Diageo’s Ira Read Believes Achievement Comes With Small Steps

Ira Read is Global Head of Inclusion & Diversity at Diageo plc, based at their headquarters in London, United Kingdom. She has extensive experience in managing stakeholder relationships and is passionate about enabling people to feel empowered. Ira begins at home by helping her child develop a sense of identity and believes being compassionate is a rewarding experience. Ira’s philosophy is that while people sometimes only value achievements that have a big societal impact or are recognized by others, achievement is a culmination of many small, often indiscernible steps toward goals.

Striving to empower people to prioritize between work and home, Ira is proud of the progressive and gender–balanced organizational policies, like the 2019 global parent leave policy. Diageo set a global minimum standard of four weeks paternity leave on full rate of pay in all markets and has paved the way for other companies to follow suit.