Women in Leadership

“A majority of executives believe gender diversity in leadership links to better financial performance, but companies take few actions to support women in the workforce.” McKinsey 2015

From our work with senior women we believe this is a complex situation: a mixture of historical gender differences, which have created myths, assumptions and beliefs and unconscious bias from the perspective of both men and women. These are then played out in organisations.

Underpinning all this is the simple truth that only women can bear children – and our working careers and childbearing practices potentially collide head on: professional women tend to have children at their peak career wise (typically in their 30’s). The women we work with feel it is hard ‘to have it all’ so this conundrum itself throws up significant choices for women – senior career or family.

Our belief is that Institutional initiatives are not enough: they’re necessary, but not always sufficient. It’s also about mind-sets, assumptions and attitudes and skill acquisition and helping women take ownership of their own progress. We believe this is as much if not more the key to unlocking women’s potential as organisations changing their practices.

Our Offer
  • We design and deliver women in leadership programmes in consultation with the client organisation.
  • Our experience tells us that the most powerful interventions are those, which give women the opportunity to learn together, to share experiences and to think deeply about themselves.
  • So a mix of plenary, small group and 1:1 work works well, over a 6 month to one-year period.
Potential Outcomes:
Outcomes of our programmes are a reported increase in motivation, increase in promotion and reduced attrition:
  • Uncovering of the myths, beliefs and assumptions and unconscious bias to determine the ‘truth’ or reality for each woman.
  • Clarity at an individual level of what’s going on for them, what they want, what their choices are and how to best realise their potential.
  • Greater sense of responsibility and accountability for their actions and progress
  • ‘Demystifying’ the boardroom and encouragement of more women to take top jobs.
  • Increased personal authority, presence and impact
  • Strategies’ in place to sustain their performance over the long term