Sponsorship for High-Potential Women in Leadership (Willow)
What is workplace sponsorship and why do women need it?
Sponsorship is active advocacy. Sponsors use their influence to open doors in meetings, projects, and promotions. For high-potential women, sponsorship helps break visibility barriers and accelerates career progression.
How does Willow sponsorship differ from mentoring programs?
Willow Sponsorship goes beyond advice. Mentoring helps grow; sponsorship makes growth visible. Sponsors publicly advocate and create opportunity, not just guide conversations.
How can organisations measure the ROI of women’s sponsorship programs?
Track promotion rates, retention of women post-sponsorship, representation in leadership, and internal mobility post-participation. Willow’s structure supports easy measurement of these outcomes.
What are the signs women aren’t getting enough sponsorship?
Look for lack of stretch assignments, limited executive exposure, stalled performance reviews, or women dropping off track despite high performance.
How do you match women with the right sponsor?
We match based on goals, influence, and trust; not just role proximity. Willow’s intake process hears both sides and creates purposeful relationships.
Why involve male leaders as sponsors for women?
Visible cross-gender sponsorship widens perspectives, breaks homophily, and shifts culture. Men-sponsored women create stronger pathways for everyone.
What happens when sponsoring relationships don’t work?
Willow pairs include clear review points. If a match needs adjustment, we reset roles or pairing promptly while maintaining consistency in the program.
Sponsorship for First Nations & Emerging Diverse Leaders (Warra)
What is culturally responsive sponsorship and why is Warra important?
Warra blends sponsorship with cultural safety and identity support, empowering culturally diverse leaders by lifting them without erasing context or identity.
Who can be a Warra sponsor?
Senior leaders with cultural competence and the willingness to advocate. We support sponsors with culturally responsive training before the program begins.
How do you ensure cultural safety in sponsorship?
Warra includes cultural briefings, safe-space guidelines, and ongoing facilitator check-ins to ensure trust and authenticity throughout the relationship.
What results come from Warra programs?
Participants report improved confidence in cultural voice, increased promotion rates, and deeper integration of diverse perspectives at leadership tables.
Can Warra work across different regions or divisions?
Yes. We match underrepresented talent across organisational boundaries, creating broader networks and more equitable opportunity systems.
How long should a culturally-driven sponsorship last?
Warra typically runs for 6 months, long enough to build trust, navigate identity work, and see results in role clarity and visibility.
How do you measure Warra’s impact?
We track promotion flow, confidence shifts, cultural engagement measures, and feedback from both sponsor and sponsee to ensure lasting change.
Career Growth & Leadership Skills Workshops
What topics deliver the most impact in leadership workshops?
Search suggests “strategic decision making,” “feedback skills,” “team visibility,” and “leading hybrid teams” as top-impact themes
How long should effective leadership workshops be?
90–180 minutes works best. Enough to process and practise, while matching busy executive calendars.
How do you measure the success of leadership workshops?
Use participant evaluations, pre/post surveys, and track application of tools in the first 30 days post workshop.
Should workshops align with business strategy?
Yes. High-impact workshops align with key strategic priorities, not generic leadership trends.
Can virtual workshops truly engage leaders?
Absolutely, with structured interaction, clear facilitation, and purpose-built tools, engagement remains high in virtual formats.
How often should teams attend capability workshops?
Quarterly or per role transition. When strategic context or objectives shift, a reset is powerful.
Who should lead the workshop sessions?
Experienced facilitators who’ve navigated real organisational change, not just academics or trainers.
Leadership Development for High-Potential Employees (Training)
What makes leadership training for emerging managers effective?
Look for structured sequences, reflection-driven exercises, and real-world assignments tied to their current role.
How do you avoid training drop-off after session one?
Schedule follow-ups, create peer coaching circles, and assign accountability through sponsors or managers.
What core skills should be in every leadership training track?
Strategic thinking, stakeholder influence, decision frameworks, and inclusive communication: organisations rank these high .
How long should training programs last?
Effective programs run 4–8 weeks with 60–90-minute sessions weekly to build skills, habits, and confidence.
Do you include assessment in training?
Yes. Light-touch 360 feedback or self-rating before and after helps track mindset and behaviour changes.
