Clarity of Direction: creating your future vision
Unlocking the future YOU want for yourself.
It is our belief, at Resilient Women Leaders, that without a focus on the future, you get a feeling of being lost and lacking purpose. Our confidence may be low and our imposter syndrome sitting tightly on our shoulders. When we don’t know where we’re going, we have no sat nav, no information from which to make decisions.
In the Back to Business Conference in March 2023, every speaker at the conference mentioned the importance of creating your future pathway, something we, at Resilient Women Leaders, call ‘Clarity of Direction.’
“Having a plan can help you in every situation.” Eliana Sydes, Head of Financial Life Strategy at Y TREE
And it’s true, having a plan means you’ve had time to think things through, a chance to find your North Star. Once you know where you’re going, your determination rises, your confidence rises and you become the courageous individual that Sarah Austin mentioned – ‘Courage is on the other side of fear’.
Robert Gardner, entrepreneur, investor, author and champion of protecting/growing biodiversity and fighting climate change, highlighted how understanding his Ikigai helped him discover his purpose, helping him move, with confidence, to a job which combined his knowledge of investment, assets and also geography and climate change. Working out what he valued and enjoyed doing with what the world needs. He was seeking “a purpose beyond money.”
Robert wasn’t the only one who mentioned Ikigai, Eliana also mentioned using Ikigai as a way of finding out what your purpose is. Finding your purpose can then support you in discovering a new business idea or fine-tuning something you’re already doing. Finding your Ikigai…
‘This is what you live for, the passion and the purpose of your life. It is the joy found in living, whether it is your job, volunteer work, your family or your friends. It is what you are trying to achieve from this life that you were given.’
Finding your Ikigai can be hard. At Resilient Women Leaders, we can support you because this is exactly what our ReNew You programme focuses on, which we run 4 times per year. In just 5 hours, (1 hour per week), our virtual programme, designed based on this Japanese concept, will help you discover your Purpose. This not only renews energy, it helps you re-focus, rebalance and reflect too.
To find out information about our next programme, Click Here or head to the RHC Event / Offer Pages to claim your RHC 10% discount.
Here’s what past participants have said….
“I would highly recommend this course to anyone seeking clarity on the direction of their life, who are feeling uncertain about things or those wishing to connect with themselves to really regain their mojo.“
“The ‘ReNew’ course has left me feeling invigorated and with an enthusiasm to continue to work towards the question, ‘what is my purpose in life?’ The interactive sessions, really prompt full engagement from the cohort and delve into the fundamentals of who you are at your core and what makes you tick. Redressing the priorities I have in my life and understanding how to be the best version of myself has given me the confidence to make bold decisions professionally and to keep focused on my values in all aspects of my life.“
Some of the biggest learnings from this programme have been around our relationships with ourselves and others, building greater awareness of how we can be at our best, how we can rebalance as we go from pressure to stress, the importance of relationships in our lives, the values that guide us and the decisions we make.
Reminding ourselves of what Baroness Nicky Morgan said “We’ve got to think about how we treat ourselves.”
Our ReNew Programme allows you to do just that. So do come and join us.
On the same theme, Eliana Sydes said that “Our biggest attribute is ourselves.”
And understanding ourselves, who we are, what we do, our strengths and our purpose, builds Resilience. And resilience is the world I spend the majority of my time in. Building Resilient Leaders through a greater understanding of the Resilient Leaders Elements, 1 of which we heavily focused on during my Round Table session at the conference. Clarity of Direction.
The 4 elements of this framework are
- CLARITY OF DIRECTION: Having a vision and a realistic strategy for the future, communicating effectively to align people to your vision and having the determination to keep going in the face of adversity
- AWARENESS: Appreciation of your own and others’ motivations, cultures, strengths and weaknesses and using this knowledge to adapt to the forces that affect your changing environment
- LEADERSHIP PRESENCE: Being true to yourself, your values and ethical code, being in service to others and bringing a focus and bias for achievement to your organisation and others around you
- RESILIENT DECISION MAKING: Being able to take a valuable idea from concept to reality, challenging your own and others biases and considering the impact, pace and style of your decision making
“Clarity is power: The more clear you are about what you want the more likely you are to achieve it.” Billy-Cox
ACTION
Back in 2020, a colleague and I started The Resilient Women Leaders programme, a 3-month programme specifically for women who were leading themselves, a team or an organisation. Our description of leaders highlights that ‘everyone is a leader because everyone influences someone’.
To ensure our programme met the needs of our participants, we created a survey to give us our own Clarity of Direction. Following the analysis of our survey, we were able to highlight the 7 biggest barriers preventing women from reaching their full potential.
Internal Barriers
- Lack of confidence
- Being Heard
- Imposter Syndrome
Note – all of the above were highlighted by Esther Stanhope in her talk about being a confident you.
External Barriers
- Unconscious Bias – yours and others
- A narrow view of leadership
- Lack of understanding of the importance of EQ
- Diversity
Our Resilient Women Leaders Programme was built on these findings, the data gave us clarity.
If you’re looking for a coach or maybe a group programme where you can learn from other women, please do get in contact hello@resilientwomenleaders.com
Thank you for your time.
