Leadership Development for Women

Despite years of advances in both legal and corporate policy, many qualified women don’t get the jobs they want. Misperceptions, stereotypes, and misplaced emotions on the part of either sex can still sabotage a woman’s career hopes—unless she takes a more strategic approach to her career.

This hands-on leadership course shows women how to strategically use your strengths and abilities—your competitive edge—while mastering your emotions in even the most unwelcoming atmosphere. You’ll learn how to build a network of support, take smart risks and view competition in a more positive light. Discover how to conduct yourself in a manner that earns you respect, and pursue your goals with positive energy. Return to your job feeling confident, ready to compete fearlessly, and in a better position to be recognized for your true capabilities.

• Overcome overt and hidden biases against women as leaders 
• Adopt a competitive mindset that leverages your strengths as a woman 
• Build a wide and strategic network of key stakeholders who will promote your career 
• Avoid taking a perfectionist approach to competitive and challenging situations 
• Recover from losses quickly by learning to take things less personally 
• Learn to deal with hypercompetitive colleagues with whom you have low trust

• Becoming a more confident, assertive woman in a competitive, male-dominated world 
• Getting out of your comfort zone and developing a more resilient mindset 
• Gaining a competitive advantage by taking smart career risks 
• Initiating and forming friendly competitor and challenger relationships 
• Expanding your strategic network in a virtual world 
• Learning how to collaborate with people you don’t like

Learning Objectives

• Describe Collaborative Competition and How to Apply This Mindset to Lead with Confidence
• Identify Opportunities to Take Smart Risks for Increased Competitive Advantage
• Explain the Advantages of Pacing Partners to Become More Organizationally Savvy, Build a Strategic Network, and Expand Your Visibility

Developing a Collaborative Competition Mindset

• Distinguish Between Male and Female Views of Competition
• Explain How Perfectionism Inhibits Competition
• Describe How Female Qualities Can Be an Asset in Leadership
• Define a Collaborative Competition Mindset

Defining a Smart Risk-Taking and Resilience Brand

• Describe Why Smart Career Risk Taking Is Critical for Your Brand
• Explain the Importance of Having a Resilient Mindset
• Describe the Four Performance Zones: Blah, Comfort, Stretch, and Yikes
• Explain the Purpose of Getting Comfortable in the Stretch Zone
• Identify a Practical Approach to Taking Smart Risks

Acting with Organizational Savvy

• Apply Strategies to Create a Savvy Organizational Role
• Describe Methods to Overcome Negative Labels That Can Limit Leadership
• Identify and Use “Organizational Savvy” Strategic Tactics to Promote Leader Brand

Build a Strategic Network

• Identify the Reasons Why a Strong Strategic Leadership Network Is Important
• Create an Action Plan to Develop an Ideal Leadership Network

Collaborating with Hypercompetitive Colleagues

• Distinguish Between Different Types of Hypercompetitive Colleagues
• Explain the Beliefs of Having Competent Yet Unlikeable Colleagues or Those with Whom You Have Low Trust
• Describe Strategies and Tactics for Dealing with Challenging Colleagues

Building Relationships with Pacing Partners

• Define the Four Levels of Pacing Partners
• Describe How to Form Friendly Competitors and Challengers and Overcome Common Pitfalls
• Build Pacing Partner Relationships