The 2023 Women Leaders in Consulting: Zara Ward

Zara Ward is a Senior Consultant at Deecon Consulting. Starting as a business analyst for the company during COVID-19 in 2020, she had a steep learning curve to overcome the challenges brought on by the introduction of fully remote working in the consulting industry. Since then, Zara has led, advised, and supported on a variety of significant projects ranging from project management, market analysis, procurement, and transformation projects across a number of sectors, notably the public and telecommunications sector.

To date, she has successfully delivered all projects with 100% client satisfaction, and this remains the central focus of her leadership style. Delivering excellence to clients and driving internal workstreams for Deecon such as leading recruitment over 12-months, creating the current onboarding process, and piloting Deecon's first International Women's Day Event has made her an integral part of Deecon Consulting.

Graduating from the University of Exeter, Zara attained a bachelor's degree in psychology with First Class Honours, developing the blend of quantitative analysis and people management skills, which allowed her to apply them to her role at Deecon today.

What do you consider your greatest personal or professional achievement?

I consider my greatest professional achievement to be my promotion to Senior Consultant at Deecon Consulting at the age of 24.

This followed my work with one of Deecon's key clients in the telecommunications sector where I led the planning, implementation, and program management of their transformation roadmap. My role was to act as the driver for progress by developing each department's brand to improve stakeholder buy-in and by coordinating individual change initiatives over an 18-month period. Leading this project with the support of the client allowed me to directly contribute to the effectiveness of our client's operations. As a result, during a departmental Away Day I received the 'Special Thank You' award from client leadership recognizing my contribution and support throughout the project.

This achievement stands out the most to me as it is the amalgamation of all the advice I have received as well as the great projects I have had the opportunity to lead and deliver. My ambition is to continue to deliver value for Deecon's clients through the exciting and innovative projects we are involved in, so that our clients, Deecon and myself can grow together.

What's the best advice—consulting or otherwise—you've ever received?

The best advice I've received has been "communication with true understanding of clients happens when you listen, not when you talk." Active listening has allowed me to better understand the Clients' needs, methods and points of view. To visualize ideas from their perspective helps with building a more valuable professional relationship. Strong working relationships are effective enablers for clear, open and transparent communication, which can only improve what we can deliver for our clients. It all starts with listening.

I was given this advice early in my career when I was tasked with leading a client workshop with technical experts across the company. As a new project lead, I was keen to demonstrate all the research I had done, the preparation that had been completed, and my competence from minute one. Following this advice, I altered my technique, I led with questions instead of statements, actively listened to replies, and sought clarification when needed. The workshop was far more fruitful than anticipated.

I have since adopted this approach to all engagements I lead, and it has enabled me to grow my expertise on the subject matter, the client and their needs faster. This has bolstered my leadership ability as I am able to build stronger working relationships with the client, understand their requirements, and identify ways I can help them achieve this.

What advice would you give to a female consultant just beginning her career?

Firstly, congratulations! You have successfully secured your position with a promising future ahead because the company believes in you. Now, you need to believe in yourself and be your own champion.

I think women starting in consulting should speak up and challenge others where necessary, as their perspectives and opinions matter. Although it may feel daunting, this will help guide the team toward achieving greater value. When I was a relatively new business analyst at Deecon I was involved in a meeting between Deecon and client senior management, and although not requested, I took notes on the session. Later in the day the project team was looking for the answer to a question. Although I thought I had the answer, I felt I was too new to share my ideas and notes with the team. The answer was not found until two days later. I reflected on this and discussed with my mentor. The consensus was if I had taken the risk and spoken up, I would have saved the project team two days. From then on, I worked on speaking up and sharing ideas internally and with the client, which has allowed me to learn more and grow faster into my role.

It is your responsibility to demonstrate your ability and value to both the company and the client, you are only limited by the boundaries you place on yourself! Never let being the only woman in a room stop you from pursuing your ambitions.

What does this recognition mean to you?

Approximately 30% of women are represented in senior management positions in the UK. Often, due to the sectors in which we operate, I have been the only woman in the room and have attended events with hundreds of people with only a handful of other women. Without female role models in senior positions, it becomes difficult to see prospects in growing sectors such as consulting.

I hope this recognition will allow me to demonstrate that is possible to gain a leadership role with senior responsibility in consulting, even at a young age. I am thankful to the role models I have who inspired me to step out of my comfort zone. This recognition hopefully will motivate some strong talent to expand their own comfort zone. It is important to me that more women not only join the consulting world, but focus on leading the projects, workstreams, and companies to make an impact in what currently remains a male-dominated field.

My hope is that many more young women continue to pursue their aspirations so that we, together, can bridge the gap.