewing industry leaders since 2019 on topics such as career paths, challenges, and being a force for change.
Nadia Edwards-Dashti
Session Speaker:

Nadia Edwards-Dashti

+ Full Bio

Nadia Edwards-Dashti co-founded the Harrington Starr Group in 2010, a leading Financial Technology recruitment business with offices in London, New York and Belfast. In 18 years in the financial services technology sector, she has been responsible for helping over 2000 people find jobs and has grown from a trainee to a Chief Customer Officer. She runs the Podcast Series ‘FinTech with Nadia: The DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) Discussions’ to story tell the challenges and successes of this industry. Nadia has written a book through Palgrave Macmillan, ‘Fintech Women Walk the Talk: Moving the needle for workplace gender equality in financial Services and beyond’ and within it quotes 100+ of her podcast interviewees.

Winner of Investing in Talent 2019 Awards - Most Inspirational Recruitment Leader, Innovate Finance: Women in FinTech Powerlist, FinTech Magazine Top 100 Women in FinTech 2022, Partner to the University of East London: Centre of FinTech

15.30-17.30 | "Re-imagine, Re-create & Re-design Future You - Make it Real"
How much of what you love to spend time doing, do you actually spend time doing? Do you even know the things that light you up and give you a true sense of happiness purpose and fulfilment. Or is that something you hope to chance upon sometime when you are not so busy building a slide-deck, a career, a family, an empire...?

My father gave me a book when I was about 12 yrs old called ‘If you don’t know where you are going, you might end up somewhere else!’ – how many times have you wondered, or heard someone else say ‘I’m not really sure what I want to be when I grow up’ or ‘what would I do if I didn’t work?’ Some people know and work towards it, others have a niggling sense of missing something but get busy being busy and never quite figure it out. I wish I had read that book back then!

We will spend time during this session figuring out:
1. The experiences in our lives when we have felt truly content and happy
2. What was present in those moments that made it so
3. How we can find more moments like that and build them into our lives
4. How a little bit of what we love (a spoon full of sugar) helps us through the more mundane or irksome tasks that need to get done (helps the medicine go down)
Ali Gowans
Session Speaker:

Ali Gowans

+ Full Bio

Specialising in Executive Leadership Coaching, Ali’s career has been honed ‘in the field’ working for, with, as and alongside Leaders. Formative years spent in both Operations and L&D within a large global airline, gave Ali first-hand experience and deep insight into the critical impact leader’s behaviour has in creating working environments in which people feel able to develop and thrive both professionally and personally. After 13 yrs of rich experience Ali transitioned successfully into an independent leadership coaching career which has since spanned 25yrs working with many diverse industries and clients across the world. To mention some, but not all, BT, Trailfinders, Expedia, Virgin Retail, Danone, United Airlines, Delta, Borealis, Flaktwoods, Xerox, Hamptons International, Phillip Morris, Köhler, Star Alliance, Shell, Etihad.....

In 2004 Ali was approached to partner with CRA Inc in the USA as an associate within the leadership faculty providing Executive Leadership Coaching for many valued clients across EMEA, ASIAPAC & the USA including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, C.I.T., BNPParibas, Debevoise & Plimpton, Acacia Mining, BorgWarner, Davidson Kempner, Oppenheimer & Tory Burch.

Widely experienced across a variety of industries, Ali has a reputation for achieving results in organizations undergoing transformational change, building capability and confidence for people in their roles and in successfully influencing resistant mindsets.

Outside of the corporate world, Ali often coaches private individuals to push through challenges they feel are holding them or their organizations back. One amazing opportunity was spent in India supporting the Maharaja of Udaipur refine operationalnand service leadership across his 12 luxury palace hotels throughout Rajasthan. With a love of travel and curiosity for people & learning, Ali relishes opportunities to soak up new experiences which deepen and inform her Coaching practice.

Coaching is increasingly recognised as the accelerator in peoples’ success stories both professionally and personally. Ali believes coaching leaders to lead well is an enormous privilege even when the message leaders need to hear is a tough one. If it is the key to leaders building better relationships, reputation and results, Ali will deliver it in a way it can be heard.

17.30-18.30 | Free Time
19.00 | Drinks + Dinner

THURSDAY, 13 october

7.15-8.45 | (Optional) Group Yoga
9.00-9.30 | Kick-off and Day1 Reflection over Buffet Breakfast
9.30-10.30 | "Moments of Now – How to Find Joy in a Tough World"
When we get into a negative mindset it can spiral down and we lose sight of things that make us feel a positive emotion. With over 3000 emotions the average human has access to, it’s no wonder we can be overwhelmed if we don’t actively seek the positive at times. It is not a case of just thinking positively and turning ‘every obstacle into a challenge’ although that’s one way to do it, or even knowing ‘that every cloud (may) have a silver lining’ or ‘turning a Sow’s ear into a silk purse’ (I could go on!) sometimes we have to dig deeper and change our ‘stories’. We may even need a little magic!

