You're only as good as who you surround yourself with

At ESB, we celebrate inclusion.  This year on International Women’s Day, we hosted a Masterclass on Strategic Networking and invited Amanda Scott from Personal Boardroom to show us how to really power up our networks and build relationships that empower us every day, to achieve our potential and to be at our best.  Who is in Your Personal Boardroom encourages each of us to consciously strive for a diverse personal boardroom and to Pay It Forward by playing one to of the 12 Personal Boardroom roles for someone else.

Bernie O’ConnorDiversity and Inclusion Specialist, Electricity Supply Board, Ireland

Zella’s session went down a storm, and the Personal Boardroom language continued to be used for the rest of the week.  I personally loved the session too.  Zella was very engaging and she did an excellent job of making her content relevant to us and our agenda. 

Client UK manufacturing company

As someone who doesn’t like the whole idea of networking, I love the Personal Boardroom construct. It helped me really think about what I need to prioritise and gave me a structure to do it within. My observation was that a number of others felt the same and got some real benefit from the speed network session by being able to have focussed and meaningful discussions aligned to their goals

Justin MaggsL&D Manager, Severn Trent

Zella’s session was inspiring in the way that it asked some fundamental questions about our business and personal relationships, encouraging strategic but also very practical action to broaden our perspective. Zella helped us identify and target a variety of opportunities, which we can leverage with a powerful tool to help us think about managing our refreshed networks as the year unfolds.

Duncan BaldryManaging Director, Accenture Technology Consulting

As a speaker and presenter, Zella lights up the room with her engaging and energetic style. Her talks combine research evidence and real life examples with activities that stimulate people to take action. The outcome is that people have better-focused conversations with a broader range of people, and that benefits our business. 

Michael Cole-FontaynChairman of EMEA, BNY Mellon

Zella ran a great session for the European Legal & Compliance team at a time when our business is embarking on a period of change. She challenged us to think about who we rely on, and who will need to rely on us, as the business moves forward. People found it a very useful wakeup call.

Nicolas TaylorGeneral Counsel, Jones Lang LaSalle

Zella ran a fantastic session with the fundraising department at Teach First. Taking the time to consider who makes up your personal boardroom, what you need from them, and where your gaps are was incredibly enlightening to the department. It also enabled people to look beyond their ‘instant’ contacts to those who provide different perspectives and mindsets. The session was energetic, fast paced and with key actions that people have taken away.

Terence LovellDirector of Development, Teach First

Having worked much of my career in complex, global organisations I wish I had read this book years ago. Navigating how decisions are made, resources are allocated and people are promoted is immeasurably easier with the right Personal Boardroom. Since I have started consciously engaging people to help me as Navigators, Unlockers, Sponsors and Influencers, I’ve seen the huge value this can add. The Personal Boardroom approach is an immensely practical way to help you succeed in any business role, and the more complex your working world, the more valuable it will be.

Dan CobleyFormer Managing Director, UK and Ireland, Google

A powerful tool for creating a culture of collaboration and mutual support, focused not just on individual performance but also team and organisation success.

Maria O'DonoghueFormer VP of Global L&D, Hertz

Who is in your Personal Boardroom? brings together great insights and useable principles that will grow your personal and professional impact. It’s a handbook for our times and I know you’ll enjoy reading and implementing every chapter

John McGraneDirector, The British Irish Chamber of Commerce

The workshop was absolutely brilliant and a huge inspiration to all of us. It was so useful to have some practical advice and we all left feeling incredibly galvanised to think about how we can use the personal boardroom to achieve this year’s goal.

Harriet Agnew, Financial TimesCreator of Broadminded

The Baileys global team is leading a transformational turnaround on the brand. This requires working with a very broad group of stakeholders. Working with Amanda and the Personal Boardroom tools enabled us to sharpen and tighten our relationship maps, identify areas where we were missing key roles in our virtual boardroom and also identify how and where to add divergent and more diverse thinking to our team.

Grainne WaferGlobal Brand Director, Diageo

At last, some practical advice on networking! We are genetically endowed with social networking skills—it is part of what makes the human species so effective. We know good networking drives success, but how do we get better at it? Simply trying harder is not the answer. We need a clear goal and a strategy for achieving it. The Personal Boardroom is a simple but powerful framework for doing just that. For anyone looking for a more effective network, this is essential reading.

John WellsProfessor of Management Practice, Harvard Business School

Humans by our very nature are social creatures. Our connections enrich our lives and it is through these relationships that in many ways we understand who we truly are and what is really important to us. In this thoughtful book Zella and Amanda encourage us to think about what they elegantly describe as our ‘Personal Boardroom’—our current and potential connections and how they may support us in what we want to achieve. Well worth reading!

Piers Fallowfield-CooperExecutive Chairman, Greycon Ltd

About a coaching session with Amanda — “It increased my awareness of me and my position within the organisational network by making me think about managing up, down and within my peer group. It’s turned out to be the best development conversation of my career.”

Toby McHenryInternational CFO, Hertz

Zella King has brought us a new narrative around networks and our clients have loved the ‘personal boardroom’ framework. Her insights and advice are delivered in ways which both inspire and provide practical answers.

Liam BlackCo-Founder, The Same Wavelength

Really like the Personal Boardroom approach to helping leaders develop stronger relationships/networks that build their influence inside and outside the organisation. Many thanks to Amanda Scott for running a great event. Great feedback coming through from leaders.

Pedro AnguloOrganisational Effectiveness, Allied Irish Bank

The Personal Boardroom online tool, together with webinars and online resources, has made it possible for us to take a helpful concept, which I and other senior women first encountered in face-to-face sessions, and offer it to colleagues at all levels of the bank. It makes them aware of how things get done through relationships. It makes them think who are the people to help them get the right decision over the line. I think it can make all of us better at our jobs.

Jane HowardManaging Director, Personal Banking, RBS

A vibrant, illuminating and engaging authority on networking best practice, Zella’s energetic and interactive session engaged the whole room – offering theoretical and practical tactics on how we can network effectively and sincerely with each other to build and develop meaningful business relationships.

Rachel MitchellIMG

Zella King and Amanda Scott have nailed the secret of modern career success: knowing who to ask for help from, and how to help others in equal measure.

Julia HobsbawmProfessor of Networking, Cass Business School

Insightful, engaging and actionable. Amanda’s professionalism and conversational approach created an atmosphere of openness that allowed all to participate in ‘Your Personal Boardoom’ activities both beneficial and tangible.

Carina FurlongPWN Dublin City President

In this easy-reading guide, Amanda and Zella have captured the essence of strategic networking and created a framework that is arguably essential for career advancement in today’s complex corporate organisations. Their step-by-step approach to selecting and building your Personal Boardroom will open your eyes to the people around you and the roles they can play to contribute to your success.

Teresa PurtillFormer Vice President, Global Customer Care, Hertz Corporation

About the book, “Who is in your Personal Boardroom?” — A brilliant, simple and intuitive way to set about personal and career development”

Matt BrittinPresident, EMEA Business & Operations, Google