Women in Leadership

Works on identity before technique, using Ibarra, Ely and Kolb's research on how leader identity is built through cycles of acting and affirmation — and how subtle bias interrupts that cycle. Participants rebuild their self-description from delivered outcomes and start a credibility file.

Treats visibility as scheduled work, not personality: reframing self-promotion as reporting information decision-makers need, and the mechanics of being heard in senior rooms — speaking early, headline first, reclaiming interrupted points, crediting specifically. Each participant drafts and rehearses a contribution for a real upcoming meeting.

Draws the line Hewlett's research draws: mentors talk with you, sponsors talk about you in rooms you are not in. Covers what sponsors look for, why women are over-mentored and under-sponsored, and the practical route to becoming sponsor-ready. Participants map their real network and choose one concrete move.

Applies negotiation research to advancement: applying before feeling fully ready, what Babcock and Bowles found about asking and backlash, and negotiating scope and support before pay.

Names the documented patterns — prove-it-again, tightrope, maternal wall, office housework versus glamour work — using Williams and Dempsey's framework, then scripts responses that keep careers moving. Closes with what to ask of the organisation, because individual skill and system change are complements, not substitutes.

A capstone case study, supplied in international and Gulf editions, pulls every module together in a group diagnosis. Each participant then writes a ninety-day plan with dated commitments and exchanges follow-up dates with a peer before leaving.