Preetha Balakrishnan- PCC- ICF’s Post

Can working women turn challenges into leadership opportunities for career growth? Recently, I collaborated with a group of women who navigate the corporate world and encounter unique obstacles. Despite societal expectations and workplace biases, these professionals strive for success. Coming from diverse backgrounds, they often find themselves overlooked for leadership roles. However, their aspirations go beyond traditional norms, seeking positions that align with their skills and ambitions. When I spoke with these women, it became evident they faced resistance from colleagues and superiors. Doubts about their capabilities and concerns about work-life balance lingered, adding to the existing pressure. Acknowledging these challenges, I recommended leadership training programs tailored for women in the workforce. These programs aimed to empower them with effective communication, negotiation, and strategic decision-making skills. How did these Leadership Lessons empower working women professionals? ✔ Breaking through the glass ceiling. ✔ Balancing career and personal life effectively. ✔ Building confidence in their leadership abilities. ✔ Navigating workplace challenges with resilience. ✔ Nurturing a supportive network of like-minded professionals. After participating in these programs, these women found newfound strength and resilience. They shattered stereotypes, proving that effective leadership knows no gender. The lessons learned not only transformed their professional lives but also inspired a new generation of women to pursue leadership roles fearlessly. To all working women professionals out there, remember that embracing leadership lessons can pave the way for unprecedented success in your career journey. Ready to level up your professional game? Click the link below, book your call, and let's kickstart your journey to professional invincibility. DM "VISIBILITY" #selfawareness #visibility #purpose #promotion #womenleadership

⭕ I’m thrilled to announce a new venture that’s close to my heart called #SheLeads– women-centered leadership coaching! ⭕ As a certified Life & Business coach, Corporate trainer, and passionate advocate for women in leadership, I’ve dedicated myself to helping women overcome unique challenges and fully realize their full potential. 🔍 Why Focus on Women Leaders? Women in leadership face distinctive hurdles that can impact their professional growth and personal well-being. Here’s what many women leaders are experiencing today: 🔰 Mental Health Challenges: High stress levels and an inability to disconnect from work are common. Women often feel unsupported by their employers in managing mental health, leading to increased burnout. 🔰 Balancing Domestic Responsibilities: Women frequently bear a disproportionate share of household and caregiving duties. This imbalance can hinder career advancement and exacerbate the gender pay gap. 🔰 Non-Inclusive Work Environments: Many women face micro-aggressions, harassment, and other non-inclusive behaviors at work. These experiences can significantly impact their confidence and career progression. 🔰 Limited Flexible Work Opportunities: Despite the need for work-life balance, many women fear that requesting flexible work arrangements will negatively affect their career prospects. 💪 How I Can Help: Through personalized coaching sessions, I provide practical strategies and unwavering support to help women leaders. ✅ Build Confidence and Resilience: Develop a strong sense of self-worth and the ability to bounce back from setbacks. ✅ Manage Stress and Enhance Mental Health: Learn techniques to reduce stress and prioritize mental well-being. ✅ Create Equitable Work Environments: Advocate for yourself and foster inclusivity in your workplace. ✅ Develop Effective Leadership Skills: Gain the tools and insights needed to excel in leadership roles and achieve career goals. 🚀 Join the Movement! I invite you to connect with me and learn how we can work together to break barriers and reach your highest potential. Follow #SheLeads for updates, leadership tips, and inspiring stories from women leaders who are making a difference. #SheLeads #WomenInLeadership #EmpowerHer #LeadershipCoaching #BreakBarriers

"To prepare women for leadership positions, organizations should be intentional about developing and showcasing their talents. One powerful way to do that is through “stretch assignments,” short-term, internal learning opportunities that offer employees new skills while helping a company solve a real business problem. These roles push individuals beyond their current skills and comfort zones, providing opportunities for growth and development." Read the new CSA article by Dr. Anasia Obioha, Founder of Empress coaching & consulting, here: https://lnkd.in/eCbTfjsQ Publisher: David Wurth #csuite #talentmanagement #leadership #womeninleadership

A couple of weeks on from International Womens Day and I’ve asked myself as a leader; “how do I show up in elevating my support for not only the amazing women in my career but those I cross paths with everyday?” Being surrounded by a partner who runs her own business, many young mums balancing work aspirations and the realities of everyday life, fantastic career driven women making an impact on the world, I was keen to share my perspectives how I believe many leaders can show up better. Simply attending an IWD event or recognising a couple of people in the office on the day isn’t enough. If we want to create a society that allows space for fresh thinking minds to elevate it, we need to challenge the sea of sameness, that often occurs when those alternative ideas don’t always make it to the surface. The five things I’m intending to do more of are; 1. Holding space for others to shine, create opportunities, meetings, invites, networking and insights to allow a more diverse mind set to join and be vocal. Often the best advice in these settings is to get out of the way, not everything said needs to be backed up, supported or reiterated again. 2. Listening more, one doesn’t always have to have the answer to a question or indeed a statement, this creates an impression that one is required to problem solve. 3. Welcoming a collaborative approach towards risk taking and failure and their essential part of the journey and success 4. Uncovering strengths in our teams and mentoring inhibiting beliefs holding back individuals from future personal, lateral or vertical growth. 5. Empathic and supportive style, two styles finding their nurturing way back into popularity by underscoring the opportunity to get the best out of each individual by creating trust and with that an unspoken alignment. Do you have any views on the role leaders can play in elevating this change?

