On the 3rd of July Elliott Scott UK held a ‘Women in Leadership’ seminar in partnership with Arcadia Consulting. A selection of senior HR leaders joined us for a lively discussion on the topic led by Jane Smart, Principal Consultant at Arcadia Consulting.
The session kicked off with the participants sharing the issues they encounter in their leadership roles, including:
- The need for the removal of bias in order to be treated equally in the workplace, particularly prominent in more traditional environments and male heavy industries such as technology.
- Getting a seat at the table; one attendee who works in investment banking mentioned that the majority of leadership roles are still filled by men.
- The tendency for women to focus on their flaws rather than their strengths.
There was also a call for women in leadership roles to help and empower other women. An attendee highlighted how far women have come in just a generation and another raised the importance of women getting into senior roles so they can pave the way for future generations and bring about the needed changes. Almost 4 in 10 businesses in G7 countries have no women in senior management positions and there are only 7 current female CEO’s of FTSE 100 companies.
Jane then shared some key points on building and developing your leadership style and presence.
- Build your personal brand: Ensure that you’re portraying a consistent brand image by supporting your messaging with the right behaviours – make a good first impression, maintain eye contact, adapt the right posture and be aware of the volume, pitch and pace in your vocal delivery.
- Have confidence in your abilities: Do not fall victim to ‘imposter syndrome’ and build up some resilience so that, as a professional in your field, you have confidence in your ability to succeed.
- Four traits that authentic leaders are shown to have:
1– Self-awareness: continually commit to your own learning
2– No ego: empower and develop others
3– Be human: influence and inspire others by being open and transparent
4– Deliver: prove yourself by producing great outcomes over longer periods showing that you are reliable
- To become an authentic leader:
– Demonstrate consistent behaviours which enable you to be trusted at all times
– Take ownership when you have made a mistake and be willing to share responsibility for your teams’ mistakes
– Show the necessary courage to push further up the leadership chain, to question the current status quo or defend your people or processes
After an empowering seminar, the participants shared their takeaways on; the need to self-promote and bring about a shift in their own and others mind-sets and also the importance of mentorship and finding and being role-models. We then had the chance to network and share more common ground on this subject over some drinks and canapes. Along with the Arcadia Consulting and Elliott Scott teams, the group then had some drinks and canapés over further discussions whilst enjoying views over the River Thames.
Due to the huge interest we received on this session, we are going to be running a ‘Women in Leadership’ forum on a regular basis. If you would be interested in taking part please reach out to Kirstin Hunt at kh@elliottscotthr.com. If you would be interested in attending any of our other future events, follow us on LinkedIn and keep an eye on our events page.