Can cross-functional cohorts enhance learning?
Absolutely. Mixing departments exposes participants to diverse perspectives and spreads impact.
How does training support internal promotion?
Graduates are more confident in interviews and succession calls. We track lift in internal mobility post-training.
Career Coaching for Emerging Leaders and Employees
When is the right time for career coaching?
Coaching works best during role transitions, stretch assignments, or after leadership accelerators highlight next steps.
How long should coaching engagements run?
Most run 3–6 months. Shorter sprints work for focused goals (e.g. visibility or decision making).
Who provides the coaching?
Cultivate coaches are former or current leaders with depth in change, leadership systems, and performance environments.
What exactly does coaching deliver?
Clarity on strengths, leadership presence, decision confidence, and consistent step-up action.
What’s the difference between career coaching and mentoring?
Coaching is inward-focused: “What does stepping up look like for me?” Mentoring is outward: “Here’s how I did it.”
Can coaching ROI be measured?
Yes, through behaviour shifts, self-reported confidence, career movement, and manager feedback.
Is group coaching as effective as 1:1?
Small-group coaching with peer accountability often brings deeper insight and collective growth.
Mentoring for High-Potential and Future Leaders
Why structured mentoring matters now?
Long-term research shows mentoring improves retention by 25%, engagement by 20%, and role promotion by 15%
Can peer mentorship work as well as senior‑led?
Yes. Mentoring circles (peers with shared goals) works well for reflection and diverse learning.
How long should mentoring programs run?
3–6 months is ideal: long enough for reflection and relationship, short enough to sustain momentum.
How do you train internal mentors?
Provide session guides, structure, reflection questions, and pairing oversight.
What’s an outcome to expect from mentoring?
Stronger identity, higher confidence, internal mobility, and better retention.
How do you keep mentoring relationships on track?
We include guidance sessions, digital check-ins, and small group peer supervision.
How do I measure mentoring success?
Through qualitative feedback, promotion rates, mentee engagement increases, and peer feedback.
Executive Succession Planning & Legacy Mentoring
Why is executive succession planning crucial now?
S&P 500 CEO turnover is near record (14.8% in Q1 2025) businessinsider.com. Without planning, your culture and continuity are at risk.
What’s the difference between replacement planning and succession planning?
Replacement is short-term coverage; succession is long-term leadership legacy, capability transfer, and cultural alignment
Who needs to be involved in succession mentoring?
Current executives, future successors, HR, and Cultivate mentors to guide mindset transfer, shadowing, and story-sharing.
How long is a typical succession mentoring program?
Usually 3–6 months with built-in shadowing, storytelling, role-mapping, and successor hand-off practices.
How do you measure a successful succession?
Look for reduced role disruption, successor confidence, cultural continuity, gap-free handover, and aligned stakeholder feedback.
What’s the risk of not doing succession mentoring?
Leadership vacuum, cultural drift, steep external hiring costs, and weakened internal trust .
When should succession planning start?
Now. Organizations need 3–5 year succession visibility, not when someone leaves unexpectedly
Executive Team Alignment & Leadership Labs
What’s the difference between a Lab and a retreat?
Labs are precision-aligned sessions with structured outcomes, not loose retreats. They focus on trust, decision clarity, and operating models.
When is the right time to run a Team Lab?
Use it after restructuring, before major change, during succession shifts, or when cohesion is slipping.
How large should the team be for a Lab?
Typically 4–12 senior leaders. That size maintains diversity of thought while enabling deep conversation.
How is Lab impact tracked?
Via session output, aligned decision protocols, post-lab reviews, and executive feedback loops.
Can Labs be run virtually?
Yes. With skilled facilitation and digital design, virtual labs offer strong trust-building and decision clarity.
How often should executive teams hold Labs?
Annually or at key transition points: post-merger, post-strategy reset, or following executive turnover.
How do you sustain the gains from a Lab?
Post-Lab coaching, aligned agendas, and recurring rhythm help embed the improved operating model.
Get All The Answers You Need
Let’s explore if your people, systems, and sponsors are ready for real internal mobility. Book a sponsorship planning session with a Cultivate Program Lead.
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