I’m thankful for the many women who have supported me in my career journey, both within and beyond the workplace. This #WomensHistoryMonth and #InternationalWomensDay, I’m particularly reflecting on lessons learned from Barb Archbold and Maria Ferris early in my career. As managers who guided me and influenced my path, they portrayed what it means to lead by example. Both attuned and ambitious leaders, they modeled how to advocate for others and how to balance work-life priorities. They were some of the first mentors in my career, helping me navigate corporate complexity and learn to build customer, HR, and financial acumen. As managers and team leaders, they exemplified care. Their candor, coaching, and feedback were incredibly impactful and demonstrated, at that early stage of my career, some of the traits I knew I wanted to nurture in myself as a leader. As I think back to the many influential women who have inspired me as an individual, a professional, and a business leader, I am reminded of the importance of mentors and managers who model, coach, and care for employees. This approach can create career-long impact and influence that goes beyond a singular moment or role. I encourage women to seek out mentors and, when ready, serve as mentors for others. When we help one another succeed, we all succeed.    (Not quite how my office looked when I was early in career, but I love the focus and productivity a space like this one Image Creator designed would enable!)

In the past 5 years, I helped more than 1.000 women get promoted to a higher leadership position in their organisation. But what makes my approach different than the approach corporations use and can’t close the gender power gap?     Let’s find out...    First, you need the following four things:    1️⃣ Gender inclusive and diverse workplace   2️⃣ Peer and cross-mentoring initiatives  3️⃣ Unconscious bias and D&I trainings for the entire organisation  4️⃣ Women-targeted leadership programs    But some corporations have all these and still struggle to promote even 1 woman to a leadership function.    What are they missing?    The secret ingredient.    Let's have a little female talent development learning point:    - Go beyond being passionate about talent development and give practical tools and tips  - Women want to give honest feedback to organizations, but they are afraid to be punished or looked over afterwards  - One of the most powerful tools to connect with women and bond is by talking through and reflecting - Specifically,     So to promote more woman to leadership positions, we need to really understand their real needs and obstacles.     How?    I use the "Create the safe environment to be heard" method.    For example, I may send anonymous questionnaires tailor-made to only women and all employees in your company.    If I do this as an external consultant not working at your organization, it will allow women to tell us about challenges they usually wouldn’t to someone from same organization.     Women get heard about their needs; organization gets real insights.    It's a great deal.    So let’s summarize:    1️⃣ Gender inclusive and diverse workplace   2️⃣ Peer and cross-mentoring initiatives  3️⃣ Unconscious bias and D&I trainings for the entire organisation  4️⃣ Women-targeted leadership programs  5️⃣ Create the safe environment to be heard    Now it’s up to you to try it out!     P.S. A detailed breakdown of this approach will be dropping in via LinkedIn DM on Friday morning 📩 Comment ‘approach’ bellow this post and I will send you the details #leadership #workplace #femaleleadership

🤔 Think back to when you first started work. How do you remember the people you reported to and who led your organization? Answers will be very different depending on your age, your gender, your role and where in the world you are based. Leaders have changed, reflecting broader societal shifts in attitudes, how we live and work, and the changing demographics of the workplace. That’s a good thing. We now see more women in leadership positions and increasing diversity at all levels. There’s a long way to go on both fronts though; a topic for another time. Today’s leaders are expected to be many things: empathetic, collaborative, relatable and much more. Above all, they must be adaptable and open to change. Advances in technology mean that progress is rapid, and change is one of the defining characteristics of the modern world. With that in mind, I enjoyed this Forbes article that considers how a leader’s capacity to embrace a change mindset and prioritize psychological safety is an essential attribute for modern #leadership. These qualities underscore, “a broader understanding that successful leadership is inherently tied to the well-being and engagement of teams.” As well as increasing levels of overall satisfaction, this also opens the door to greater creativity and more #innovation. I firmly believe in that and it’s an approach I look to cultivate in my own leadership style. For me, psychological safety comes when people are comfortable to be vulnerable. I focus on being authentic and vulnerable myself. That’s not always been straightforward. As a woman in a senior position adapting to parenthood and living in a different country away from family support, it took me a while to figure out how to be myself in the workplace. I am now more comfortable to celebrate who I am, my differences and the perspective that brings. More importantly, I can extend that understanding to my team and colleagues. I’d love to hear more thoughts on this. If you’re in a leadership position, how do you see your role adapting? If you’re not, what do you need from your leaders? #EmployeeEngagement #DEI #WomenLeaders #FemaleLeadership #Culture https://ow.ly/MwMo50RnZbk

