Women's Leadership Success

Get Promoted Faster: How the Dolphin Strategy Took One Stuck Supervisor to VP — and What It Means for Women Leaders Last updated: September 26, 2026 Trusted by leaders at Stanford University, Ernst & Young, Autodesk, MGM Grand Resorts, and Farmers Insurance Executive Summary: Have you been told you "don't have the personality" for promotion? Sabrina Braham shares how her coaching client Martin, stuck five years as supervisor, reached VP using five moves: decode feedback, recruit dolphins, build your voice, make the Half-Point Ask, and volunteer for visibility. Use them to get promoted faster. Quick Takeaways: Vague feedback like "personality" isn't a verdict — translate it into observable behaviors. Recruit "dolphins": allies in the room who back your ideas when you speak. Employees with sponsors are twice as likely to be promoted (McKinsey & LeanIn.Org, 2025). Ask your manager for a 1–10 rating, then ask what earns one more half point. Martin: five stuck years, then manager in six months — then director and VP. Jump to: Martin's Story · Why You're Stuck · The 5 Moves · The Results · Action Plan · Mistakes to Avoid · FAQ · 2026 Trends As an executive leadership coach with over 30 years of experience (MA, MFT, PCC) and host of the Women's Leadership Success Podcast — on air since 2007 and ranked in the top 1.5% of podcasts worldwide — I hear one question more than any other: how do I get promoted faster when I'm already doing a great job? The question is urgent. By September 10, layoffs.fyi counted more than 128,000 tech layoffs in 2026 — already more than all of 2025. And McKinsey and LeanIn.Org's Women in the Workplace 2025 found only about half of companies still prioritize women's advancement. Good work alone won't help you get promoted faster. In Episode 169, the tables turned. My co-founder and executive producer, Tim Warren, interviewed me about Martin — a Fortune 500 supervisor told he "didn't have the personality" to be a manager. He believed it. Then, step by step, he proved it wrong. His story is the clearest map I know to get promoted faster, especially if you're the only one like you in the room. The Feedback That Kept Martin Stuck for Five Years At Martin's company, supervisors usually became managers within a year. Martin had been a supervisor for five. His numbers were strong, his people loved him, and his leaders said he was doing a great job. Then came the "but": he just didn't have the personality to be a manager. Martin grew up speaking English as a second language, was the first in his family to attend college, and graduated with honors. None of that protected him. When someone with authority labels you, you tend to believe it. I know that feeling. I was raised in a blue-collar family, and when someone with authority said I had a flaw, I assumed it was true. It took me years to unlearn. If you've absorbed a label like Martin's, take this from his story: the label can be wrong, and you can change the evidence behind it. His question to me was painful: could he change his personality to move up? Why Talented Leaders Don't Get Promoted Faster in 2026 Martin's situation isn't rare. A strong performer gets fuzzy feedback, loses confidence, goes quiet in the rooms where promotions are shaped — and stalls. Here's why that pattern makes it harder to get promoted faster right now. The "broken rung" is still broken For every 100 men promoted to first-level manager, only 93 women are promoted (McKinsey & LeanIn.Org, 2025). That first step — the one Martin was stuck on — shapes every level above it. The sponsorship gap is real At entry level, 31% of women have a sponsor versus 45% of men, and employees with sponsors are about twice as likely to be promoted. The finding that matters most: when women and men get equal career support, the gap in promotion ambition disappears. The problem isn't drive. It's backing. Being "the only" changes how you're heard Roughly one in five women are often the only woman in the room, more for senior and technical women (LeanIn.Org). Being "the only" tends to make people cautious about sharing ideas — less visibility when you need more. The cost of waiting In 2026's market, "I'll speak up once I feel confident" is a risky plan. To get promoted faster — or stand out after a layoff — treat visibility as a skill you practice. Ready to get promoted faster — before you feel fully ready? Leading Before You're Ready — a practical playbook for leaders stepping into bigger roles. Inside, you'll find: Language for speaking up with confidence before you feel fully ready Ways to build trust fast with the decision-makers who shape your next role A framework for positioning yourself as promotion-ready — actively, not passively GET THE COMPLIMENTARY PLAYBOOK The Dolphin Promotion Framework™: 5 Moves to Get Promoted Faster Here's exactly what Martin and I worked on. None of it required a new personality — just consistent, specific action. Each move helps you get promoted faster on its own; together they compound. Move 1: Decode the vague feedback "Personality" is nearly useless feedback. What does it even mean? So we started at ground zero: what would Martin need to do differently to be seen as a manager? The answer was concrete. In meetings with peers or senior leaders, Martin went quiet. That silence, and the confidence gap behind it, was what his leaders called "personality." Once we named the behavior, we could change it. Success metric: The feedback becomes two or three observable behaviors — your first step to get promoted faster. Move 2: Recruit your dolphins Picture a shipwreck survivor clinging to boards while a shark circles. When dolphins surround a person in the water, sharks tend to stay away — and dolphins have been reported guiding swimmers to shore. A dolphin at work is someone in the room who has your back, believes you're capable, and supports you when you speak up: A mentor shares knowledge and advice, often in private. A sponsor uses their power and influence to advocate for you — often when you're not in the room. A dolphin is in the meeting with you, backing your idea in real time. Far fewer leaders have dolphins than mentors. Lean In reports that high-potential women often have more mentors than men, yet mentorship didn't correlate with promotion. If you want to get promoted faster, real-time backing does what advice can't. How to find your dolphins: Look for a friend in your key meetings, or someone who often shares your viewpoint. If no one comes to mind, hold one-on-ones, share the idea you want to raise, and see who's aligned. Then make a simple ask. Try This Now (3 minutes): Pick the idea you most want to raise next meeting, then send one colleague: "Here's an idea I'd like to share Thursday. Would you be willing to support it when I bring it up?" That's the whole ask. Move 3: Build your speaking muscle — and rehearse your one main point The most cost-effective confidence builder I know is Toastmasters. Clubs are in nearly every U.S. city, dues are modest (often