WOMEN LEAD Services

WOMEN LEAD  career development training programs have been designed to address the unique needs of women professionals. A basic premise of WOMEN LEAD  training is that women learn differently. Specifically, women assimilate information differently from men and build skills best in a supportive environment. Furthermore, women lead differently. WOMEN LEAD  training helps participants to discover their natural skills, develop those fully, and then expand their skill base. For example, women tend to use facilitation skills more readily at meetings. WOMEN LEAD  training helps the participants to differentiate the skills needed to facilitate a meeting from those needed to lead a meeting. Participants are taught both to facilitate meetings and to lead them as well as to delineate the settings in which each skill set is preferable.

While WOMEN LEAD  programs are specifically designed to address the unique training needs of women, they can be offered to groups of men and women. The skills taught are ones that both men and women need in the workplace.

WOMEN LEAD capitalizes on the executive experience of its founder to offer training that emphasizes practical skill development. For workshops and multi-session programs, participants are provided opportunities during the sessions to practice the skills being taught. Feedback from both the instructor and the other participants is provided in a supportive setting. Handouts distributed offer a ready reference for future use. For example, one participant in the Protégé Program used several handouts provided in the Protégé training sessions (including the "Speaker's Checklist" and the materials on effective PowerPoint presentations) to assist her in preparing for a major conference for her agency's attorneys. She indicated that reviewing these materials as she developed her presentations assisted her in confidently handling her responsibilities in organizing and leading the conference.

WOMEN LEAD  training programs are designed to fit into the busy professional's schedule. Courses can be offered during the lunch period -- for example, programs are offered from noon to 2, workshops from 12:00 to 2:30. WOMEN LEAD training is typically held in participants' conference room facilities to ensure better attendance. Optimal participant level is 8 – 10 for most courses, in order to maximize the opportunity for individualized attention. Some courses can be offered to larger groups.

The small class size for most of these programs is designed to accomplish several objectives. First and foremost, it provides an atmosphere in which the participants can get on their feet and try out skills that are outside their "comfort zones." This is crucial to acquiring these particular leadership skills. Once does not learn public speaking skills by reading about them or by hearing someone talk about them. One learns them by getting up and practicing them. It's rather like learning to ride a bike. And an explicit component of the training is teaching the participants how to provide supportive, constructive feedback to the other participants.

Further, the small class size coupled with a program that includes multiple sessions for participants from the same organization (such as the Protégé Program) serve to "bond" the participants together. A distinct advantage of this approach is that, after the formal training is complete, these participants then work together more successfully within their company or agency. This provides them with opportunities to further develop their own leadership skills while their organization benefits from developing its own future leaders.

Women Lead also offers executive coaching and career counseling services.  These one-on-one sessions include a “needs assessment” and provide advice and training targeted to the individual client. Please contact us for further details