If you’re a young woman reading this, the chances are you’re thinking seriously about how best to advance your career. That’s good for you, and it’s good for your organisation. (They also want more women in senior positions.)
Research* shows that more men still get promoted into management roles than women (for every 100 men, there’s 70 women). There are lots of reasons for this. But there is also one very simple reason that you can control directly:
At the beginning of their careers, most men have a career plan. Yet far fewer women do the same.
1) Know your own strengths and preferences better
2) Take self-confidence, self-awareness and communication skills seriously
3) Make a plan for where you want to go and what you want to achieve
That’s why I developed the EmbraceMyFuture programme.
Enabling you to identify where you want to get to, what it takes to get there, what challenges you might be facing and how to work through them – to position yourself for the career that you want.
A clear vision of what you want from your professional life and how it fits into the bigger picture of your life
Fundamental communication skills to develop and maintain good working relationships, and manage tough workplace interactions
Increased effectiveness through an understanding of how to influence others and work towards common goals
Increased resilience through better awareness of negative behaviours and their impact on your performance
A key stakeholders map; a plan to build your network and your own visibility
A plan to integrate sustainable habits like managing career milestones and building skills
Based on core content covered within 6 modules, the programme provides a flexible approach tailored to your objectives.
Pre- and post-programme self-evaluation to measure progress
6 x 90-minute one-to-one sessions (face-to-face when possible and online)
Regular assignments including both written reflective exercises and hands-on experience through task and goal-setting after each session
Phone and email support in between sessions
EmbraceMyFuture programme resources at each session.
While we’ll work through a structured process, the sessions are tailored to you and your personal circumstances.
Individuals
Ambitious women wanting to give themselves options and proactively manage their professional futures.
Organisations
Organisations looking to foster diverse work environments, and actively support the acceleration, retention and promotion of female talent to expand and diversify their talent pipelines. This programme can be used as:
a complementary aspect of a broader talent development programme
support “on the job” for women entering a management position for the first time
part of a high-end onboarding program for newly-recruited females.
*McKinsey Women in the Workplace 2019 report.
EmbraceMyFuture was developed from my own experience – 20 years working in corporate communications for large multinational organisations across the automotive, defence/ aerospace and professional services sectors.
As a manager of young women, I mentored and coached individuals within the organisations I worked for. Today within my own business, I coach individuals, in particular young women, wanting to make change in their careers and professional lives.
Having observed first-hand typical patterns and common blockers to success, I have built the programme around four key enablers – self-awareness, self-confidence, communication and resilience.