around $20 a month), and the program works. At a district meeting years ago, I was struck by the room: real confidence and presence, built through structured practice. Martin joined, and it helped him learn to speak up. The second half is rehearsal. You usually know the agenda and what would help your team. Pick your main point and practice it out loud. What surprises people: the CEOs I work with still rehearse their main points before meetings. Success metric: One prepared point, delivered weekly. Small reps like this are how you get promoted faster. Move 4: Make the Half-Point Ask With practice behind him, Martin went directly to the leaders who had formed the wrong impression. Most people skip this step, yet it's the move that helps you get promoted faster than any other. Here's the conversation: State the goal. "I'd like to be promoted to manager. What's helping, and what do I need to do differently?" Ask for a number. "On leading my team, from 1 to 10, what would you give me?" Ask for the half point. If it's a 7: "What would I need to do to be a 7.5?" Always just a half point. Schedule the follow-up. "Could I check back in a few weeks?" Why a half point? It's achievable, and it pulls your manager into problem-solving mode. Once they give a number, they become invested in your progress. There's a psychological bonus. It's why you notice red cars everywhere after buying one: the brain's attention filter, the reticular activating system, scans for what it's primed to find. After the Half-Point Ask, your manager watches for your improvement. Success metric: You have a baseline number from at least one decision-maker and a follow-up date on the calendar. Move 5: Volunteer for visibility Martin also began joining committees. On one sat five vice presidents — and Martin, a newly promoted manager. He practiced his idea for turning a project around. In the meeting, the VPs talked over him toward a decision. So Martin said, "I have an idea." The room stopped. The lead VP asked to hear it. Martin explained it in detail. When he finished, the room went silent. His heart sank. I blew it, he thought. Then the senior vice president said: "Good idea, Martin. Let's do that." That was the game changer. Rehearsal plus visibility had become executive presence — and the surest way to get promoted faster is to be seen doing the next job. What Happened Next: From Supervisor to VP After five stuck years, here's how Martin's trajectory changed: About 6 months: promoted to manager — roughly a 30% raise. About 4 months after that meeting: director. Two to three years later: promoted to vice president, with stock options, earning roughly double his supervisor pay. What moves me most is what didn't change: Martin kept his kindness and has mentored many others to promotion. His words: "I wish I would have contacted you sooner. It was a ga

Women Leaders Psychological Safety: How Kerry Siggins Turned "You're Erratic" Into Her Best Leadership Lesson Last updated: September 3, 2026 Trusted by leaders at Stanford University, Ernst & Young, Autodesk, MGM Grand Resorts, and Farmers Insurance Executive Summary: The word that stung most in StoneAge CEO Kerry Siggins' toughest feedback moment was the word that was true. Here's her litmus test for real feedback, how she builds psychological safety without losing accountability, and how women leaders navigate the double bind. Quick Takeaways: If feedback "stings," there's probably truth in it worth examining Psychological safety and accountability aren't opposites — done right, they build each other The double bind is real: women who are direct risk being called aggressive Influence matters more than being right — and it changes how feedback lands U.S. employee engagement hit a decade-low of 31% in early 2026 Jump to:The Feedback Story · Spotting Valid Feedback ·Safety vs. Accountability · The Double Bind ·Action Plan · FAQ As an executive leadership coach with over 30 years of experience (MA, MFT, PCC) working with Fortune 50–1000 companies, I've watched brilliant women leaders freeze in two different ways: some can't tell which feedback to take seriously and which to release, and others have been burned so badly by being called "too direct" that they've gone quiet. Both patterns erode psychological safety — theirs, and their team's. This is Part Two of my conversation with Kerry Siggins, CEO of StoneAge and author of Talk With Trust: How to Own Feedback, Spark Growth, and Build Stronger Teams. In Part One, we walked through her SHARES framework for difficult conversations. Here, we go deeper into the moment that started it all — the day a trusted colleague told her she was "erratic" — and what she's learned since about telling real feedback from noise, building psychological safety without losing accountability, and the double bind that so many women leaders still navigate every day. The Feedback That Almost Cost Kerry Siggins Her COO — And Changed Her Leadership Kerry had spent a year having what she thought were deep, honest conversations with her COO. Then, in a discussion about his role and growth path, it came out all at once: "You think you're this inspiring CEO who disrupts the industry, but really what you are is erratic, and you're really hard to work for. You're the problem." Kerry's first instinct was to fire him. She paused instead — because, as she told me, "I don't want to react in the moment." That pause is the whole story. Kerry went home, sat with the feedback, and asked herself a simple question: what's true about this? She landed on one word — erratic — and traced it back to something real: her fast pace and love of new ideas could look, from the outside, like constant direction-changing. She decided, in that moment, to become a "cool, calm, and collected, unflappable leader." It changed how she led. It also cost her the relationship — the way the feedback was delivered damaged the trust between them beyond repair, and her COO eventually left the company. Both things were true at once: the feedback was a gift, and the delivery broke something. That tension is exactly why psychological safety matters — not as comfort, but as the structure that lets hard truths get said before they explode. How to Tell Valid Feedback From Noise Kerry's litmus test is disarmingly simple: if it stings, there's probably some truth to it. She described being called "disingenuous" by someone recently and letting it go completely — because it didn't sting. She knows who she is on that dimension. But "erratic" stung, because some part of her recognized it. That sting is data. The follow-up question matters just as much: is this feedback about who I am, or about someone else's perception and unmet need? "Just because something hits your identity," Kerry said, "doesn't mean that person is right or wrong — it just means they're seeing things differently." Her advice for women leaders receiving feedback that challenges their identity: get curious, ask for examples, and then decide. "Do you want to be right, or do you want to be