The Future People Leaders programme: providing reassurance, rebuilding confidence and shaping HR leadership
HR professional Sasi Venables had spent years building her career in public service organisations, but like many in the people profession, she faced moments of self-doubt and burnout that made her question herself. When she came across the CIPD Trust’s Future People Leaders programme, Sasi saw it as an opportunity to reconnect with her confidence and develop her leadership potential.
Having worked her way through roles in policing, the fire service and higher education, Sasi was already an experienced HR practitioner. But the programme came at a time when she needed space to reflect and find new purpose in her work. The programme became the springboard to a renewed career path and a commitment to wellbeing and supporting others in the HR community.
Finding support and new perspective
When Sasi joined the Future People Leaders programme as part of its first cohort, she was navigating the end of a period of low confidence that had taken a toll on her mental health. Although she had taken time out to recover, rebuilding her self-belief was an ongoing journey.
Through the programme, she was matched with a wonderful mentor who offered not only strategic guidance but genuine emotional support. Their mentoring relationship offered Sasi a safe space to explore and reconnect with her strengths. Over the course of the programme, their conversations helped shift Sasi’s perception of herself to someone who was ready to lead with purpose.
Seeing herself as a leader
Structured sessions on emotional intelligence, communication and strategic HR leadership helped Sasi affirm the value of her knowledge and experience. Sasi found the peer case study discussions really useful as she found her views and knowledge often mirrored those of other trusted professionals.
These realisations helped her silence her self-doubt and step into her identity as a leader. She deepened her skills in areas including organisational design and workforce planning, but more importantly, she began to believe she belonged in strategic conversations, not just operational ones.
Creating a space for others: The HR Confidence Club
Energised by the programme and her work in her local CIPD branch, Sasi launched The HR Confidence Club – a peer support community for HR professionals dealing with self-doubt, workplace toxicity and burnout. What started as a small idea quickly gained traction, growing to over 700 members within a year.
The club offers monthly themes, guest speaker sessions and peer-to-peer support, creating an accessible and safe space for those who often feel isolated in their roles. Sasi’s message is simple:
You’re not alone. If your workplace is part of the problem or whether it is your own limiting beliefs, there’s a community of people who get it and who want to help.”
Leading with authenticity
Alongside her work on The HR Confidence Club, Sasi has become an advocate for wellbeing, a confident mindset approach and inclusive leadership across the profession. Now as Chair of her local CIPD branch, she plays a key role in shaping local HR conversations. Nationally, she contributes to webinars, reports and CIPD events, bringing her authenticity and empathy with her.
For Sasi, HR isn’t just a profession. She’s passionate about using her voice to make sure others are heard, supported and empowered to thrive in their roles.
A personal and professional turning point
Reflecting on her time in the Future People Leaders programme, Sasi describes it as a pivotal chapter in her journey. It wasn’t just about learning new skills, it was about reclaiming her voice and recognising the leader she already was.
Her advice to others facing low confidence or career uncertainty is rooted in lived experience:
There is a way out. You can choose your path and there is help out there when you start to look for it. But you have to lean in."
More on people professional development:
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