Interview with Lesley Cooper, founder of WorkingWell
Lesley Cooper is a management consultant with over 25 years of experience in the design and delivery of all elements of employee wellbeing management programmes.
In 1997, Lesley founded WorkingWell, an award-winning specialist consultancy that helps companies manage workplace pressure in a way that facilitates growth and development. She is also the co-author of Brave New Leader: How to Transform Workplace Pressure into Sustainable Performance and Growth.
What’s your career background?
When I left university, my first job was selling advertising space in a local newspaper. One time, I got chatting with the guy who ran the sandwich shop across the street. I received a phone call later that day to say “the chap behind you in the queue works for Bupa. He has been looking for a telephone sales trainer for a while. He says you are exactly the sort of person the business has been searching for, and he gave me a number for you to call”.
I did make the call, got the job and enjoyed a 13-year career. After two years delivering sales training, I moved into direct sales (responding to: “those who can, do” kind of narratives!) From there, I moved through the ranks with National Accounts and then Regional Sales Management roles, before going on maternity leave. I rejoined the business in a product development and marketing role, before finally leaving in 1997 to form my own consulting business in Employee Health and Wellbeing Management.
Where did the idea for your business come from?
My product development role put me in touch with a lot of leaders, and I could see there was a real need for expertise to help them manage employee wellbeing and performance. It was a new field at the time – stress was seen as a uniquely senior executive (and therefore, male) phenomenon back then.
The desk research I was doing at the time, to help me understand more about the stress response and the impact of pressure on human performance and functioning, showed me that stress is all about being human and has little to do with gender or seniority.
How did you move from idea to actual business?
I engineered my own redundancy to give me the buffer I needed to work on my network. I was fortunate to have made great contacts during the development of positive health product solutions too. I also had a long background in consulting and sales, of course, so making connections was no problem!
What’s your USP?
It is a really crowded market now, but I believe our USP remains that we have the expertise, and tools to help customers get underneath and address the causes of workplace stress in an employee-centric way – less about one size fits all solutions and more about supporting employees at all stages of their career to manage their energy and sustain their wellbeing and performance.
Who’s your target audience?
If the company employs humans, we work with them! Some of our longest-standing clients are multinationals, others are smaller organisations and SMEs, and we work with single individuals too.
How do you spread the word about what you do?
Primarily through word of mouth and regular appearances at industry conferences, where we share our insights and connect with like-minded professionals. But we are also active contributors to the media on workplace wellbeing and sustainable high-performance, helping to spotlight these important topics.
And your proudest moment so far?
Regularly beating off large corporate competition to win multinational tenders on the strength of our proposition and the way we like to work. I’m also really proud of the longevity of the business – we recently celebrated almost 30 years of service. Looking back to my early days as an independent consultant, I never imagined that what I was starting would still be growing strong three decades later.
Why is work so important to you?
It is a privilege to be able to work in an area that I am intellectually curious about and remain passionate about nearly 30 years later. The detail changes, and the preoccupations of buyers shift and flow, but I remain fundamentally committed to finding ways to keep helping humans at work.
Who inspires you?
My young-adult children mainly – they are so much braver and more confident in their everyday than I remember being at the same age. They have a default curiosity and openness which bodes well for the future, where feeling able to share insight and lived experience will be so important. Watching them encourages me to find ways to be better!
What are your three top pieces of advice for someone wanting to do something similar?
Trust your judgement and your instincts, and gather as many different perspectives as you can on the topics you want to consult on. Under promise and over deliver because in the end, the client is buying into you as well as your expertise.
Trust and connection are everything, and this is going to be even more important as we move into a world where AI is being used to solve problems, analyse data and brainstorm. Don’t skimp on self-care, though – you are no use to anyone burnt out!
Find out more about WorkingWell.
