Leadership Program Success

LeadershipHQ worked with Cross River Rail for the past 18 months with incredible outcomes. We offered 18 senior women leadership training and coaching to push them to better themselves as leaders and to increase their confidence skills with our cutting edge Women in Leadership Program. They have also undertaken our online Leadership Essentials and Veriskills training! The outcome of the partnership was fantastic as the eighteen leaders have taken the next step in their leadership journey and we have seen the company go from strength to strength. The results achieved were significant improvements in leadership skills, retention, motivation, engagement, confidence and the ability to handle change, improve productivity and team dynamics.

Redefining Strong Women

In my blog, “Women, Sport and Leadership,” there is one saying that bothers me and it has done so for a while now. That phrase is “You throw like a girl.” There are of course other similar sayings: you run like a girl, you fight like a girl, and so on. These simple sayings frustrate me. When did doing something like a girl become such a derogatory term?

The company, Always, took a stand against this phrase at the Super Bowl in 2015, showing young girls declaring that throwing ‘like a girl’ was actually a good quality. Girls are strong. Girls are fast. The young girls in the advertisement were happy being called girls – after all, that’s what they are. But in modern society, we should be able to recognise that we are all equal, whether in sport, leadership or business.

Competition is a wonderful base from which to produce leaders and good team players. Team spirit is much more than being able to work as a group, it demonstrates that you can listen, communicate, lead and understand differing points of view. Women not only make powerful leaders, but they also benefit a team as a whole. Collective intelligence is the name for group intelligence that comes from collaborative efforts and team decision-making, rather than the sum of individual IQs. Women generally possess specific traits such as empathy, motivation, flexibility and intuition which otherwise might be missing from an all-male environment.

Diversity is such a positive thing in any environment: the more diverse the team, often the larger variety of suggestions, ideas and solutions that get passed around the table. Everyone wins – the team, the leaders, the executives, the investors and the customers. The fact of the matter is; we need more female leaders. So what can we do about it? We need to:

• Ensure that we encourage and mentor women as soon as they walk in the door
• Work on skills such as communication and presentation so all voices can be heard
• Ensure that family remains an important element in the workplace
• Support female sports organisations
• Look at your team critically and who can assist regardless of any divisive factor
• Understand the connection between education, sports and leadership
• Work alongside athletic departments to spot potential talent in athletes
• Educate boys and men that doing something ‘like a girl’ is not a bad thing

Isn’t it time we stepped up to the plate with courage? Isn’t it time we reclaimed our definition of doing something ‘like a girl’? As female leaders, entrepreneurs and business owners, we know girls can be strong and fast, smart and fearless, determined and successful. We just need to show the world.

PUSH through BARRIERS

In my blog, “Women in Leadership Boost Success,” I ask the question, is your workplace under-represented with women in leadership positions? Do you know why that may be? Now, there is a better understanding of women’s underrepresentation in leadership positions across sectors and countries and with this clarity, we can also see that increased participation rates improve market value. There are great benefits to be gained with women in leadership and opportunities are available to push through barriers, advance women’s leadership and make a difference for future generations. “The future is in your hands.”

Cultivate Leadership Traits

Being a leader that is able to motivate and encourage others is not something that happens accidentally. There are key traits which most inspiring leaders share and by cultivating these traits you will improve your leadership skills so that you can bring out the best in yourself and others:

• Look Towards the Future
• Work On Self Improvement
• Polish Your People Skills
• Take Risks
• Make Health and Wellbeing A Priority

And, recognising that 2020/21 has been very challenging, we need to look ahead to the future to ensure we have future leaders and generations who will lead with courage. Like any leadership skill, courage is something that is learned and refined over time and it should form part of a leader’s inventory. Our Leadership Programs will provide future focussed leaders with an opportunity to build your courage as a skill.

Stay Kind. Stay Courageous.

LeadershipHQ