We Are Power Podcast
The We Are Power podcast is the podcast for your career and your life. A weekly podcast with listeners in over 60 countries worldwide where you'll hear personal life stories, top-notch industry advice, and key leadership insight from amazing role models. The podcast not only aids your personal and professional development but also delves deep into conversations around Gender Equality and Social Mobility. Each week the We Are Power Podcast will bring you a new interview from a leader within the 100,000-strong We Are Power community, hosted by Simone Roche MBE.
We Are Power Podcast
Why Prioritising Mental Health and Inclusivity is Key to Workplace Success with Eloise Lenacross
What if you could transform your workplace into a hub of innovation, well-being, and inclusivity? In this powerful episode of the We Are Power Podcast, we’re joined by Eloise Leonard-Cross, the Group Head of People at Northumbrian Water and winner of this year’s Northern Power Women Awards in the Large Organisation category. Eloise takes us on an inspiring journey, sharing her insights on why prioritising mental health, individuality, and well-being is essential for a thriving workplace.
Discover how side hustles, like mentoring and serving as a school governor, help Eloise stay creative and bring fresh ideas into her professional life. She also introduces the concept of the "wellness reservoir," a tool that helps balance what replenishes your mental health versus what drains it, offering a roadmap to integrate wellness into daily life for a more productive and harmonious work environment.
But the conversation doesn’t stop there. Eloise also dives into the critical importance of fostering a culture of inclusivity and open communication in the workplace. Learn about her innovative approach to creating "safe spaces" for employees to share ideas, and how winning prestigious awards has expanded her mindset and inspired global change. From exciting innovation festivals in Australia and Iceland to driving diversity and culture shifts at Northumbrian Water, Eloise’s experience offers fresh perspectives on workplace transformation.
Tune in to hear how prioritising mental health and individuality, fostering inclusivity, and embracing side hustles can drive both personal and organisational success.
Here’s what we cover in this episode:
00:00 – Welcome to the We Are Power Podcast
00:46 – Introducing Eloise Lenacross
01:18 – The Importance of Side Hustles
02:20 – Prioritising Mental Health and Wellness
06:31 – Creating Inclusive Work Environments
13:36 – The Power of Mentoring
16:44 – Exciting Initiatives at Northumbrian Water
17:59 – Join the Innovation Festival
19:21 – Closing Remarks
Join us for an episode filled with wisdom, inspiration, and actionable insights on how to create a workplace where everyone can thrive. Stay connected on our social channels for more transformational updates and conversations.
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Hello, hello and welcome to the we Are Power podcast. If this is your first time here, the we Are Power podcast is the podcast for you, your career and your life. We release an episode every single Monday with listeners in over 60 countries worldwide, where you'll hear personal life stories, top-notch industry advice and key leadership insight from amazing role models. As we Are Power is the umbrella brand to Northern Power Women Awards, which celebrates hundreds of female role models and advocates every year. This is where you can hear stories from all of our awards alumni and stay up to date with everything MPW Awards and we Are Power.
Speaker 1:Today I'm joined by Eloise Lenacross, who is the group head of people at Northumbrian Water Limited, the winner of our large organisation at this year's Northern Power Women Awards. Eloise is passionate about skills development, also in her own spare time which I don't know where you find the time for from that is a mentor and a school governor and leads on health, wellness, inclusion, diversity, change management and culture shift initiatives. Hey, how are you doing? Welcome to the podcast, thank you, I'm doing well. Thanks, mel. And we've talked about those multiple year roles that you've got, both within Northumbria Water and then outside um. Especially, you're a governor and a mentor. How important are those side hustles to you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a great question, actually one we've been having recently because we've um, we've undertaken some research into mid-career and had this really interesting conversation around where do you get your sort of richness and different perspectives from? And for me, it's absolutely it's about that. You know you have your kind of core role, like many people, but all of these other activities, programs, organizations you're involved with give you that totally fresh and different perspective that really challenges what you do and how you do it. So, yeah, it definitely gives me energy, but also gives me insight and helps me innovate in what I do in Northumbria Water Group.
Speaker 1:Exactly. Is that innovation? I think isn't it. I think we talk a lot about innovation, thinking that it's something that is coded or whatever, but actually it's that richness, like you say, that you can bring from outside in and it helps you be, you, doesn't it? And health, wellbeing, inclusion, diversity that is all around your experience, and I want to sort of dive into that a little bit, because we've definitely seen over the recent years this positive shift, if you like, to prioritising mental health and wellness. Have you seen that in your experience?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, I think you know both experience. You're absolutely right. The data is pointing out that. You know, a lot of organisations over a quarter of organisations are looking at focusing on health and wellbeing. You, you know, more significantly over the next 12 months than they were the last. So we know it's important to people, it's important to organizations. But, yeah, absolutely I think, um, you know, being a healthy human is becoming something organizations talk about and recognizing that, you know that some of it may not be in our area of responsibility, but it's in our area of benefit. Uh, you know, the the healthier the people we are in the workplace, the more likely they are to do a great day's work, support one another, actually feel they can contribute. We've already referenced it. They innovate because they're curious, they've got a bit more to give. So, yeah, it makes business sense, but also it just feels right.
