Finance Monthly. 50 Bus i ne s s & Economy confidence. That’s why I embrace all my clients’ thoughts as I support them throughout my coaching sessions. Fundamentally, we have the answers within ourselves. It’s my role to offer an inclusive space for my clients to be intentional about exploring and identifying their values and strengths, how they define success, and what is blocking them from achieving their goals. Supporting my clients focus on what to say “yes” to and when to say “no”, allows them to develop their authentic leadership capabilities and stand in their story, their strengths, their development areas and aspirations with confidence and pride. Confronting these challenges takes time and dedication. There’s also an important role that the right psychometric analysis plays in understanding themselves. But embarking on this discovery journey together with my clients can help them break down the isolation barrier as they understand how they can lead their life in an authentic way. What’s your advice for senior leaders who want to build more sustainable and inclusive leadership positions? Women are essential to the success of any business. We’ve repeatedly seen how organisations perform much better when they leverage diversity at all levels. In fact, a McKinsey study, published in 2018, shows that “Companies in the top quartile for gender diversity were 21% more likely to outperform on profitability and 27% more likely to outperform on value creation compared to industry peers”. But we’re still stuck on only nurturing female leaders. This is only one side of the imbalance. In actuality, it’s mission-critical for an organisation to nurture, build and develop the right environment for women to feel supported to grow and thrive alongside the development of nurturing female leaders. It’s a dual track that lets organisations truly access the full potential of aspiring and experienced female leaders. So, who is responsible to drive this change? Everyone! This isn’t the responsibility of just one department or role. We all have a responsibility to make informed business decisions. We need to take accountability and action towards a more inclusive world. Additionally, language plays a critical role in establishing an inclusive work culture because it’s an essential part of how we communicate with each other. If we talk about female leadership as an onerous task to achieve certain targets or a boxticking exercise, then the actions and treatment of female leaders will follow that narrative. Our language needs to change to how invaluable the inclusion of female leaders is and celebrate their success equally. As female employees are more likely to experience belittling and microaggression, such as having their judgment questioned or being mistaken for someone more junior, all leaders need to keep their communication channels open throughout the organisation, they need to stay curious, ask questions and listen to the responses. This way, the organisation can start to build psychological safety to enable the honest feedback to be presented – this enables change. One way that can help facilitate these conversations is through external involvement like our reverse mentoring program. Reverse mentoring is a proven way that connects female employees with senior leaders on a 1-2-1 basis to discuss openly their challenges and share their perspectives and experiences at the organisation. “As female employees are more likely to experience belittling and microaggression, such as having their judgment questioned or being mistaken for someone more junior, all leaders need to keep their communication channels open throughout the organisation, they need to stay curious, ask questions and listen to the responses.”
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