accurate?" Accuracy requires asking questions. Being right just requires defending your position. She also named something every leader has lived: most of what reaches you has already been filtered. The brain can only process a tiny fraction of available information, and the person giving you feedback is filtering it further through their own fear of your reaction. The fix is direct: ask "what are you not saying right now?" and genuinely invite the rest. Psychological Safety vs. Accountability: Why They're Not Opposites Most leaders treat psychological safety and accountability as a tradeoff — soft versus firm, safe versus serious. Kerry rejects that framing entirely. "There can be accountability in how you're addressing any kind of challenge through dialogue," she said. Her practice: after a hard conversation, put recurring check-ins on the calendar — not as a punishment, but as a standing space to talk about progress, struggles, and wins. "My manager really cares about me" and "I'm being held accountable" become the same sentence, not opposite ones. Accountability only becomes destructive to psychological safety when it's used as a weapon instead of a rhythm. This is the same territory I mapped out recently in a LinkedIn post on the three pillars of trust — and two of them apply directly here. Trust isn't built in one big moment. It's built in the small moments people learn they can count on you. — Sabrina Braham, MA, MFT, PCC Authenticity breaks when a leader hides a mistake to protect their image instead of admitting when they're wrong — exactly what Kerry avoided by sitting with "erratic" instead of dismissing it. And reliability breaks when accountability only shows up when something goes wrong instead of on a consistent rhythm — which is precisely why Kerry's recurring check-ins work: the consistency itself is what makes accountability feel like care instead of a threat. The Double Bind: When Direct Reads as Aggressive I asked Kerry directly: women leaders often face a double bind — direct enough to be respected reads as aggressive; warm enough to be liked reads as weak. How do you navigate it? Her answer came from experience: a fellow board member once told her, in front of a long-time customer, that she was "aggressive" and an "overachiever" — framed as a flaw. "There's no way he would have ever said that to a man," she said. This isn't just anecdote. New 2026 research out of INSEAD confirms the bind is still fully intact: promotion-focused language — bold, action-oriented, opportunity-framed — tends to clash with gendered expectations for women leaders, while prevention-focused, risk-aware language can reinforce perceptions of low competence, a tension that gets sharper under crisis or high pressure. Separate research on women serving as corporate board directors found something even more troubling: the constant work of switching between "warmth" tactics and "competence" tactics to avoid backlash is itself a driver of the disproportionate burnout many women in leadership report — the double bind isn't just unfair, it's exhausting in a measurable way. Kerry's shift wasn't to soften herself — it was to change what she was optimizing for. "I changed my perspective: do I want to be right, or do I want to influence?" When someone in a meeting takes her idea and repeats it as their own, she no longer takes it personally. "That's a great idea, let's build on that" gets her further than proving the idea was hers first. Influence, not being right, became her north star — and it's a reframe available to any woman leader caught in the double bind. You don't have to shrink to be trusted. The FREE Leading Before You're Ready Playbook gives you language and a framework for navigating exactly this — leading with directness and building the trust that gets you promoted. GET THE FREE PLAYBOOK  Implement This Week: Building Psychological Safety Without Losing Accountability (10 minutes) Recall the last piece of feedback that stung. Write down exactly why it stung — what did it touch that you believe about yourself? (15 minutes) Separate what's accurate from what's someone else's unmet expectation. Ask: is this something I need to work on, or a relationship I need to manage? (5 minutes) Identify one relationship where you suspect you're only getting filtered information. Plan to ask directly: "What are you not telling me?" (20 minutes) Put one recurring check-in on the calendar with a direct report — framed around progress and support, not correction. (This week) Bring one piece of feedback to your own team: "I'm working on X, and I'd love one honest thing I could do better." Modeling receptivity is the fastest way to build a feedback culture. (Ongoing) The next time you're told you're "too direct," ask for a specific example before deciding whether to change anything. Success metric: you leave with clarity, not just a feeling. Common Mistakes Leaders Make With Feedback and Safety Treating every sting as truth. Not all feedback that hurts is accurate — some reflects the other person's ego or fear, not your reality. Examine it before you internalize it. Defending instead of asking. Over-explaining your intentions in the moment shuts down the other person's willingness to keep talking, even if it doesn't feel defensive to you. Using accountability as punishment. If check-ins only happen when something goes wrong, people stop seeing them as safe — and stop bringing you the truth early. Softening yourself to avoid the double bind. Shrinking your directness doesn't resolve the bind — it just trades one cost for another, and the research suggests the constant self-regulation itself carries a burnout cost. Shift toward i

Last updated: August 27, 2026 Trusted by leaders at Stanford University, Ernst & Young, Autodesk, MGM Grand Resorts, and Farmers Insurance Executive Summary: Most women leaders avoid difficult conversations to protect relationships — and that avoidance is what actually destroys trust. StoneAge CEO Kerry Siggins built the six-step SHARES framework after a piece of brutal feedback changed her leadership. Here's exactly how it works. Quick Takeaways: Difficult conversations delayed almost always get harder, not easier, over time The SHARES framework has six steps you can prepare in under ten minutes Organizations with regular feedback see 14.9% lower turnover rates Wanting to "be right" is the single biggest killer of workplace trust Feedback without a credible next step leaves people hopeless, not motivated Jump to: Why It Happens · The SHARES Framework · Examples · Action Plan · FAQ As an executive leadership coach with over 30 years of experience (MA, MFT, PCC) working with Fortune 50–1000 companies, I hear the same confession from brilliant, accomplished women leaders almost every week: "I know I need to have this conversation. I just keep putting it off." If you've been carrying a difficult conversation you haven't had yet — with a direct report, a peer, a boss, even a spouse — you are in very good company, and it is costing you more than