Speaker 1:I think one of the things I love about living and working in this time is the fact that we can talk about health and well-being far more openly and far more positively. And I see a lot in the different whatsapp groups that I'm in of people commenting in somewhat privately but in a in a safe space of a whatsapp group, what's and they're talking about that, that balancing, that harmony and all the juggle that goes with all those multiple responsibilities. What is that one piece of advice that you would offer someone who is trying to protect that their mental health?
Speaker 2:yeah, I think it's. I think it's a really good point. I think you know, being very realistic, the world we live in now there's no such thing as a balance that works. You know it's a continual, as you say. It's that continual sort of uh, you know, sort of think of it like a river that's flowing along. It's the rhythm and the ebbs and flows and I think you know you think about like that's something you need a bit of at one point is is, you know different? Another we use a really simple concept in our sunburn water group called the wellness reservoir and very much like a reservoir.
Speaker 2:What we love about this is that you know a range of resources can top you up and get your water levels high and a range of things gradually, even if you do nothing wrong, will erode, it will evaporate, there will be like minor leaks. So we get people to really simply sit down and have a chat about their wellness reservoir and the great thing is you could do it with a child, you could do it with another adult. It doesn't have to just be used in the workplace, but it helps people think about at that one point in time what's topping them up, what's draining them out and where they maybe need to take some action, because if it's draining faster than it's topping, you need to do some more proactive. But sometimes it's about preventative and you know what's draining out. But it's a lovely visual and it definitely works for our sector.
Speaker 1:It's definitely visual and anyone who would think you would work for in the water industry? Yes, and just moving on from that a little bit is that sometimes people think that self-care is selfish, but actually it is important to visibly and intentionally putting yourself first and taking some of that time out, because that can reflect back in to whether it's your side hustles or into your business people seeing you put yourself first yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:I mean my. My view is, you know, we've all got a responsibility to be the best we can be and actually, you know people appreciate and value that around you. You know, I know the kind of energy I prefer to exhibit and bring to a team and that comes from having things, other things that motivate, energize me. But also, you know, exactly as you say, it can be spending time in a different environment with different people is just as rejuvenating as going on a spa day. You know different things at different points, but you're absolutely right.
Speaker 2:I think it's talking about. You know, if we go back to this sort of reservoir analogy, it's being quite open about the things that maybe, um, you know, detract from your feelings of energy and the things that contribute to it, and accepting they will be different for each person. You know, some of my colleagues give them a detailed spreadsheet and they will absolutely love getting stuck into that. Other people that would really drain them out and I think you know it's thinking about in work and outside of work. Being very honest, we're different. That's what brings the interest.
Speaker 1:And the thing is, it's been specifically you. It is you. Do you right? Yeah, absolutely. And talking about diversity and inclusion, it is everyone's responsibility. It's not just head of dni or hr or head of people. It is within an organization, large or small. It is everyone's responsibility to create that environment. So, but sometimes people can think it's too difficult or they think they've already done it because they've done that program or that initiative in there. What would you say? Or that one piece of advice? Um, if there is a situation within your organization or something that you see, how do you call out behavior? Um, but in a professional and constructive way. So if you see something or come across it, how do you deal with that?
Speaker 2:yeah, I think I think it's a really good question, because you sort of inferred there that people think, you know, dni is about doing stuff, the, the stuff, the programs, the activities, the promoting, the participating. They're brilliant things, but they're not what DNI is about. Dni is about a mindset of thinking am I helping create an organization that is better? Are the result of things I spot, say, see, do, encourage, and are they? Is it, you know, as a result of the, the sort of the things I sort of see as opportunities as well? So I think you know, to answer your question specifically about how we do it, our, um, our approach is called safe to say, and what it's about saying is if you see something that's not quite right, that either directly impacts you or, importantly, impacts others, because sometimes it's about, you know, advocating and raising things, and this can be around behavior or something that you know.
