Creating Leadership Diversity Creating Leadership Diversity
Our aim in Consulting Women is to promote true diversity – can we hear the unique voice/contribution of each other so that we can build our businesses together on the reality of our situations rather than on assumption?
Developing and welcoming women leaders is the very visible tip of this behavioural iceberg.
Most training and development aimed at women helps them plug the gaps in their skills and knowledge. This is essential. However sustainable culture change needs women to be able to read the political dynamics of their firms and act . Their firms also need to be able to receive and recognise their contribution. Achieving this culture change requires deeper development . Consulting Women reflect this need in the different elements of our Next Level programme and other offerings to organisations and individuals.
What our clients experience
The experience of women attending our events and working with us, is that they have gained confidence and skill in having new types of conversations about the results they achieve, the contribution they can bring to their firm, and the roles they can play. This is often in contrast to the experience of many of ‘waiting in hope’ that their management will deliver on what they say they’ll do at formal appraisals.
To be able to take this step women need to:
- recognise their own patterns of behaviour and grow past their limitations AND
- recognise the dynamics of the organisation (behaviour and timings) to deliver on what they offer.
This enables women to plan and take the action that works for them (and learn from this).
These are leadership skills whether applied to DIRECTING initiatives within a firm e.g on technical issues, or applied to STEERING one’s career, or to SUPPORTING the development of others.
What firms can do
- who is already supporting the development and progression of women - what are they doing? Listen to their stories and make these ‘leaders’ visible
- how are women and men succeeding in your organisation’s culture – how can this be built on – in terms of performance measures and internal and external development initiatives