you think. On this episode of the Women's Leadership Success Podcast, I sat down with Kerry Siggins, CEO of StoneAge (an employee-owned manufacturer of high-pressure water jetting equipment) and author of the new book Talk With Trust: How to Own Feedback, Spark Growth, and Build Stronger Teams. Kerry built her career on hard conversations — including one that nearly ended her leadership before it began. What she learned from it became the SHARES framework, a six-step system for women leaders navigating difficult conversations without torching the relationship in the process. Take the 2-minute survey at WomensLeadershipSuccess.com/survey Why Women Leaders Avoid Difficult Conversations — And What It Actually Costs Nobody avoids a hard conversation because they're lazy. Women leaders avoid difficult conversations because they're afraid of the consequence: a damaged relationship, an angry reaction, a reputation for being "too much." As Kerry put it on the show, "We're all not having a conversation that we know we need to have because we're afraid of the consequences." The problem is that the consequence of silence is almost always worse than the consequence of speaking. The research backs this up. Recent workplace data shows organizations with regular employee feedback see 14.9% lower turnover, while highly engaged teams — the kind built through honest dialogue — report 21% greater profitability (Careertrainer.ai, 2026). On the trust side, the numbers are sobering: employer trust fell to 76% in the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer, and a 21-point gap now separates how much executives trust their organizations (91%) versus how much individual contributors do (70%). Every unspoken conversation widens that gap. Kerry's own turning point came from a conversation she didn't get to control. Her COO — her right-hand operational partner — had been quietly building resentment for a year. It came out in a blowup: "You think you're this inspiring CEO who disrupts the industry, but really what you are is erratic, and you're really hard to work for." Kerry's instinct was to fire him on the spot. Instead, she went home and sat with it. That single piece of painful, poorly-delivered feedback became the foundation for Talk With Trust — and for the SHARES framework she now teaches leaders everywhere. Your team is asking themselves this question constantly, whether they say it out loud or not: can I trust you? I broke this down recently on LinkedIn into three pillars — and it's the exact groundwork that makes a framework like SHARES actually work, instead of just sounding good on paper. Trust isn't built in one big moment. It's built in the small moments people learn they can count on you. — Sabrina Braham, MA, MFT, PCC Notice how closely this maps to what goes wrong in most difficult conversations. Performance trust breaks when someone overpromises or makes excuses instead of owning a miss. Authenticity trust breaks when someone says what people want to hear instead of what's true, or hides a mistake to protect their image — the exact trap Kerry's "articulate your experience" step is built to avoid. And reliability trust breaks when standards shift with someone's mood, or follow-through only happens when it's convenient — which is precisely why the SHARES framework's final step, endorsing a path forward, matters so much: a plan you don't follow through on costs you more trust than no plan at all. This is the same shift Kerry made the day she got called "erratic" — she stopped waiting to feel ready to lead differently and just did it. The SHARES Framework: Six Steps for Difficult Conversations That Build Trust SHARES is a simple, repeatable system women leaders can use to prepare for any hard conversation — a performance issue, a peer conflict, a hard truth with a boss, even a conversation with a spouse. Each letter is a step you move through, in order. S — Specify Your Ideal Outcome Before you say a word, get clear on what you actually want from this conversation. Not "to be right" — an actual outcome. "I want to keep this relationship strong. I want to see behavior change. I want this to build trust, not break it." Kerry's insight: most difficult conversations go sideways because neither person has named the outcome they're going for. Stating it out loud — even to yourself — changes everything that follows. H — Have Your Facts and Feelings Ready Facts alone feel cold and clinical. Feelings alone feel like an ambush. You need both: the observable behavior ("you were late to this meeting") and the impact it had ("we waited, and had to repeat ourselves for you, which was frustrating for the team"). Preparing both in advance also does something else important — it gives you time to calm down before you walk into the room. A — Articulate Your Experience This is the step Kerry calls her favorite, because it's the one most leaders get subtly wrong. "I feel like you don't respect me" still sounds like a judgment wearing an I-statement disguise. Articulating your experience instead sounds like: "I'd like to share my experience of this situation. The story I'm telling myself is that you don't respect me — and I want to check whether that's accurate. What was your experience?" Owning your perspective as a perspective, not a verdict, opens the door instead of slamming it. R — Reflect With Questions and Dialogue The goal of any difficult conversation isn't to be right — it's to be accurate. And the only way to get accurate is to ask questions and actually stay in dialogue. Kerry shared a story of giving tough feedback to an employee who wasn't a direct report. Rather than delivering a verdict, she asked what was going on. What she learned changed the entire conversation — from correction to genuine understanding, without letting go of accountability. E — Endorse a Path Forward Feedback without a credible next step doesn't motivate people — it leaves them hopeless. Kerry described a boss early in her career who told her she wasn't getting in front of decision-makers and to "come back with a plan." She didn't know how to fix it and didn't feel safe saying so. She eventually quit. Now she builds the path forward together with the other person: What are you trying? What's working? What isn't? That collaborative plan is what turns feedback into change — and what creates real accountability without punishment. S — Stay Emotionally Grounded People tend to mirror the emotional energy in the room. If you walk in braced and defensive, you'll get braced and defensive back. Kerry's practice: feel your feet on the floor, take a breath, and become "the mirror that calms people down" rather than the one that escalates them. Staying grounded doesn't mean suppressing emotion in the other person — it means giving them room to have their reaction without matching it. SHARES in Practice: Three Real Application Examples The promotion conversation. A director wants to raise her hand for a VP role but suspects her boss has reservations. Using SHARES, she opens with her