Speaker 2:It could be around language, it could be around how something's being done, a process. We have both open mechanisms where you can, you know, attach your name and yourself to it, but, equally importantly, anonymous mechanisms using, uh, sort of thinking that we use as a process. We use around external whistleblowing, we use that internally so it allows people to have the confidence that they can do something anonymously and it gives a route. It's been important to us as a business to say can we be absolutely sure people have the routes they need to flag when something's not quite right? And I think for any organization that's a journey that never stops checking. You've got that right?
Speaker 1:No, one is there, are they? No one is. There's never a finish line to cross with that. It has to keep. It's interesting like innovation is like we need to keep innovating. This it's the word of this podcast, I think.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and I think one of my favorite books is the medici effect. You know, it's that sort of. You know, bumping up of two very different things creates innovation, and I I'm a great believer in that. There's nothing new under the sun, you know, but we keep recombining ideas from different fields, different areas of practice, and that's that's basically the the sort of premise of our innovation festival. It's keep on getting different people working together and the things that come out of it are phenomenal.
Speaker 1:I like that recombination and we have an inclusive innovation category as part of the awards program and this year we very much looked at what is people innovation or human-centered innovation versus tech for good, if you like, and I like the idea of that recombination. I'm going to take that now. I'm going to take that and use that. Take it and use it, but sort of flagging back to March this year when you won the large org category, a large organization category, at the awards.
Speaker 1:On the back of that win, you joined us a few weeks ago for judging, which is quite the process 1600 nominations whittled down to long lists, put in front of 12 different judging panels over four days and 80 judges um, just need to lie down even thinking about it. But I know, during the, the lightning intros we did in the, in the panel that you were judging, you talked about how there's been a real benefit for you winning the award and the tangible of being that visible sort of aligning itself with Northern Power Women Awards and attracting sort of wider talent that you might not have previously reached. That really stood out to me. What else has it meant to you? The awards?
Speaker 2:yeah, and I think you know the important thing is, uh, you know these things. Sometimes it's easy to think about you know we've already referenced this here but it's easy to think about you going for awards when you're there, you've made it and you know most people and from judging, seeing that, you know, one of the things we talked about is everyone who steps forward. They've done some amazing things, but they're on a journey and I think you know, as an organization, I feel very much like that. We put in for the uh, the northern power women awards very much as a do you know what we've done? Some good stuff. It's a good way of summarizing what we've done and put in for it and, as you well know, we didn't, we didn't expect to win that award, but I think, from our point of view, what it's allowed us to do, the coverage on the back of it, has helped us, give us just a very different platform to to to talk.
Speaker 2:You know, the good thing about the northern power women awards is it doesn't it's not just a sector specific or an occupational area. It really it really is about demonstrating your commitment to leveling up across a whole raft of things. Um, and it gives us stuff that we can, you know, sort of share and promote. But it's not just about the accolade, it's about us thinking differently and one of the important things that the northern power women award gave us was this sort of actually, we're hearing and seeing things, from being part of this process, from attending the awards night, from being tagged and included in things. It's challenging our thinking. So, you know, the most important thing I would say is we're definitely on our journey. We have so much work to do, but we know we've made progress and that's that's key brilliant and that's brilliant.
Speaker 1:Thank you for replaying that back to us. And we're going back to sort of skills, because I know skills development is something that's really close to you, what you do every day and also in the side hustles. But soft skills compared to technical skills, um, there's a real importance, isn't there, in why we need to develop those softer, more interpersonal skills within organizations.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:I think you know it's that difference between you can get someone who can do the what of the job, but if they deliver it in a way that's the work for those around them, it's pointless.
Speaker 2:You know more and more you see people who maybe don't have the best technical skills skills but they've got a brilliant approach and style, with people generally being more successful.
Speaker 2:I love the um, the research that adam grant talks about when he talks about people with more of an altruistic sort of collaborative mindset.
Speaker 2:But versus those individual sort of uh mindset and those with the individual mindset that he looks at, um, people do their medical degree and you know he talks about this research that you know that people who've got very much individual mindset do really well in year one and two medical degree where you're kind of you're individually assessed as soon as they come to going on wards and working with people, working with others. Actually it levels up and then by the end, after you enroll, actually the people are more altruistic but maybe don't necessarily have the same sort of you know, academic credentials actually start doing on average a lot better and I love that as a concept because I think it shows that that you know collaborating, working together, that how you do it can really have a huge impact, because it's it's combined wisdom and people are more likely to share and contribute and lean into things you're doing, which more likely to be successful if how we do it and those soft skills are in the right place.
