Lead — The virtual leadership development programme designed for women in transport
Our Lead programme is a 100% virtual leadership development programme tailored to the capability and progression needs of women leaders in the transport sector.
90% of our Lead women have been retained by their organisation.
61% of our Lead women have been promoted since joining the programme.
Lead is designed to evolve and grow the leadership capability and confidence of women who are already in, or are aspiring to, significant leadership roles in the transport sector.
Women leaders join a supportive cohort from a diverse range of transport sector organisations to authentically expand their networks through stimulating shared learning experiences.
If you would like a one-to-one conversation to understand more about Lead and whether it is the right fit for you then please contact us at lead@womenintransport.com.
On this page:
Our next Lead programme
What our alumni say
What you’ll learn and how we’ll support you
Benefits of Lead
How to enrol
Lead FAQs & contact form
“The programme has been very instrumental and transformational for me. I now acknowledge my skills, abilities and achievements, knowing that I am more than enough.”
Our next Lead programme
Lead runs three times a year:
Winter starts in January
Spring starts in April
Autumn starts in September
We recommend that you look at the full programme schedule to see all the elements and time commitment involved.
Our Lead programme directors
Iain Smith
With over 13 years at the helm of Network for Skills, Iain has built a reputation for designing and delivering impactful learning, coaching, and mentoring programmes, working with a range of clients in both public and private sectors. His expertise encompasses leadership development, agile and hybrid working, wellbeing and resilience, diversity, employee engagement, and organisational change.
Iain’s senior career spans more than two decades and includes senior roles such as Product Director at City & Guilds, Head of Skills at Transport for London and adviser to the Mayor of London on apprenticeship strategies.
As a committed advocate for lifelong learning and inclusion, he has also served as a board member of Women in Transport — leading people development activities — has been a trustee and council member for charitable organisations, and regularly designs and facilitates leadership and diversity events. His consultancy work features collaborations with industry leaders like TfL, The Urban Transport Group, Crossrail, and Metrolink (in Dublin).
Beyond his core roles, Iain lends his skills as an executive coach, mentor, and #IAmRemarkable facilitator, advocating for equitable workplaces and supporting emerging leaders throughout the transport and infrastructure sectors.
Shireen Ali-Khan
Shireen is a Behaviour and Engagement Specialist with over 20 years of experience designing bold, human-centred programmes that create real cultural change. As Director of Lead as well as our Intersectionality workstream, she helps individuals build the confidence, clarity, and courage to lead, especially in sectors where women are still underrepresented.
Shireen’s work spans major UK infrastructure and transport projects, with a focus on leadership, gender equity, and belonging. Shireen leads Women in Transport’s intersectionality work and is the host of the Women in Transport podcast, where she shares untold stories and sparks honest conversations about the realities of working in transport.
A powerful communicator and connector, Shireen has authored whitepapers, designed award-winning engagement strategies, and delivered change programmes that centre lived experience, whether supporting senior women or creating inclusive spaces.
At the heart of her work is a simple but transformative belief: when people feel seen and certain of their worth, they lead differently and the ripple effect changes everything.
Want to find out more?
Join us for one of our virtual Find Out More sessions to learn about the programme.
You will hear from the Programme Directors and a past participant about how the programme works. It’s an opportunity to ask questions. Anyone interested in understanding more about the programme is welcome to join.
Details of our next Find Out More session can be found on our events page. Please register to receive joining instructions.
We look forward to meeting you!
Women who Lead — What our alumni say
Feedback for the Lead programme has been overwhelmingly positive.
Our participants have found that the programme has far exceeded their expectations and is making a positive difference to their confidence and capability in their current roles and leading them to stretch further within their organisations.
Hear more of their stories below.
“The Lead programme has been completely transformative and has been the best therapy I didn’t know I needed. It has been so thought provoking and powerful and I look forward to every session, knowing I’m surrounded by a wonderful group of supportive and like minded women. It’ been a real game changer for me and I couldn’t recommend it highly enough. If you’re in any doubt, just go for it, I promise you won’t look back!”
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my team on the LEAD programme; increasing my self awareness, understanding my strengths and optimising my focus. It has provided a sense of direction and purpose for me and I have and would recommend it to colleagues.”
“The LEAD Programme has given me the headspace to consider my career progression as a whole, thinking beyond immediate next steps and the context of the organisation I work for. My levels of confidence and self-assurance have soared. The peer network we have established has been a huge support and it’s always good to meet others facing similar challenges that we can resolve together.”
“I would also like to add that I have found the LEAD programme extremely stimulating and it has pushed me into asking myself the important questions I didn’t know needed answers. The speakers have been inspirational and Iain and Shireen are fantastic at opening up conversations, making the group feel they can be themselves in a safe environment which in turn is helping us to grow and realise just what wonderful inspiring women we already are. I feel we are now able to unlock our potential with the tools that the programme is helping us to develop.”
“Iain and Shireen are huge supports and great advocates of each member of the WIT cohort. It’s great to be in such a warm a supportive environment.”
“This course empowers women to be the best version of themselves, to show up for themselves and peers. The reflective segments have led me to realise success is about the journey you are on and not just the destination.”