In today's workplace, visibility isn't just nice to have—it's essential for career growth. Research shows that people who are visible at work are more likely to get promoted, recognized for their contributions, and considered for leadership opportunities. Yet for many women, visibility can feel like self-promotion, and stepping into the spotlight may not come naturally. But here's the truth: your work deserves to be seen. Here are practical ways to raise your visibility at work: Speak Up in Meetings: Share your ideas, ask questions, and contribute to the conversation. Let your voice be heard—you bring value to the table. Volunteer for High-Impact Projects: Step into roles that showcase your skills and align with organizational priorities. Visibility often follows impact. Build Relationships Across Teams: Network intentionally within your organization. A broad network of connections amplifies your presence and influence. Celebrate Your Wins: Keep track of your accomplishments and share them when appropriate. Don't wait for others to notice—be your own advocate. Offer to Lead Presentations: Whether it's a team update or a department-wide initiative, presenting is a powerful way to increase your visibility and establish yourself as a leader. Visibility is not about being boastful—it's about ensuring your contributions are recognized and your potential is realized. Remember, you don't need to be perfect to be visible. You just need to be authentic and courageous. What's one way you've increased your visibility at work? Let's share strategies and lift each other up in the comments below! #LeadershipDevelopment #WomenInLeadership #ConfidenceMatters #ProfessionalGrowth #EmpowerWomen

6 reasons why women don't feel their career is progressing at an appropriate pace… From our Future of Women survey, 53% of women noted that their careers are not progressing at an appropriate pace. Further to that point, respondents were asked why they felt this was true. Rather than focus on the negative, let's examine these 6 reasons and what the organization can do. 1️⃣Lack of leadership engagement? ➡️Create open, transparent, honest conversations about their career goals. 2️⃣Reduced access to Learning & Development opportunities? ➡️Create opportunities for women to acquire the skills necessary to advance in their careers. 3️⃣Unrealistic expectations? ➡️Allow women the opportunity to balance professional and personal commitments if they feel it is a priority. 4️⃣Unconscious bias? ➡️Address unconscious bias through training and continuous efforts to cultivate an inclusive environment. 5️⃣Lack of positive female role models? ➡️Increase the visibility and representation of women in leadership roles through targeted leadership development paths. 6️⃣Unequal access to sponsorship? ➡️Develop leadership training and development programs tailored to address the unique challenges faced by women. The survey clearly shows a profound desire among women for tangible change and actionable support. How could you be part of that change and support?

Highly successful women leaders often approach their careers and their lives by embracing 4 keys to success: 🌼 “Agency” refers to intentional actions taken toward achieving a desired goal. Agency is about taking control of your career, being your own pilot, and feeling as if you’re shaping your job, your leadership style, and your life. Strategies are like analyzing your career steps and living with intention, both at work and at home; asking for challenges outside your current functional orientation to broaden your experience and perspective; intentionally cultivating your leadership brand; defining boundaries to help you manage competing responsibilities and seeking out the types of support needed for the work-life juggle; and setting goals that align with your values, and developing a plan for achieving them. 🌼 Authenticity is being genuine, and being yourself. Authenticity comes from finding your own style, your way of leading. By developing self-awareness, you gain clarity about your values, behaviors, preferences, and skills. You can then determine the gap between “fitting in” and being yourself. To increase your self-awareness, seek feedback to better understand your own strengths and weaknesses, and to understand the impact you have on others. Evaluate how your needs, motivations, and goals change over time, and continue to reassess what’s of value to you. Look for patterns, but be open to possibilities. 🌼 Connection involves a focus on relationships. A desire for closer friendships and family ties drove many of the goals, choices, and decisions of the women leaders. Even the busiest executives invest in connections, both personally and professionally. To strengthen your professional connections slow down and take time for people, build relationships, and network, network, network. 🌼 Wholeness represents the desire to seek roles beyond work or to unite different life roles into an integrated whole. Women leaders value multiple roles, life beyond work, and a broader definition of success. Wholeness is about setting priorities and valuing all your commitments. It’s about setting boundaries and saying no to roles or obligations that no longer serve you. Dear Women Leaders all around the world - Happy IWD! Original article: https://lnkd.in/d-jUHYpS #humanresources #womenleadership #hrleaders