outcome ("I want clarity on what would make me ready for this role"), shares the facts of her track record alongside how the uncertainty has felt, then asks reflective questions instead of defending her resume — walking out with an actual development plan instead of vague reassurance. The peer conflict. Two directors keep clashing in cross-functional meetings. Instead of escalating to their shared VP, one initiates a SHARES conversation: names the outcome (a working relationship that doesn't derail meetings), articulates her experience without accusation, and asks what's driving the friction from the other side. They leave with a path forward neither would have found by avoiding the topic. The marriage parallel. As I shared with Kerry on the show, this isn't only a workplace tool. Simply naming the outcome you want at the start of a hard conversation with a spouse — "I want us to leave this in a better place" — changes the entire trajectory before either person says another word. You don't have to figure this out alone. The FREE Leading Before You're Ready Playbook gives you the exact framework to walk into your next leadership conversation — or your next promotion case — with real confidence, even before you feel ready for it. GET THE FREE PLAYBOOK Implement This Week: Your SHARES Action Plan (15 minutes) Name the one difficult conversation you've been postponing. Write down the consequence you're avoiding by not having it — and the consequence of continuing to avoid i

Executive Summary: Workplace betrayal doesn't just cost you a relationship — it costs you trust in your own judgment. Dr. Debi Silber joins Sabrina Braham to unpack a stage-based path back to confidence, using real coaching stories instead of easy platitudes, so leaders can rebuild what betrayal breaks: themselves. Quick Takeaways: Betrayal breaks trust in yourself, not just in the person who betrayed you Losing your voice in meetings is often a betrayal symptom, not a confidence problem Recovery moves through stages — you can't skip to "just get over it" Your intuition can be rebuilt with a simple daily practice 78% of employees say they trust their employer most of any institution (Edelman, 2026) As an executive leadership coach with over 30 years of experience (MA, MFT, PCC), I've sat across from directors, VPs, and C-suite leaders who could run a board meeting flawlessly and still couldn't shake the feeling that they didn't trust their own read on people anymore. That's what workplace betrayal does. It doesn't announce itself as trauma — it shows up as hesitation, over-checking, and a leader who used to speak up in meetings suddenly going quiet. In this episode of the Women's Leadership Success Podcast, I sit down with Dr. Debi Silber, a holistic psychologist and founder of the PBT Institute, for a workplace betrayal recovery conversation about what betrayal actually does to a leader's confidence, judgment, and career trajectory — and what it takes to rebuild. Why Workplace Betrayal Hits Differently Than Other Career Setbacks Most leadership content treats betrayal like a subcategory of stress or conflict. Dr. Silber's central point in this conversation is that it isn't. A layoff, a missed promotion, even a bad performance review — these are painful, but they don't usually make you question your own perception. Betrayal does. When someone you trusted — a boss, a peer, a mentor — acts against you, the injury isn't just what they did. It's that your internal compass, the one that told you this person was safe, was wrong. That's a different kind of damage, and it requires a different kind of recovery. This distinction matters for women in leadership specifically. Executive presence is built on decisiveness and trust in your own judgment — the "gravitas" that research consistently identifies as the core pillar of how leaders are evaluated for advancement. When betrayal quietly erodes that self-trust, it doesn't just hurt personally. It shows up publicly, in hesitation during exactly the moments a leader is expected to be most sure of herself. A Client Story: When Betrayal Shows Up as "Losing Your Voice" I shared a story with Dr. Debi about a client I'll call Jenny. Jenny was sharp, capable, and well-respected — until a workplace betrayal knocked something loose. She stopped negotiating. She stopped advocating for herself in meetings where she used to be the first voice in the room. From the outside, it looked like a confidence problem. It wasn't. It was betrayal doing exactly what it does: convincing a capable leader that her own instincts couldn't be trusted anymore. The Real Cost: What Betrayal Quietly Takes From Leaders Left unaddressed, workplace betrayal tends to produce three patterns in otherwise strong leaders: Loss of personal power. Leaders stop negotiating for themselves — raises, promotions, credit for their work — because some part of them no longer trusts that speaking up is safe. Self-protective isolation. As Dr. Debi put it in our conversation, many people conclude it's "better to keep everyone at a distance than risk that chance that someone may get close to us again." It feels like self-protection. It functions like a ceiling on your influence. Eroded intuition. The instinct that once flagged red flags in coworkers or bosses goes quiet, because the last time it "worked," it still let you get hurt. Ready to rebuild the confidence workplace betrayal quietly took from you? Download our FREE Leading Before You're Ready playbook and get: ? A framework for rebuilding executive presence when your confidence has taken a hit ? Practical language for reclaiming your voice in meetings within days, not months ? The mindset shift that lets you lead before you feel "fully ready" again ? Tools used with clients who've gone on to earn promotions and six-figure roles Get the Leading Before You're Ready Playbook ? How to Notice You're Still Carrying It One of the most useful moments in this conversation is Dr. Debi's answer to a simple question: how does someone even realize betrayal is still affecting them? Her answer wasn't a checklist of symptoms — it was three places to look: your health, your work, and your relationships. If any of those three areas feels "off" in a way you can't quite explain, unresolved betrayal is worth considering as a root cause, not just stress or burnout. Workplace Betrayal Recovery: Why You Can't Skip to "Just Move On" A recurring frustration Dr. Debi and I discussed is how often people are told to "just get over it" — as though healing from betrayal were a decision instead of a process. In her framework, recovery moves through stages, not a single leap. You can't talk yourself into Stage Four while you're still standing in Stage One. Trying to skip ahead is exactly why so many leaders feel stuck: they've done the mental work of "deciding to move on" without doing the deeper work each stage requires. The practical implication for leaders: if you've told yourself to "get over" a workplace betrayal and it hasn't stuck, that's not a willpower