“WiL-ful” Conversations
About this Project
Growing as a leader includes addressing identified challenges. Join in on the conversation that will address common factors such as balance, grit & grace, facing adversity, mentors vs. sponsors, imposter syndrome, and more.
Add your pro-spective to the conversation starters by clicking on ideas tab.
Ideas
Mentors and Sponsors
A mentor is a person who gives a protégé advice, answers questions, strategizes career moves and professional development. A sponsor is someone who promotes a protégé to other people to help advance the protégé’s career.
(Women in Leadership: Persistent Barriers to Gender Equality in the C-Suite (uwo.ca)) “In some cases, women are over-mentored and under-sponsored,” says Jeffery, who explains that mentorship is “when people speak to you” while sponsorship involves “people speaking about you.”
Share your ideas by responding to any of these question prompts or the essence of this topic.
- What is the difference between a mentor and a sponsor?
- Who are the sponsors or mentors in your life?
- How do you engage their support?
- Have you ever mentored or sponsored someone?
Total Ideas Submitted: 2
Balance: Is there such a thing?
The very idea of balance implies that a well-lived life must allocate equal time and energy between work and home. Work-life balance then is another impossible ideal for women to aspire to.
Share your ideas by responding to any of these question prompts or the essence of this topic.
What does “balance” look like for you in each of these areas?
- Work – Family – Self
- Delegation
- Wellness
Total Ideas Submitted: 1
Tackling Imposter Syndrome
Impostor syndrome, also known as impostor phenomenon or impostorism, is a psychological occurrence in which an individual doubts their skills, talents, or accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud.
Share your ideas by responding to any of these question prompts or the essence of this topic.
Do any one of these resonate with you? How do you tackle them?
- Self doubt – in what areas?
- Fear of Failure?
Total Ideas Submitted: 1
Relationships & Shifting Word Choice
Relationships “Leadership can be very lonely. Women who have garnered support from strong friendships over the years may find it especially onerous to manage these relationships as they assume their position of leadership.”
Share your ideas by responding to any of these question prompts or the essence of this topic.
- As a systems leader, how have you navigated the transition in your relationships as you took up the mantle of leadership?
- What advice would you have for beginning leaders who are about to embark on their leadership journey?
- Shifting Word Choice “Women share the challenge of reconciling an internal conflict of being perceived as a respected leader versus a bossy woman.”
- Competent or liked …. But not both. What do you think of when you hear this statement?
- In your experience, have you shied away from speaking about your accomplishments for fear of being perceived as being boastful or conceited or might be aware of women who have?
Total Ideas Submitted: 1
Grit & Grace
When facing adverse situations or making difficult decisions, attempt to combine your grit with your grace. While calling upon your strength and determination to do the difficult things, also draw upon your empathy and compassion to ensure that others are acknowledged, that their issues are recognized and that they are treated fairly.”
Share your ideas by responding to any of these question prompts or the essence of this topic.
- What are some tough decisions you have to make – where you had to dig deep and call upon your grit to see you through?
- Do you have grace when confronted with conflict and difficult decisions?
- Might there be ways that grit and grace manifest differently in each of the traditional gender roles?
Total Ideas Submitted: 1
How do our systems support women leaders?
“Closing the gender leadership gap is an imperative for organizations that want to perform at the highest levels. Leveraging the full talents of the population provides a competitive advantage; companies with more women in leadership roles perform better, and employees on diverse and inclusive teams put in more effort, stay longer, and demonstrate more commitment. To change the numbers, gender bias and stereotypes have to be understood and counteracted.” https://leanin.org/tips/managers#!
Share your ideas by responding to any of these question prompts or the essence of this topic.
- How do we help individuals better navigate challenges and prepare for more senior roles?
- Success and likeability are positively correlated for men and negatively correlated for women. Have you experienced this? How can we mitigate this?
- What do you attribute your success to? “Men typically attribute success to innate qualities and skills, while women often attribute success to external factors such as “working hard,” “getting lucky,” or “help from others.” Women and men also differ when it comes to explaining their failures. When a man fails, he attributes it to situational factors like “didn’t practice enough” or “not interested in the subject.” When a woman fails, she is more likely to attribute it to lack of ability.”
- “Compared to women, men tend to talk more and make more suggestions in meetings, while women are interrupted more, given less credit for their ideas, and have less overall influence.” What strategies do you have to ensure yours and your colleague’s ideas are heard?