We will spend time during this session figuring out what it takes to push through:
1. Furthering our Thinking from the previous session
2. Naming the little things (and big things) that lift our spirits and enable a positive feeling to be felt...even fleetingly!
3. Using the right ‘vehicles’ for high and low terrain ahead – there’s 10 of them!
4. Re-writing our stories....with a little magic!
Ali Gowans
Session Speaker:

Ali Gowans

+ Full Bio

Specialising in Executive Leadership Coaching, Ali’s career has been honed ‘in the field’ working for, with, as and alongside Leaders. Formative years spent in both Operations and L&D within a large global airline, gave Ali first-hand experience and deep insight into the critical impact leader’s behaviour has in creating working environments in which people feel able to develop and thrive both professionally and personally. After 13 yrs of rich experience Ali transitioned successfully into an independent leadership coaching career which has since spanned 25yrs working with many diverse industries and clients across the world. To mention some, but not all, BT, Trailfinders, Expedia, Virgin Retail, Danone, United Airlines, Delta, Borealis, Flaktwoods, Xerox, Hamptons International, Phillip Morris, Köhler, Star Alliance, Shell, Etihad.....

In 2004 Ali was approached to partner with CRA Inc in the USA as an associate within the leadership faculty providing Executive Leadership Coaching for many valued clients across EMEA, ASIAPAC & the USA including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, C.I.T., BNPParibas, Debevoise & Plimpton, Acacia Mining, BorgWarner, Davidson Kempner, Oppenheimer & Tory Burch.

Widely experienced across a variety of industries, Ali has a reputation for achieving results in organizations undergoing transformational change, building capability and confidence for people in their roles and in successfully influencing resistant mindsets.

Outside of the corporate world, Ali often coaches private individuals to push through challenges they feel are holding them or their organizations back. One amazing opportunity was spent in India supporting the Maharaja of Udaipur refine operationalnand service leadership across his 12 luxury palace hotels throughout Rajasthan. With a love of travel and curiosity for people & learning, Ali relishes opportunities to soak up new experiences which deepen and inform her Coaching practice.

Coaching is increasingly recognised as the accelerator in peoples’ success stories both professionally and personally. Ali believes coaching leaders to lead well is an enormous privilege even when the message leaders need to hear is a tough one. If it is the key to leaders building better relationships, reputation and results, Ali will deliver it in a way it can be heard.

10.30-10.45 | Break
10.45-11.45 | "It’s All in Your Head: Programming your Mind for Success" with Fiona McKinnon
We are the most incredible data processors in the world.  Our minds have the power to make us happy, to make us sad, and to create wonder in the world from music to architecture. But how much time do we spend on autopilot versus conscious decision making?

It is thought we have up to 60,000 thoughts a day; creating endless opportunities for choice and change.  However, as humans, our default thinking is set to ‘negative’, meaning we spend 70% of our lives in anticipation of the worst case scenario.

However, there is good news! Just like our physical fitness, our minds can be trained to become stronger, flexible and more resilient. Mindfulness, Breathwork and Meditation, tools recommended by the NHS, are our main operating systems - the CTRL, ALT , DEL that triggers a reboot in our mind, creativity and outlook.

Join Fiona, Co-founder of Moment Company to better understand how you can learn to develop mental fitness, master your mindset, and experience simple, quick, techniques you can use throughout your busy day to recharge.
Fiona McKinnon
Session Speaker:

Fiona McKinnon

+ Full Bio

Fiona McKinnon is the cofounder and CEO of Moment Company.

Burnout was the catalyst for change in Fiona’s life and career.  After 22 years of living, working and travelling around the world as an executive in the AdTech and Media industry for brands such as The Guardian, CNN and Warner Media in Europe, Australia, USA and Canada, Fiona experienced first-hand the physical and mental impact of not being able to say No!!

It was at this point that she became curious about the connection between our mind, stress and our body’s reaction, which led to her practising Transcendental Meditation and breathwork, and to train in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), Mindfulness and Reiki.  The impact was profound and life changing.

Fiona co-founded Moment Company in 2020 with Alex Strang and Charlie Cadbury to bring together the techniques that helped them overcome stress and burnout.  They are passionate about sharing the benefits of taking mindful Moments throughout the busy working day to improve mental fitness, mindset control and to build happier healthier lives.

11.45-12.45 | "Six Million-Dollar Question — Now What?"
Intellectually we can understand the advice that books, quotes, teachers, colleagues, coaches, parents, Uncle Tom Cobbly and all seek to persuade us will be good for us and we often know the actions we ought to take to achieve some of the things we know we would feel better about if we did ‘em! – e.g 30 Press-Ups every day and no more crisps! It’s not that we lack the knowledge to plan but that we don’t plan for the act.