failure. It's a sign you skipped a stage. Rebuilding Trust in Your Intuition Dr. Debi was direct about this: "we have to rebuild trust in our intuition, in our wise inner guide, whatever you want to call it." The practice she described is simple — the next time something feels off with a coworker or a boss, a small signal that something "feels shady," pause and name it instead of dismissing it. Every time you notice the signal and honor it, even in a small, low-stakes way, you rebuild the muscle betrayal weakened. Rebuilding Identity: Keep What You Love, Release the Rest The second piece of the framework is about identity, not just instinct. As Dr. Debi framed it: figure out "what are all the parts you love" about who you are — those come with you into the next chapter. The rest doesn't have to. This isn't about becoming a different person. It's about consciously choosing which parts of your pre-betrayal self are worth rebuilding and which parts were never serving you anyway. That reframe — "you're rewriting a new script" — is the shift from surviving betrayal to authoring what comes after it. A useful self-check Dr. Debi offered: picture the version of you on the other side of this, fully rebuilt. Would she do the things you're currently doing and saying? If not, that gap is exactly where to start. Implement This Week: A 4-Step Action Plan Step 1 (15 minutes): Run the three-area check. Write down one honest observation each about your health, your work, and your relationships right now. Look for the thread connecting them. Step 2 (10 minutes/day): Practice the intuition pause. Once a day, when something feels slightly off in an interaction, pause and name it silently instead of dismissing it. Track how often your read turns out to be accurate. Step 3 (30 minutes): Do the "parts you love" inventory. List the traits, habits, and strengths you want to carry forward. Separately, list what you're willing to release. Keep the first list somewhere visible. Step 4 (ongoing): Use the future-self test. Before a hard conversation or decision this week, ask: would my fully rebuilt self do this? Let the answer guide you, not the fear in the moment. Success metric: By the end of one week, aim to catch and honor your intuition at least five times — even in small moments. That's the rebuild in motion. Common Mistakes Leaders Make After a Workplace Betrayal Mistake 1: Treating it as a confidence problem instead of a trust problem. Confidence-building tactics (power poses, affirmations) don't address a broken intuition. They mask the symptom while the root cause stays untouched. Mistake 2: Trying to "just get over it" without moving through the stages. Deciding to move on isn't the same as doing the work each stage requires. This is why the same hurt tends to resurface in new relationships and new roles. Mistake 3: Isolating as a permanent strategy. Keeping everyone at a distance feels protective short-term. Long-term, it caps your influence, your network, and your visibility for the next promotion. Mistake 4: Trying to heal alone. You don't have to do this without support — a coach, a trusted peer, or a mentor can see the gap between where you are and your future self faster than you can see it yourself. People Also Ask What is workplace betrayal, exactly? Workplace betrayal happens when someone you trusted at work — a manager, peer, or mentor — acts against your interests in a way that violates that trust. It's distinct from ordinary workplace conflict because it damages your trust in your own judgment, not just your view of the other person. How is betrayal different from burnout? Burnout is typically caused by chronic overwork or lack of resources. Betrayal is caused by a specific breach of trust and often produces symptoms — hesitation, isolation, eroded intuition — that can look like burnout but require a different kind of recovery. Can you really rebuild trust in your own intuition? Yes. Dr. Debi Silber describes it as a practice, not an event: consistently noticing and honoring small intuitive signals rebuilds the confidence in your own perception that betrayal damaged. How do I know if I'm still carrying an old workplace betrayal? Look at three areas: your health, your work, and your relationships. Unexplained tension in any of them can be a sign that an old betrayal hasn't fully been

Executive Summary AI strategic thinking for women executives is no longer optional — it's the dividing line between leaders who get exposed and those who get elevated. Executive coach Sabrina Braham and author Barry O'Reilly reveal how to build your judgment system, accelerate decisions, and think strategically at the highest level. Quick Takeaways Barry O'Reilly's defining insight: "AI is not going to replace leaders — it's going to expose them." Most executives have never documented their judgment system — and AI makes this gap impossible to hide. Decision velocity + decision advantage are the two metrics separating leaders who accelerate from those who stall. Misty Schaefer, VP at American Airlines, uses AI voice notes and scenario planning for orders-of-magnitude better decisions. The biggest missed opportunity in AI leadership is not learning together — yet the fastest learners do exactly that. There's a line on the back of Barry O'Reilly's new book that every woman executive needs to sit with: "AI is not going to replace leaders. It's going to expose them." AI strategic thinking for women executives is no longer a competitive edge — it's fast becoming the baseline expectation at the director, VP, and C-suite level. I'm Sabrina Braham, executive leadership coach (MA, MFT, PCC) with 30+ years of experience, and host of the Women's Leadership Success Podcast — top 1.5% globally with almost 900,000 downloads. My clients include leaders at Stanford University, Ernst & Young, and Autodesk. And what I see in my coaching practice right now is a clear divide emerging: women executives who are building AI-enhanced judgment, and those who are still relying on invisible, inarticulate intuition they've never made explicit. AI is about to make that gap impossible to hide. This is Part 2 of my conversation with Barry O'Reilly — author of Artificial Organizations: Build Better Judgment, Speed, and Results with Machine and Human Intelligence, keynote speaker at Gartner's CFO Conference, and one of the most sought-after AI leadership advisors in the world. In Part 1, we covered how women leaders can use AI to build personal career confidence and grow into bigger roles. Here, we go deeper — into the strategic leadership capabilities that will define who rises at the executive level in 2026 and beyond. New research from Chief and The Harris Poll (2026) confirms that 85% of senior women leaders are now active players in their organization's AI strategy — and 68% are focused on using AI to amplify human talent, not replace it. The leaders pulling ahead are those who've moved beyond productivity tools into something more fundamental: AI-enhanced judgment systems. The Uncomfortable Truth: