Mindshare has created a new women’s leadership initiative with the legendary Charlotte Beers. The programme called Community X brings together senior women in marketing from both the client and agency side to empower one another.
Mindshare has partnered with Charlotte Beers who runs the female leadership development initiative ‘X Factor’ for WPP to deliver the programme. Beers was the female senior VP in J. Walter Thompson’s history. She then went on from there to create one of the most admired careers in advertising, becoming chairman/CEO of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide and later under secretary of state for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in the United States.
“We work with incredibly smart and talented women who are fierce advocates of the benefits of diversity in leadership within Mindshare and across our client partners,” said Nick Emery, global CEO Mindshare. “It was an irresistible idea to bring them together with Charlotte.”
Charlotte Beers said, “This has long been a dream of mine. But now we have a wealth of senior women in Mindshare and at client organisations. The programme will provide the luxury of time for them to ponder and shape further how they want to lead. It’s very like the Mindshare team to be the ones to jumpstart such an effort.”
Beers considers the first group of women saying yes to this opportunity to be “pioneers” who will kick-start the programme paving the way for many future waves. The first round of the programme included two residential sessions focusing on leadership styles and impact.
“The response from clients has been wholeheartedly positive and everyone I have spoken to is excited about what it means for the entire industry,” said Emery.
By choosing women who are already in or who are headed for big global leadership roles at both clients and agencies, Mindshare expects Community X to become a catalyst for change, with participants paving a way for other women to grow into leadership roles.
The programme is by invitation only.
