Resilient Women Leaders – 7 Key Issues Preventing Women from being Confident Leaders
Everyone is a leader because everyone influences someone
During the Really Helpful Club’s Back to Business Conference in September, I was asked to run a Round Table Session talking about the correlation between resilience and confidence.
The main focus was to prove that if you increase the levels of confidence in yourself, your resilience automatically increases. Easy hey!!
So how do you do it?
For me, confidence comes from being more self-aware generally.
How aware are you of:-
- Your strengths?
- The value you add to your team/organisation?
- How you communicate to others?
- The impact you have on those around compared to your perceived impact?
- What are your values and why they are important?
- The leadership skills you use daily whilst raising your family?
- The triggers that push you into stress?
- Your coping strategies to support your heightened levels of doing?
It is when you truly believe in your strengths and your ability, the way you do some things effortlessly and what that means to those around you, that’s when your confidence starts to build. When we become aware of what supports us, what motivates us and the types of environments in which we thrive, it is in this moment when we can make more robust decisions about the steps we take for our future.
Resilience is within every single one of us and we won’t know how resilient we are until we are truly tested. We can build resilience, just like we build muscle. Muscles grow when we use them – we can specifically train them such as going to the gym, running or doing other forms of exercise. So like muscles, we have to train our resilience and confidence to build growth, whether that is by listening to podcasts, TED talks, enrolling on a development programme, discussing your views with others or putting yourself out of your comfort zone
Building resilience is about trying new things and feeling comfortable in being uncomfortable. The more you step out of your comfort zone the more you grow, the more confidence you get, the more resilient you become.
With this in mind, I would like to share with you an opportunity.
I have been a Resilient Leaders Elements (RLE) Consultant now for 2 years and it is my go-to tool and framework when I’m working with individuals and also teams. I love it because it’s flexible, cost-effective and also measurable. You can actually see an % increase in leadership muscle following interventions with the tool. We believe that everyone is a leader, this tool works for all, wherever you are on your journey.
Earlier this year, some of my fellow Resilient Leaders consultants and I ran a questionnaire just focusing on where we could help develop women as resilient leaders. They identified 7 key areas which prevented their growth. We have therefore designed a women’s only programme, using the RLE, to support them specifically in these areas.
Key Issues:-
Internal Barriers: –
- Lack of confidence
- Being heard
- Imposter Syndrome
External Barriers: –
- Unconscious bias
- A narrow view of leadership
- Lack of emotional intelligence
- Lack of commitment to diversity
To hear more about the research findings, alongside details of up and coming programmes, of which there is one starting in January, we’d love you to become part of our Women as Resilient Leaders Network.
Fancy joining us?
To find out more and to be part of our network, sign up here.
Once signed up, you will also be given access to 2 Free 45mins Resilient Leaders Masterclasses taking place in November.
‘Resilience is a perspective, an outlook you can cultivate to stay focused on the important things in life, rather than the most urgent’
Isa Buencamino, RLE consultant and Founder of What’s Inside Ltd
