Situation

• Help women become stronger leaders, at a crucial career juncture.
• Increase the chances of retaining female talent at a critical time.

Approach

Career Success
A panel of senior men discussed the high and low points of their careers and offered advice. Next, each woman examined her own career path, discussed what led to success, explored the circumstances where there was less satisfaction and engagement and tried to summarize key reasons for success thus far. In the subsequent facilitated discussion, research on what women need to know about managing their career was included.

Leadership Effectiveness
Each person received their results of a 360-degree assessment with feedback on how well she balanced being strategic with being tactical, and how well she balanced being enabling with being forceful. This assessment addressed two primary criticisms made of women leaders – they're not strategic enough because they are too tactical, and they are too aggressive or not aggressive enough. In addition, each person received a 360-degree assessment of how she manages conflict along with an individual assessment on how she approaches relationships. Then a panel of very senior female leaders within the corporation discussed their experiences and offered advice.

Finally, using a customized role-play involving a tough peer (ideally portrayed by actors), participants tested their ability to engage the peer and resolve the issue. Peers provided feedback and coaching to each other.

Additional Skills
Based on group need and interest, additional topics were addressed such as networking, promoting one’s self and showing confidence.

Each person had a one-on-one coaching session, set specific goals and worked with a small peer support group to sustain momentum on those goals over the coming months.

2 day program

Results

• The women left with clear insights on what to do differently and what to keep doing.
• Some went back to manage their current roles differently and ultimately take on larger leadership roles as a result of the changes they made.
• Some went back to deal with challenges in a new light.
• All left with a strong sense of camaraderie among female peers with some relationships lasting for years.