Previous Lead participants
So far we have welcomed Lead alumni from the likes of:
Alexander Dennis
Amaro Group
Applied Driving
British Transport Police
Constellation Cold Logistics
Deloitte
Department for Transport (DfT)
Eurovia
First Rail
HW Martin
Ioki / Deutsche Bahn
Jacobs
Kier
Living Streets
Lothian Buses
Mott MacDonald
National Express
National Highways
Network Rail
Nexus
PA Consulting
Portsmouth Council
Rail Delivery Group
Ringway / Eurovia
Road Haulage Association (RHA)
SCS Railways
Strabag
Transport for Greater Manchester
Transport for London (TfL)
Transport for Wales (TfW)
Transport Scotland
Transport Research Laboratory (TRL)
Urban Transport Group
West Midlands Trains
WSP
Lead programme modules
Lead is designed to engage participants in a detailed exploration of their leadership and management style, focusing on their individual drivers and enablers. Each module includes an inspirational guest speaker sharing their own leadership journey.
Foundation – getting to know each other, building trust and creating a learning platform
Self-awareness – your purpose, motivation and enabling beliefs
Personal Brand – a strengths based description of your offer
Confidence – reframing barriers and building a support network
Influence – communication skills for engaging your organisation and your team
Lead – identifying the areas in which to focus your leadership and benchmarking your leadership skills
Lead 2 - empathy, wellbeing and being a leader as a coach
Forward – reviewing your progress, celebrating success and planning to build further
Our two Programme Directors oversee the whole programme and are present at the workshops and themed insight sessions to ensure participants benefit from high levels of personal engagement and diverse perspectives.
Participant experience
From self-paced, individual learning to interactive large and small group development, Lead immerses participants in a vibrant, multifaceted experience. Interacting with peers from across a range of organisations, participants gain diverse insights and build powerful new connections.
The developmental journey has multiple learning loops to maximise individual learning and positively impact career ambition comprising:
An initial introductory call with you and your manager
Initial group engagement event
Preparation materials and activities for each workshop
Whole group learning workshops
Industry guest speakers
Peer learning groups
Themed insight sessions
A 360-degree feedback activity
Three 1:1 executive coaching sessions with one of our panel of coaches
Final moving forward workshop
Post programme support to continue your career progression
Post-programme support
We continually evolve the Lead programme to deliver the best experience for our participants and support their career progression. Experience has shown us that participants welcome additional support to continue the momentum created by the programme. We offer this in two ways:
Joining the Lead alumni: A growing network within the Women in Transport community of women leaders who have graduated from Lead, shaped by the participants.
Two coaching sessions: These sessions are with one of the Programme Directors and will help participants create a "greatest hits" from all of the concepts covered during the programme; the ones that most resonated with them and that they want to make part of how they lead.
This is in addition to the benefits of remaining Women in Transport members and accessing the networking, professional development and visibility opportunities that the wider network provides.
The benefits of Lead
What will you gain?
Lead will increase your:
Confidence, focus and clarity on your career direction
Self assurance and positive belief in yourself on how to achieve your career goals
Influence, communication skill and networking
Leadership capability and ability to engage with others
Career aspiration, ambition and progression
These outcomes will benefit you and the progression of your career. By stepping up and using your talents to the full, your progression will help increase the representation of senior women leaders in transport and provide a positive role model to those entering the sector.
Organisational benefits
Many organisations have goals to increase their gender representation at senior levels and are failing to make the progress they have targeted. Lead allows you to invest in key people, adding to both their capability and effectiveness, encouraging their confidence to reach higher, thus making progress both with individual career and organisational targets.
How does it benefit your organisation for your women leaders to attend our Lead programme?
Each organisation is unique, however here are some frequent reasons other organisations have told us why they invest in this way:
Succession planning: It is more cost effective and more motivating messaging to promote from within where possible.
Broadening perspective: Learning from peers from a wide cross section of the transport and transport infrastructure sector can help specialists and experts widen their view. This knowledge is valuable to you as these women add to your top talent.
Visible action: Investing in your women leaders increases your corporate image. It promotes your company positively as you invest in something tangible to close the representation gap at senior levels in your organisation.
Positive role modelling: Your women leaders will emerge from this programme with more career motivation, clarity and skills to add value to your organisation. Their progression will inspire others to aim higher too.
Additional value: This programme complements your own in-house leadership development programmes for all genders, and particularly supports the confidence in your women leaders as they take their place more explicitly in your organisation.
Contact us at lead@womenintransport.com to discuss who should attend, and how to set and manage expectations with your key people.
Pricing and enrolment
Lead is a paid programme to be funded by you or your organisation. It provides excellent value for money and will help you drive your career forward as a leader in transport.
The group size for each cohort is 16 to 18.
Programme fee per participant: £4,495 plus VAT plus £60 for Women in Transport membership.
Places may be purchased on an individual or block basis. Sponsoring organisations may wish to consider purchasing a place for a third sector or charitable sector organisation. All places are subject to terms and conditions which can be read here.
Get in touch at lead@womenintransport.com to secure your place.
FAQs
We’ve created a dedicated FAQs page that covers the Lead programme in more detail.
Contact us
If you have any questions about the Lead programme, please complete the form below.
Alternatively, you can email us at lead@womenintransport.com