2nd CANBERRA WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP SUMMIT

Leadership and communication go hand in hand. The number one tool you have in the practical implementation of your understanding of expert leadership is your capacity to communicate with sensitivity to the nuances of any given circumstance. This one-day experiential workshop will explore practical approaches to enhance your leadership acumen through powerful communication tools. 

Module 1 - Leadership essentials

- Evaluate leadership styles in today’s workplaces

- Assess your own leadership style

- Develop your personal leadership brand

Module 2 - Empowered communication

- Master empowered and empowering communication styles

- Present with confidence and authority

- Hone your non-verbal communication skills

Module 3 - Self-leadership

- Analyse your leadership blindspots

- Explore the neuroscience of leadership

- Tame your inner critic and leverage your inner coach

Module 4 - Practical leadership

- Establish boundaries to manage demanding workloads and quarantine your personal life from work

- Manage different personalities in your team

- Plan for and navigate difficult conversations

Women's advancement in the workforce has come a long way in the last one hundred years, from barely being admitted at all, to women occupying some of the top jobs in the world. Elizabeth invites you to get ready to push yourself, to practice courageous authenticity, and to imagine innovative new approaches for crossing the final obstacles to gender equity.

- Understand the qualities of an effective leader

- Explore the growth potential waiting just outside your comfort zone

- Discover your authentic leadership style

The new zeitgeist privileges care over combat, encouraging an emotionally intelligent, nurturing approach to leadership. For a lot of women, this 'revolutionary' approach seems familiar. When it comes to leadership, women have been ahead of the game for a long time. But there are still nay-sayers, and when you encounter them, you'll need the courage of your convictions to lead through resistance. 

Bianca shares her experiences leading an organisation-wide culture change.

- Harness your differences as a woman leader 

- Breakthrough resistance to your leadership

- Turn around toxic cultures

According to the McKinsey, Workplace Gender Equity Agency, and Business Council of Australia report, Women in Leadership, one of the top ten strategies to improve women's participation is providing flexible work arrangements. The benefits are widespread, improving work-life balance, job satisfaction, and productivity.

- Understand the business benefits of flexibility

- Explore approaches to flexible work

- Normalise flexible work arrangements

One of the biggest stumbling blocks in a woman's career is the working time lost to care responsibilities. To overcome this obstacle, we must form supportive coalitions of family, colleagues, and self. Stephanie reflects on how she transitioned into and out of maternity leave with support from her employer and family.

- Manage your wellbeing through change

- Create a supportive team culture

- Prepare your team for your transition

Leadership coaches Liz, Sally and Josephine explore core leadership capabilities in power-packed flash presentations, followed by an open panel discussion where you can pick their brains. You will hone your skills in boundary-setting and assertiveness, develop strategies to manage small teams with ease, and explore coaching techniques to boost team performance.

- Hone your skills in boundary-setting and assertiveness

- Develop strategies to manage small teams with ease

- Explore coaching techniques to boost the performance of your teams

Reams of literature on women's advancement in the workforce overwhelmingly say the same thing: more women in leadership is good for business. If the business case is clear, why are women still trailing men two to eight at management level, and one to nine at CEO level in major corporations? The Diversity Council of Australia suggests we need to engage men in the conversation.

- Understand the wins for men in the fight for gender equity

- Make a case for gender equity in the domestic and professional spheres

- Engage men in productive, compassionate conversation

One of the great things about the feminist movement is the sense of community and unity. But just as much as we need to have each other's backs, we need to have our own. We need the courage to seize opportunities, take risks, and take ownership of our careers. 

- Liberate yourself from fear of change

- Know when to leap at an opportunity

- Back yourself and your ambition

Threats to Australia’s law enforcement and national security landscape are rapidly changing. Traditional strategies are becoming less effective in defeating threats. Bold and proactive leadership is required to adjust the way we work: as leaders, we must ensure our teams are innovative and agile to stay ahead. Ciara reflects on her experience in government agencies and the Department of Home Affairs managing teams through change.

- Embrace change as an opportunity for growth

- Communicate your strategic vision

- Inspire excitement and hunger for new opportunities

Mentoring is considered a 'soft' solution to career advancement, and it's argued that it's better to engage in sponsorship. But how do you secure a sponsor, or agree to sponsor, if you haven't yet built the professional trust necessary? Mentoring may be the answer.

- Understand the inter-relatedness of mentoring and sponsoring

- Establish a vibrant culture of sponsorship

- Engage your organisation in a stakeholder-driven women's advancement initiative

A recent study released by Forbes identified diversity as a core driver of business innovation. You understand the business case for diversity, now you need tried and tested strategies for acquiring diverse talent and harnessing the dynamism of your teams.

- Identify obstacles to diversity in your recruitment strategies

- Develop inclusive leadership practices to get the best out of your diverse team

- Retain your best and brightest for sustained innovation

'Authentic leadership' is all the rage in leadership thinking. Many of its principles are intuitive for women - be sincere, don't fear vulnerability, be self-aware. But as a woman leader, authentic leadership means owning your womanhood, even in the face of resistance and doubt.

- Understand your inherent strengths as a woman leader

- Plan to overcome resistance to your leadership

- Develop your self-awareness

Driving meaningful and sustainable change is a multi-faceted endeavour. Grass-roots activism and strategic corporate engagement might seem inherently incompatible, but Katherine has done both with success. Katherine reflects on her community-driven efforts in the disability sector, and her government relations work in agriculture, sharing insights for application in the gender equity movement.

- Get a big-picture perspective on driving change

- Explore different strategies for engaging stakeholders from the community and government

- Identify opportunities to advance the gender equity movement in your own life

After two enriching days of connecting, creating, and collaborating, it’s time to consider the key inspirations from your experience. Your chair leads you and your fellow delegates in an interactive reflective discussion.

- Share your insights

- Learn from the perspectives of your peers

- Make a plan to implement your learning

Develop self-awareness and authenticity

- Values-based leadership - what it means to be an authentic leader

- Identify your key strengths and potential de-railers as a leader

- Identify how best to utilise your optimal leadership style within the context of your organisation

High level communication, influence and negotiation skills

- Manage emotions for positive and assertive communication and relationships

- Develop techniques of persuasion, negotiation and influencing with coaching skills and “conversational intelligence”

- Prepare for and have difficult conversations with confidence

Develop self and others with “reflective leadership”

- Clarify the benefits of reflective practice in leadership

- Develop the skills and capacity for reflective practice

- Using reflective practice to influence the quality of the culture through the quality of relationships

Strategic career progression

- Everyday career management practices and creating a personal leadership plan

- Maximise existing relationships and networks and building new ones for professional opportunities

- Skills and approaches to manage your image and visibility without feeling you are “selling yourself”

Transformational leadership strategies to accelerate team performance

- Leverage team dynamics to enhance performance

- Challenge, support and empower others

- Manage uncooperative staff members

Drive change and innovation as a female leader

- Recognisie and overcome hurdles to change

- Trust your intuition and step outside your comfort zone

- Embed a positive change culture in an organisation

Remain productive in a crisis

- Build resilience to thrive under pressure

- Support your team and engage others to deliver

- Debrief after crisis - provide and accept feedback

Action planning for leadership

- Develop a personalised approach - short and long-term

- Understand challenges

- Share approaches to move your career forward