What does generosity look like in global finance? This question framed the conversation between Dame Julia Hoggett, CEO of the London Stock Exchange and Peter Todd, Dean of Imperial Business School, at this year’s Joan Woodward Memorial Lecture. 

As part of this year’s theme “Give to Gain”, the event, which marked International Women’s Day, focused on how generosity in leadership, mentorship and opportunity can shape stronger institutions and more inclusive markets. 

The event honoured Joan Woodward, one of Imperial’s earliest female professors and a pioneering scholar, whose research showed that organisational structures must adapt to their social and technological context. 

A sociologist in finance 

Opening the discussion, the Dean noted that Woodward’s insight on organisations being fundamentally social systems remains highly relevant today. 

“Joan Woodward brought a sociologist’s eye to questions of power, structure and technology – and demonstrated that management is, above all, a social practice.” he said. “It was therefore especially fitting that our speaker this year should be Dame Julia, someone who has carried that social and political science perspective into the heart of global finance. It was a great pleasure to have her with us.”  

That perspective has shaped Hoggett’s own career. In 2024, she was awarded a Damehood for services to business and finance, recognising both her industry leadership and her work championing more inclusive workplaces.  

“Markets are really sociology with money,” she told the audience. “They’re about how large groups of people think, behave and organise themselves.” 

Trust and access to capital 

Exchanges, Hoggett argued, act as essential conveners in the global financial system. 

“Stock exchanges bring together those who have capital with those who need it,” she said. “Trust has been at the heart of every transaction in this city for 300 years, and it still is. Maintaining it requires institutions that prioritise trustworthiness.” 

“What the world needs is not more trust,” Hoggett said, echoing philosopher Onora O'Neill. “The world needs more trustworthiness.” 

That principle has also shaped her views on access to capital: “One of the reasons I care so passionately about public markets is that they are inherently democratising.” she said.  

By contrast, she suggested that private markets can concentrate opportunity among already wealthy investors. Supporting companies as they move from private to public funding, she said, helps broaden wealth creation across the economy. 

Leadership through generosity  

For early-career professionals in the audience, Hoggett emphasised that leadership is about generosity – giving time, mentorship and opportunity to others.  

Her advice: “You can lead from any seat in an organisation. Leadership starts when you understand your role in the wider system and take full ownership of it. Master your brief, understand the context and seek to shape outcomes, and you can do far more than you think.” 

That spirit reflects the legacy of Woodward herself: a scholar whose work reshaped how organisations are understood and whose influence continues to inspire new generations of leaders to rethink how markets truly work.