The theme of this first day (out of a total of 3) was ‘Leadership and ME’. Participants were introduced to relevant leadership theories but also asked to reflect on their leadership qualities,as well as the values, motivations and strengths they associate with leadership, whether reflecting on themselves but also when discussing publicly acknowledged, male and female ‘leaders’. It was interesting to see that leadership traits as defined by the group were completely detached from sectors or industry background in favour of a more universally applicable definition!
I gained a number of insights throughout the day but some resonated and stuck with so much, that I feel it would be worthwhile sharing them here:
#1 Female leadership is transformational leadership 'at heart'
The
concept of 'transformational leadership' was introduced in the 1980's and for
the first time identified 'emotional intelligence' as a crucial component of
leadership. according to this theory, the leader:
- has integrity
- set clear goals
- communicates openly and often
- encorages and motivates others
- provides supports and recognition
- develop teams and meaningful relationships
- taps into people's emotions
- inspires people to reach for the sky
All
participants identified these traits in public female leaders and also said
that they were striving to maintain and nurture these traits in themselves. So,
we agreed that when women act authentically and remain true to themselves they
are actually capable of the most effective leadership. Equally, women who
disregard their emotional intelligence in favour of what they perceive as the
winning male traits they actually end up losing their effectiveness and their
ability to impact others in a powerful, 'transformational' way.
#2
Leadership happens everywhere, whether you are the CEO, you aspire to be one or
not.
We
often associate the image of a CEO to that of a leader, but that cannot be more
far from the truth. Wherever you are in your professional life, a manager in a
corporate structure, a sole-trader, an entrepreneur or a stay-at-home-mum you
can be a leader in your own right!
This is
a particularly important point to acknowledge in my view and especially for
women, because often women have too many balls to juggle to focus on a wholly
consuming idea such as becoming the CEO! The other side of the coin is that
women have the opportunity to meet, nurture and impact so many people from so
many different walks of life that they have just as much opportunity to show
leadership skills. The key thing is recognising your strengths and applying
them to making the difference to whatever you are doing and passionate about.
At a corporate level, I think all organisations
need leaders in order to nurture talent, foster innovation, bring
much needed entrepreneurship skills and
ultimately thrive in highly competitive, ever changing times! So
organisations need to empower their staff - and
particularly the women - to feel and act like leaders.
#3 Knowing Me - Knowing You
We spent a great deal of
this first day reflecting on ourselves, investigating own values and even
having some fun creating using old magazine and other 'arts and craft '
items to create picture of ourselves. The group felt that the exercise was
thought provoking and valuable in more than one way:
- We hardly spend any
time investigating and reflecting on ourselves (see my previous blog on the
power of reflection!). Yet there cannot be leadership unless there is
self-awareness! Even as
adult women and grown up managers
we must give ourselves thinking time, reflection time, taking stock time. This
is not a luxury, it is a necessity.
- Self-Confidence
continues to 'bug us'...although it gets better as we gain more expertise,
knowledge and experience throughout life. But as women we need to
reinforce it by reminding ourselves of our achievements and skills...and
we are not good at recognising those in the first place!
Participants went home with a positive mindset
and a to-do list and action plan to implement which we will review at the
next masterclass.
I cannot wait to hear what happens
next...
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