We will spend time during this session figuring out:
1. A simple and strategic path to get results.
2. Identifying the ‘Tensions’ that take us off track and potentially stuck in negative thoughts, feelings, roles, and relationships
3. Navigating the ‘Mat of Motivation’ and choosing possibility without strings
4. What to aggressively diarise to make ‘it’ happen
Ali Gowans
Session Speaker:

Ali Gowans

+ Full Bio

Specialising in Executive Leadership Coaching, Ali’s career has been honed ‘in the field’ working for, with, as and alongside Leaders. Formative years spent in both Operations and L&D within a large global airline, gave Ali first-hand experience and deep insight into the critical impact leader’s behaviour has in creating working environments in which people feel able to develop and thrive both professionally and personally. After 13 yrs of rich experience Ali transitioned successfully into an independent leadership coaching career which has since spanned 25yrs working with many diverse industries and clients across the world. To mention some, but not all, BT, Trailfinders, Expedia, Virgin Retail, Danone, United Airlines, Delta, Borealis, Flaktwoods, Xerox, Hamptons International, Phillip Morris, Köhler, Star Alliance, Shell, Etihad.....

In 2004 Ali was approached to partner with CRA Inc in the USA as an associate within the leadership faculty providing Executive Leadership Coaching for many valued clients across EMEA, ASIAPAC & the USA including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, C.I.T., BNPParibas, Debevoise & Plimpton, Acacia Mining, BorgWarner, Davidson Kempner, Oppenheimer & Tory Burch.

Widely experienced across a variety of industries, Ali has a reputation for achieving results in organizations undergoing transformational change, building capability and confidence for people in their roles and in successfully influencing resistant mindsets.

Outside of the corporate world, Ali often coaches private individuals to push through challenges they feel are holding them or their organizations back. One amazing opportunity was spent in India supporting the Maharaja of Udaipur refine operationalnand service leadership across his 12 luxury palace hotels throughout Rajasthan. With a love of travel and curiosity for people & learning, Ali relishes opportunities to soak up new experiences which deepen and inform her Coaching practice.

Coaching is increasingly recognised as the accelerator in peoples’ success stories both professionally and personally. Ali believes coaching leaders to lead well is an enormous privilege even when the message leaders need to hear is a tough one. If it is the key to leaders building better relationships, reputation and results, Ali will deliver it in a way it can be heard.

13.00-14.00 | Lunch
14.00-15.30 | "The Leader's Secret Code: The Belief Systems That Distinguish Winners" with Mark Ridley and Rob Marklove
What makes a great leader? Why are some leaders more successful than others? Is there a formula that you can follow to emulate the best of the best? Join this session to hear Mark Ridley and Rob Marklove divulge findings from the recently published book ‘The Leader’s Secret Code’, and gain insights that answer these very questions. Discover how a leader’s focus should be less on what they do and how they behave, but more centred on what causes them to behave in the way they do – their beliefs and values. In this session you will:  
1. Delve into the global research conducted into a portion of the world’s top-performing leaders
2. Uncover the common belief systems that drove their behaviour and caused their success
3. Receive a personalised psychometric report to help you measure your current effectiveness and compare yourself to the top performers
4. Learn how to grow your leadership performance
Mark Ridley
Session Speaker:

Mark Ridley

+ Full Bio

Mark is the Founding Director of Transform Performance International, a performance improvement consultancy that unlocks growth through behavioural and cultural change.

Following a corporate background in financial services and technology, Mark co-founded Transform Performance in 1999. Since then he has led performance improvement projects for clients in over 60 countries. He has worked as a strategist, chair and facilitator with global brands, investment houses and academic institutions. His creativity has ensured that Transform Performance International has a well-earned reputation for inspiring leadership and coaching talent, growing sales and transforming the way people communicate. In short, delivering results through change.

Mark’s expertise lies in improvement at an individual, team and organisational level, through changes in mindsets, attitudes and beliefs. He has also led research projects into belief systems which drive behaviours affecting individual, team and organisational performance (subsequently published as co-authored best-selling books). As a coach and mentor, he develops emotional intelligence ​in others to enhance their interpersonal relationships in an increasingly virtual world where the manner and style of engagement can make or break internal collaboration and external customer success.

Mark is co-author of The Leader’s Secret Code, The Salesperson’s Secret Code and ​100 BIG IDEAS TO HELP YOU SUCCEED.

Rob Marklove
Session Speaker:

Rob Marklove

+ Full Bio

Rob Marklove is the Managing Director of Transform Performance International, a performance improvement consultancy that unlocks growth through behavioural and cultural change. Transform Performance has delivered award winning solutions in over 60 countries, in local languages, for clients such as Microsoft, GfK, American Express, Kantar, System1, Deloitte and Ashtead PLC.

Rob develops and implements the company’s business strategies by creating, executing and monitoring the performance of business plans. He is passionate about professional development and employee engagement in pursuit of company goals. Previously, Rob was the Commercial Director and still has a large involvement in helping clients get the most value from the services that we deliver. He organises, speaks and facilitates events in the sales and leadership specialisms to help other professionals in their development.

Connect with Rob on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/robmarklove.

15.30-17.00 | Summit Wrap Up: "Bringing it All Together"