Numerous studies suggest that despite the time, money and effort invested in women’s leadership development programs, the numbers at the top have stayed largely stagnant over the past decade. This workshop will suggest why this may be so by differentiating between two overtly similar but largely different constructs of high self-esteem – Optimal Self-Esteem (OSE) and Fragile Self-Esteem (FSE). It will bring a new perspective on why the current programs are ineffective, or building the latter at best. As a result, many high-achieving women know they are competent, but fear speaking up or taking risks and shut down with failure or criticism.
The workshop will then outline an approach to build implicit feelings of confidence that is largely absent in most professional development programs. It will translate the research on OSE into practical strategies that women can take to show up with greater authenticity, an essential need of women in the mid to later stages of their careers.
Diversity at the top is an urgent need of our times. As such, this workshop will be about connecting cognitive models with affective models in order to bridge the gap at the top and help build a pipeline of strong female leadership.