Speaker 1:And talk to me about mentoring, because I know social mobility is a massive passion of yours and through your day job, also through your school governance. How critically important is mentoring, especially in impacting emerging talent in young people's careers? Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:And I think I'd go with mentoring being the premium, but as a minimum. Is mentoring, especially in impacting emerging talent, in young people's careers? Yeah, absolutely, and I think I'd go with mentoring being the premium, but as a minimum we just need some career exposure or people. You know sort of some of the schools that I'm involved with and the education roles. Sometimes it's even just about having some degree of contact, you know, with someone doing different jobs, working something to light that flame and ignite. But from a mentoring point of view, you know it's you go into these things with the intention of saying, well, hopefully I can help someone.
Speaker 2:The amount you learn and the amount you're challenged just by the questions and often the tough questions you get asked. You know about your underpinning assumptions or why you did certain things. It helps you develop and grow as a leader, as a professional. So you know, for me, mentoring is it. It's something you feel good about, but it's also something you feel you learn through and I think you know that's a. That's a natural double win and, given the nature of mentoring, majority people can do it if they want to do it, and I think that's the important thing. If we all said how much do we put back, and I think it's probably a lot of opportunities. We could all do a bit more and I think everyone, but isn't everyone.
Speaker 1:Everyone can give back, everyone can do something. And there's different forms of mentoring, you know it can be more formal, more informal, group mentoring. Where would you start someone listening out there? Think mentoring, I just don't know where to find one. Where do I go?
Speaker 2:what would you suggest? Yeah, absolutely. I think it's a really good point. I think I think it can be hard with the different you know different groups. I think there's there's opportunities as you look at stuff we know to eat northern power women offer mentoring.
Speaker 2:But you have things like girls network. You have things through um. You know sort of careers and regional providers. I often think you know sort of starting something region. It can be quite a good way to see what you know. Sometimes it's through the chamber, sometimes it's through your um. You know your combined authority. It can be a bunch of different stuff.
Speaker 2:But you know, ask people um, you know very few people um mind being asked you know where who might be a good person to reach out to or contact. You can do that. But we have so many good schemes, you know, and having mentored for the girls network, you know one of the things that always impressed me with that is they managed to pull together so many females to do you know sort of be great, great role models and contacts. And if mentoring feels a bit too big, you know a lot of organizations have the opportunity to contribute to careers advice or careers events and things like that. As a minimum. I'd love everyone in our workplace to you know, to have done something like that over over a couple of year period.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, even going back to the school or community centre or wherever you've been, on your going back and to give that and and absolutely, we have a digital hub. We are powernet that we have got thousands and thousands of individuals with profiles on there who want to be visible and want to be accessible. So please, like you say Eloise, just ask um, and I think it's so important. Now you've talked about Northumbria Water being on the journey. What's next? What are you excited for coming up?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, there's so much stuff. So in this year, so in the summer, as part of our innovation festival, we piloted a really large scale approach to work experience for 14 and 15 year olds across across the board to uh, to, you know, to reach out and get some real important workplace experience, both virtual and in person. We're going to build on that this year and I think that's fantastic because, particularly because the schools we target, they're young people who won't get work experience otherwise, you know. So they're immediately missing something in their cv, that important sort of exposure. So we'll continue to build on that, which is which is really exciting, I think, for us.
Speaker 2:You know, other big stuff that's going on is is a women in STEM network. So that goes from strength to strength and and that's how we reach out to encourage females to join our business but also, once you join, how you feel connected to something far greater and benefit from shared wisdom. You know I talk about that a lot, but you know it's being able to tap into, knowing there's something far greater than you and there's people there to talk to when you need it.
Speaker 1:So they're two of the things that particularly excite me and how can people get involved in the in the festival? Is it next? So the innovation festival is?
Speaker 2:yes, it is. You're absolutely right. It's early july, so our website is innovation festival. So, quite straightforward, so we put northumbria water innovation festival Google. You shall find it. It's truly open innovation. So we welcome organisations who want to collaborate on a shared challenge, and we also welcome individuals who just want to either take part in one of our virtual hacks or dashes or sprints, and people who want to attend in person. So we take over Newcastle Racecourse. It is truly a fabulous festival, so lots of celebrity guests as well, so we really believe we love different people coming along. We're international, now helping set up innovation festivals in Australia and Iceland, so it's huge. Yeah, it's really exciting.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's amazing. That is quite the journey. Well, I'm looking forward to catching up, finding out what happens there. Recombination no doubt will happen. It will, it so will, and please make sure you keep your own wellness reservoir topped up, or let some of that out as you go. Eloise, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast and thank you for being such a wonder and driving everything that you do over at Northumbria Water and your side horses, of course. Thanks, Eloise. Thank you. Subscribe on YouTube, Apple, Amazon Music, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Leave us a review or follow us on socials. We are Power underscore net on Insta, TikTok and Twitter. We are Power on LinkedIn, Facebook and we are underscore power on YouTube.
