The Latest Insights from Leading NOW

Having a culture of Inclusion is not only about checking off the boxes for diversity. It’s about diversity of thought, and making sure everyone in the organization feels secure enough to express themselves without fear of retribution. It means creating a psychologically safe workplace where those on teams feel comfortable enough to take risks, express their ideas and concerns, ask questions, and admit mistakes – all without fear of negative consequences. How do you create a psychologically safe workplace and what are the benefits of doing so?

Successful leaders understand that in order to improve their organization’s culture, retain employees, and ultimately, improve the company’s overall performance and profitability, they need to constantly evolve. That means keeping up with how leadership is defined in today’s post-covid world.

Do you know how your employees really feel about your organization? If you read this question and answered “no”, isn’t it time you asked? And even if the answer was “yes”, do you really know? Do you know how your employees are experiencing your organization’s culture? Do they feel included? Are your company’s leaders demonstrating inclusive behavior? Do your employees see them demonstrating inclusive behavior?

A year ago, when Covid-19 changed all of our lives in so many ways, Leading NOW’s CEO summed up how most of us were feeling with a quote from Greek philosopher, Heraclitus –– “Change is the only constant in life.” Her blog post, Leadership at the pace of Global Change, kicked off a 6-part series on how to deal with change when things are volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA). Below, we share a recap of the entire “change” series to help you keep up with the constantly changing world we live in. If you missed the series the first time around, now is your chance to catch up, with tips that will help you lead, manage and navigate during these VUCA times. Read ON!

One of my favorite quotes is from a Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, who said ”Change is the only constant in life.” I’ve been thinking about the pace of Change for months now. I see Change happening at our clients’ organizations and I see the toll it is taking on their employees. And, I have been asking the question: “How do you lead in the face of constant change?”

In advertising, it's the transition from managing the client to managing the business. In construction, it's the transition from managing the project to managing the business. In professional services firms it's the transition from delivering client services to advancing the business by revenue generation. In your company, it is likely the transition from managing managers to running a business.

January is National Mentoring Month (#NaMeMo) in the United States, and while the month originally focused on mentoring youth, it has now grown to include all forms of mentoring. For us at Leading Women, our research has found that mentoring women is not only good for the women being mentored, but other women in the pipeline and their company's bottom line.

Recently, a podcast host asked me if I’d be interested in doing an interview on gender differences in leadership styles. More specifically, the host wanted me to chat about how women are much more inclusive leaders than men. On the surface, this seems like a positive development for women, and something that’s worth crowing about. It’s also got a lot of traction: viewing women as more inclusive leaders seems like something that will finally get them into the C-suite en masse, no? I declined. No matter how positive it might seem on the surface to point out the “innate” characteristics of female leaders, it never leads to the kind of change we want. Read on to learn about the sinister side of gender essentialism, and how defining women leaders differently doesn’t serve them.

There are many things that women haven't been told about leadership from career-start to the corporate boardroom. Here are 9 fundamental things about leadership that women haven't been told and need to know. They are these. Leadership is simple, but it's not easy. It's simple if you have a definition of leadership that is useful and prescriptive. This is the first of 9 things that every woman should know about leadership: 1. "Leadership is using the greatness in you to achieve and sustain extraordinary outcomes by engaging the greatness in others." This definition is one you can use to make plans at the start of each day or evaluate actions at the end of each day. Acts of leadership involve standing on the foundation of personal greatness, focusing on achieving key outcomes and engaging others in achieving those outcomes.

Learn what women haven't been told about leadership from career-start to the corporate boardroom. Conventional wisdom about leadership will take you only so far! With the right leadership skills, the highest levels of career success are well within a your reach. But much that you've been told about leadership is outdated, incomplete and ineffective. If you rely on conventional wisdom about the career success equation it will fail you because of The Missing 33%® No Ceiling, No Walls takes a fresh, unblinking look at leadership. It identifies the vital missing piece of the leadership equation, and offers specific, actionable information not found anywhere else, including: