WOMEN’S DEVELOPMENT SERIES

A comprehensive program for women who want to increase their impact at work and become more effective leaders.

Modules include:

• Executive Presence for Women: How it differs and why that matters
• Speaking Up: The art of being heard and claiming credit
• Own Your Brand: Ways to control your personal narrative.
• Building Political Capital: Navigate career politics without compromising integrity
• Difficult Conversations: Successfully deal with conflict at work.
• Negotiation for Women: The essential toolkit for women who win.

Modules are multi-format and tailored to client’s need.

This workshop encourages women to own, and hone, the practical skills needed to communicate confidently, effectively, and authentically. It will examine the impact of the key elements of executive presence – how we look, how we speak, how we act – through a gender-specific lens.

Via a mixture of theory, discussion and role-play, participants will:

• Learn the key elements that make up executive presence.
• See how these differ subtly between men and women.
• Master the art of concise, assertive, and impactful communication.
• Learn to use ‘high status’ body language when presenting or pitching.
• Build confidence in their own abilities to present – and pitch – with impact

Drivers can range from environmental issues such as team and culture, to idiosyncratic ones such as imposter syndrome. This is not just a problem for women coming up through the ranks. Senior women seeking external visibility find it persists even at the top of their fields.

This module offers participants the techniques to understand how, why, and when to speak up. The discussion delves into the discomfort linked to taking risk versus the ‘easy road’ of staying silent. It addresses having the confidence to contribute and be heard in group meetings. Finally, it equips women strategically ask for the career opportunities as talented executives with ambitions to help their firms succeed.

• Imposter syndrome and barriers to speaking up
• Benefits of speaking up for the individual, for her colleagues, and for her clients
• Proactive preparation process for structuring key interactions
• Balancing risk and reward outside the speaker’s comfort zone
• Strategically – and authentically – socializing ideas

Creating a strong personal brand brings unique challenges for women. Research overwhelmingly suggests that women find it hard to self-advocate and articulate their accomplishments. And when they do, gender norms often dictate that they’re penalized for it.

This module addresses how women can develop an authentic personal brand without falling foul of gender norms or the ‘likeability paradox’.

It focuses on:

• Brand attributes and how they relate to the workplace.
• Creating a personal brand at work; curating your own narrative.
• Manage how other people perceive you, and your reputation.
• Confidently articulating your personal brand and accomplishments.
• Maximizing visibility through workplace channels and beyond.

An inability, or unwillingness, to get involved in office politics is frequently cited by female professionals during performance reviews as a barrier to success.

This module will address what it means to build political capital at work, and how it can be done without compromising your authenticity.

It will focus on:

• The strategic network: how to plan and build a political capital base.
• Improving your visibility in the workplace.
• Cultivating meaningful relationships with influential people.
• The key tactics of influencing and persuasion in a professional environment.

It’s often assumed that difficult conversations are harder for women than for men. Many women prioritize empathy and maintaining relationships, which can be seen as avoiding conflict. Conversely, men tend to adopt a more direct style, often viewed as more effective in resolving issues.

This workshop will review and practice techniques to best navigate various challenging conversations for women in the workplace:

• A discussion on difficult conversation “war-stories”.
• Navigating outbound difficult communications (i.e., you deliver a tough message).
• The art of saying “no”.
• Interrupting, and dealing with interruptions.
• Handling pushback or concerns.

Fear of being seen as demanding – even aggressive – allied to an innate aversion to conflict can undermine self-belief. And if it does go wrong, there are proven concerns about backlash from colleagues.

Via a mixture of theory, discussion and role play, participants will learn techniques that build confidence and improve outcomes.

This module focuses on:

• Mindset and preparation: overcoming self-imposed barriers created by social norms.
• Understanding the power principle and win-win vs winlose negotiations.
• Techniques and tactics for key stages of negotiation.
• Converting objection into opportunity.
• Playing to strengths: collaboration and advocacy for self and others.