Women in Professional Services

Bespoke Executive Mentoring for Women

We work with high potential future female leaders in professional services firms who are ambitious to maximise performance and become Partner. Clients are usually at Director or Associate level with a strong desire to deliver unprecedented levels of commercial success and to unlock their true potential as people.

Celerity will help transform your high potential leaders into truly great leaders (and billers) as well as helping your firm to retain the very best female talent and to receive the well proven benefits of having more women closer to the top.

Celerity will inspire your most ambitious women in so many ways that are all personal to themselves as individuals, including…

Never stop being a successful woman by behaving like a man

Succeed on your own terms by being the authentic female leader you deserve to be

The gender split in most professional services firms upon graduate entry is close to 50:50.

Yet when it comes to Partner ascension, this drops to somewhere around the 20:80 mark, in favour of male candidates.

This statistic continues to exist despite the compelling business case for having more women occupy Partner or Director roles. Something is going wrong and has been for many years.

Commitment to gender balance is at an all time high, however some companies, firms and organisations are struggling to put this commitment into practice, mainly because it isn’t always being treated like the strategic imperative all the statistics prove it is.

Celerity works individually and confidentially with female Directors, Associates and other high potential ambitious women who desire the same opportunities and career success as their male counterparts.

Our primary focus is on client-facing fee earners in accountancy and law firms, consulting businesses and other professional services companies including non-competing recruitment.

We create a personalised support framework which addresses individual ambition levels, specific needs and personal challenges.

Our aim is to help clients to achieve their personal goals and to secure the advancement they deserve on their own terms and by being a successful female leader, even if their environment is still dominated by men.

Women in Professional Services Celerity

Tailored Programmes are usually based on six half-day mini retreats which are spread over a six month period. Other options are easily put in place if preferred.

Sessions are relaxed, flexible and based on complete trust and the utmost discretion. We aim to inspire the women we work with and always act patiently and with humility.

We aim to establish a strong connection with clients by empathising with their ambition levels and developing personal action plans collaboratively. We believe it is essential that there is shared understanding from the outset, and therefore that we may not always be right for everybody.

A typical Programme can include a range of subject areas depending on clients’ needs, some of the most popular include:

Ambition – Being clear about what you really want – Partner, Mother, both?

Self-management – Being comfortable pushing yourself forward and never hiding your ambition

Developing your Own Brand – Being recognised as the Trusted Advisor

Influencing – Having your voice heard and your opinions counted within the firm. Being taken seriously

Greater Self-confidence – Learn to recognise and value your strengths and address limitations

Career Strategy – A detailed career plan with building blocks and milestones

Establish Presence and Gravitas – Be memorable for all the right reasons

Networking – Using connections and influencing stakeholders

Developing an authentic leadership style – Be more like you not less

Returning from Maternity – Re-establishing yourself when everything feels different

Engaging Male Clients – Winning over PMS business givers

Increasing Fee Billings – But on your terms, not a man’s

Prepare for meetings and pitches – Be the expert advisor before walking through the door

Maximise Performance Efficiency – How to get organised for success

Above all – Having it all – But without the guilt or inner conflict

Why choose Celerity?

We believe the Celerity Women in Professional Services proposition is unique

Our focus is on helping women to increase performance levels, especially fee billings and new client acquisitions and to fast track through to achieving career goals and ambitions on their own terms.

For over two decades, literally hundreds of candidates, female and male, have been assessed for Board and senior leadership positions. During this time, we have witnessed first-hand the markedly differing attributes and styles presented by both genders.

Sharing these powerful, factual insights – not opinions – helps clients hone their personal presentation skills so that creating greater impact comes more naturally where it matters the most – in interviews, assessments and performance reviews.

Countless conversations have taken place with CEOs and Human Resources Directors about the leadership styles and personal competencies required in certain positions they are looking to fill. We bring and pass on these powerful nuances to the mentoring relationship.

We will guide you through these unwritten codes of behaviour to help realise your full potential as a high billing and high potential female leader.

Why a man?

Ian Gray has an uninterrupted track record of delivering industry leading business development success and new client acquisitions. He now works with women in professional services firms to help them increase billings and to propel themselves towards Partner on their own terms. Before Celerity, Ian was an Equity Partner in a leading UK Executive Search firm.

Based in London, we work throughout the UK and internationally, especially with clients in North America.

Please contact us on 07802 935607/ian@celerity.uk.com

CELERITY [suh–ler-i-tee] noun. swiftness; speed of motion.