AI Will Expose Leaders Without a Judgment System When Barry walks into executive rooms around the world, he asks a deceptively simple question: "Show me your system for making this decision." The silence that follows is telling. "Often, a lot of the time, they just don't have a system," he explains. "They've never systematically written down all the steps they're going to go through to make an actual decision." For most leaders, the judgment system — the internal algorithm for weighing options, prioritizing inputs, and reaching decisions — has never been made explicit. It works. But it has four critical limitations: It's not visible — others can't observe or learn from it. It's not repeatable — it can't be consistently applied by or handed off to others. It's not challengeable — if it's in your head, no one can push back on its blind spots. It's not improvable — you can't deliberately tune what you can't see. In my 30+ years of executive coaching, this is one of the most consistent patterns I see in women leaders who are passed over for promotion despite exceptional performance: their judgment is excellent — but it's invisible. They can't teach it, transfer it, or demonstrate it in the way boards and senior leaders need to see. AI strategic thinking for women executives forces this reckoning, and the leaders who embrace it rather than resist it will define the next decade of leadership. Here's what my Leading Before You're Ready playbook addresses directly: building the judgment, presence, and strategic clarity that precedes you into every room — before you hold the formal title. AI doesn't change that mission. It accelerates it. What Is a Judgment System — and Do You Have One? A judgment system is the explicit process and criteria you use to make leadership decisions: the information you seek first, the variables you weigh, the sequence you follow, and the principles that guide your final choice. For most leaders, this system exists — but it lives entirely in their heads, accumulated through years of experience and pattern recognition. It works. But it has critical limitations that AI strategic thinking for women executives can directly address. The Judgment System Exercise Barry Uses With Executive Teams Here's the exercise Barry runs at the opening of his executive engagements — and one I now recommend for every leader I coach: Name a key decision coming up for your team. Be specific: a resource allocation decision, a product investment, a market expansion choice. Draw out your judgment system for making that decision. What information do you look for first? What criteria matter most? What's your sequence of evaluation? What would make you say yes — or no? Share your judgment system with your peers. This is where the transformation happens. A VP of Marketing and a VP of Finance, both making the same type of decision, suddenly realize they weight customer behavior and market size differently — and neither has ever made that explicit in shared decision-making. Identify the gaps. Where is your information current and reliable? Where is it outdated, incomplete, or missing entirely? What would better information change? "Suddenly you have groups of people sitting around going, 'I've never done this before,'" Barry explains. "And they're right. Most executive teams have never made their collective judgment infrastructure explicit." From a coaching perspective, I want to highlight what this exercise does beyond improving decision quality: when you can articulate how you make decisions — not just what decisions you make — you demonstrate the executive presence that earns trust and bigger responsibilities. This is exactly what I teach in the Leading Before You're Ready playbook. Judgment Infrastructure: The Data Ecosystem That Feeds Your Decisions Once leaders map their judgment systems, Barry introduces a second connected concept: judgment infrastructure — the data ecosystem that feeds your decision-making algorithm. Barry asks leaders: "Across your company, how are you getting the information you need to run your judgment system?" The answers reveal how fragile most leadership data environments actually are. "I have a spreadsheet I get once a month." "Our customer records are three months out of date." "I usually get that information from a conversation with someone else, so it depends on who I ask." The principle is clear: the output of any system is determined by the quality of its inputs. Poor-quality, delayed, or incomplete information fed into even an excellent judgment system produces poor decisions. For women executives in tech leading AI-adjacent organizations, understanding how to design and govern your information ecosystem — not just receive reports — is a defining capability for 2026. Decision Velocity + Decision Advantage: The Two Metrics That Define Executive Performance Barry's work with high-performing organizations has surfaced two metrics that consistently predict which leaders — and companies — pull ahead: Decision velocity: How fast can you move from problem identification to a well-reasoned decision? Not impulsive speed — calibrated speed supported by quality process. Decision advantage: How current, accurate, and comprehensive is the information available to you when you need to decide? Real-time — or three months stale? "That is how companies, startups, businesses power ahead," Barry explains. "They learn faster, they make decisions at a high velocity, and the information to support those decisions is to hand in real time."   AI dramatically accelerates both metrics. A meeting co-pilot that captures and synthesizes every conversation means you're never walking into a decision without full context. Barry describes his own routine: "I run a process either the day before, the morning of, or even five minutes before I meet someone. It runs all the last conversations we've had against my judgment system for the meeting I'm about to have." He shows up to every conversation with full context, clear priorities, and the calm that comes from genuine preparation. That calm is not incidental. As I always tell the executives I coach: your cognitive and emotional state in high-stakes situations is a performance variable. Anything that reduces cognitive load — like AI capturing your meeting context — directly improves your effectiveness in those moments. AI strategic thinking for women executives isn't just a professional tool. It's a confidence tool. Case Study: How Misty Schaefer Uses AI to Lead American Airlines Strategically The most vivid example Barry shared of AI strategic thinking in action involves Misty Schaefer Sern, VP of Consumer Technology at American Airlines — responsible for AA.com, the mobile app, and every digital touch point the world's largest airline uses to serve customers. Misty's natural trait: she has her best ideas on the move — walking the terminal, talking to ground staff, observing what's happening at the gate. The traditional problem: those ideas used to evaporate between the inspiration and the desk. ...

