Fusion Workshop: Unpanelling Leadership- Women, Identity and Building Strong Networks
This is more than a workshop; it's a transformative experience. Don't miss out!
Join us for an interactive workshop designed to empower female-identifying people in leadership. We'll ditch the one-way talks and embrace an "unpanell" approach, where our facilitators (formerly panelists) actively guide the conversation alongside participants.
Together, we'll explore:
- the unique strengths women-identifying people bring to leadership and the challenges and opportunities that come with them
- unmasking imposter syndrome and learning to leverage your authenticity as a leadership superpower
- how to cultivate a network of supportive relationships where you can both give and receive invaluable guidance
Join us in person
Tuesday, July 9, 2024 at 4:45 PM ET in the Third Floor Foyer of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) – North Building.
Join the conversation online
If you’re not able attending Fusion in person this year, we’re continuing the conversation right here on the Brightspace Community!
We would love to hear your thoughts on the below questions within this discussion thread:
- What is a unique strength you bring to leadership that you haven't always felt comfortable sharing? How can we, as a group, create a space where all women feel empowered to leverage their unique talents?
- Imposter syndrome can hold us back. Share a time you felt this way in a leadership role. What did you learn from that experience, and how can we collectively support each other in overcoming imposter syndrome?
- Building a supportive network takes effort. Share a specific strategy you've used to cultivate meaningful connections with other women leaders. How has this network helped you grow in your leadership journey?
- Effective networks are a two-way street. When have you offered support to another woman-identifying leader in your network? How did that experience benefit both of you?
- Imagine your ideal leadership network – a community that truly empowers you. What are the key characteristics of this network, and how can we, as a group, begin to build it together?
- Beyond this workshop, what's one action step you can take to connect more authentically with a woman-identifying leader in your life (colleague, mentor, friend)?
- What are the key characteristics of a culture that empowers emerging and established leadership that makes an impact? How do we sustain this cultural growth (or better yet, culture add) as the players change and roles change at an organization?
Comments
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Thank you to Cristi and everyone for the Connected Women track at the Fusion conference - this session and the ability to connect with so many amazing people at the conference was great! I wanted to share some of the comments I remember from the discussion question I brought to each group, which was #4 above, "Effective networks are a two-way street. When have you offered support to another woman-identifying leader in your network? How did that experience benefit both of you? ."
Some of the responses I heard were:
- Various versions of making introductions of that person and sharing what their unique assets are
- Saying their name, especially when they are not in the room, and calling out their contributions so that they are known to more people
- When onboarding them, make sure they get to meet all of the key people the need to know to be successful
- 1:1 peer coaching to be a sounding board and provide advice/guidance in a safe space
- Connecting with a network of women outside of your organization to bounce ideas off, get different perspectives, etc.
I am sure my memory is forgetting some other great responses I heard, and there were four groups I did not get to meet with, so I invite others to share their responses here.
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Thanks for sharing, Kim! I find that the second bullet really resonates with me, as I consider ways we can elevate and bring attention to the work of women-identifying leaders and emerging leaders in our space. Helping to empower connections is something that I think many of us have participated in and we are all better for it. I appreciate the insights from your groups during the event.
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I second Kim's comments about the wonderful opportunity to connect with so many talented women. I want to also leave a summary from the groups I led who were answering question #1 discussing our unique talents and authentic identity.
- Being able to identify your strengths is an important first step
- Our perception of who we are may change as we grow
- It may take time to learn to trust yourself and to feel comfortable leaning into your authentic self
For those in other groups who I was not able to connect with, I want to leave you with the question I asked of my groups. This question is from author/speaker, Jo Saxton from her book The Joy of Being You:
Who were you before others told you who you should be?