Executive Summary: Most women leaders know AI could accelerate their careers—but don't know where to start. Executive coach Sabrina Braham and author Barry O'Reilly reveal the Traits, Tasks, and Tools framework that eliminates AI paralysis, builds confidence in unfamiliar leadership roles, and helps women leaders AI career growth into bigger opportunities—starting this week. Quick Takeaways: 69% of women say AI has opened new career pathways—but only for those who start using it now (ANSR Women in Tech Report, 2026). The Traits, Tasks, Tools framework reveals how to match AI to the way you personally do your best work. Use AI to pressure-test your thinking—never to hand over your judgment. That distinction changes everything. Asking AI "What questions should I be asking as a VP?" instantly elevates your perspective without years of experience. The worst thing you can do in a time of AI uncertainty is nothing. You must be in it to learn it. You know you should be using AI. You've heard the urgency, seen the headlines, maybe even opened ChatGPT, stared at that blinking cursor—and quietly closed the tab. Here's what I want you to know: that moment of hesitation doesn't mean you're behind. It means you haven't yet found your entry point. I'm Sabrina Braham, executive leadership coach (MA, MFT, PCC) with 30+ years of experience, and host of the Women's Leadership Success Podcast—top 1.5% globally with over 950,000 downloads. I coach senior women leaders at Stanford, Ernst & Young, Autodesk, and across the tech industry. And one of the most common things I hear from directors, VPs, and C-suite executives right now is: "I don't know where to start with AI." New research backs this up: Chief and The Harris Poll surveyed 1,000+ senior women leaders in 2026 and found that while 85% are active players in their organization's AI strategy, the approach matters enormously. The leaders who get ahead aren't the ones who automate the most—they're the ones who build human capability alongside AI. And according to the ANSR Women in Tech Report 2026, 69% of women who do engage with AI report it opens entirely new career pathways in product strategy, transformation leadership, and AI governance. In this episode of the Women's Leadership Success Podcast, I welcome back Barry O'Reilly—author of Artificial Organizations: Build Better Judgment, Speed, and Results with Machine and Human Intelligence, keynote speaker at Gartner's CFO Conference, and one of the most sought-after AI leadership advisors in the world. Since our last conversation, Barry has been traveling globally—observing how leaders at every level are (and aren't) adapting to AI. His findings are equal parts sobering and energizing. This is Part 1 of a two-part series. Here, we focus on women leaders using AI for personal growth, confidence, and career advancement. In Part 2, we go deeper into how AI can transform your strategic thinking and decision-making as an executive leader. Why Women Leaders Are Paralyzed at the AI Starting Line After keynoting Gartner's CFO Conference and spending months in leadership rooms across North America, Barry reports seeing the same pattern everywhere: hesitation. "People don't really know where to start," he says. "They constantly hear about new tools arriving in the market. They hear that everything they were meant to do last week is no longer the right thing to do this week. And it all leads to hesitation—which, counterintuitively, is the worst possible response." I know this directly from my coaching practice. I've spoken with women leaders who are brilliant, accomplished, and deeply capable—who are also avoiding AI entirely because they don't know what to do first. And I understand it, because I was there too. When I first started exploring AI, I treated it as if it were smarter than me—as if whatever it said must be right. That mindset kept me small. What changed? Doing the exercises in Barry's book. Going through them shifted me from intimidated observer to active director. Now, AI is my servant—I correct it, challenge it, redirect it. My creative and analytical output has genuinely expanded as a result. "Counterintuitively, the worst thing you can do when there's uncertainty is do nothing. Because you don't learn anything." — Barry O'Reilly This matters especially for women in tech, where the stakes are already high. The ANSR 2026 report found that despite women producing 43% of the world's female STEM graduates, only 14% hold C-suite seats. The gap isn't pipeline—it's systems. AI fluency is rapidly becoming one of those systemic differentiators. The women who build it now will have compounding advantage; those who wait will face a steeper climb. My Leading Before You're Ready playbook is built on exactly this truth: you don't wait to feel fully prepared. You use every available tool—coaching, community, AI—to think and show up at the level you're stepping into. The Traits, Tasks, and Tools Framework: The Smarter Way to Start with AI Most people approach AI for women leaders career growth backwards. They hear about a tool, jump into it, hunt for something useful to do, get mediocre results, and conclude AI isn't for them. Barry's Traits, Tasks, and Tools framework—one of the most referenced frameworks in Artificial Organizations—completely resequences this. The problem: "Most people with this technology just jump straight into the tool. They try to figure out a task to use it for. And only if ever do they ask themselves how they actually do their best work." That backwards approach locks you into the tool's opinions about how work should be done—which may have nothing to do with how you create your best thinking. Trait-First: Start With How YOU Do Your Best Work Before you open any AI tool, answer honestly: When do I do my best thinking? Are you a talker? Your best ideas emerge in conversation and dialogue. Are you a writer? You process and synthesize by putting things on paper. Are you a visual thinker? You need diagrams, maps, and frameworks to see clearly. Do you need solitude and quiet to generate insight, or energy and people? Barry's personal discovery here is instructive. Dyslexic and self-described as a D-student in English literature, he'd spent years trying to write like he imagined writers wrote—sitting quietly, composing prose. "I drank a lot of wine and sat by a lot of fires, but I didn't create much content." Once he recognized that his natural trait was talking, everything changed. He hired a journalist to interview him conversationally, used transcription to capture the output, and went from blank pages to 10,000 words of book content in roughly three hours. That's not a productivity hack. That's a trait-matched workflow—and it's what women leaders using AI for career growth need to build for themselves. Task-Next: Where Does Your Leadership Create the Most Value? Once you know your traits, identify the tasks where you create outsized value. Not the email and calendar management—the strategic work that shapes your team, your organization, and your career trajectory. This might be: Synthesizing complex information into clear executive recommendations Preparing for high-stakes meetings and presentations Developing your team's thinking and capability Building strategic scenarios and options for decision-making Crafting your executive narrative for visibility and advancement Tool-Last: Find What Matches Both Your Traits and Your Tasks Only now do you select tools. Barry matched his "talker" trait and "content creation" task to meeting co-pilots and transcription tools. For women leaders with different trait profiles: If you're a talker preparing for board presentations: Use voice-to-text capture combined with a generative AI to structure and refine your speaking points. Tools like Otter.ai for capture and Claude or ChatGPT for synthesis are a natural combination. If you're a writer preparing strategic memos: Use AI as a sophisticated thinking partner—share your draft, ask it to steelman the opposing view, and challenge every assumption. If you're a visual thinker: Use AI to generate frameworks and then render them in tools like Miro or Canva. Ask AI to "map this decision as a 2x2 matrix" and then build on what it generates. How AI Builds Leadership Confidence in Unfamiliar Territory This is the angle I brought to this conversation that Barry told me he'd never considered—and it's at the heart of what I see women leaders needing most right now. A director gets promoted to VP. A leader's company downsizes and she inherits three departments overnight. A high-potential executive gets tapped for a stretch role she doesn't feel prepared for. These are the moments when imposter syndrome spikes, when visibility feels risky, when the gap between who you are today and who the role requires feels widest. I asked Barry: "How can women leaders use AI to build their confidence in these transitions?" Here's how he frames the three levels of AI impact: Level 1 – Productivity: You bolt AI onto your existing workflow. Emails are faster, documents generate quicker. Real but modest—5 to 10% improvement. Level 2 – Performance: You use AI to pressure-test your thinking and challenge your mindset before high-stakes situations. Your judgment improves, and better decisions follow. Level 3 – Executive Presence: AI offloads cognitive load by capturing conversations, tracking decisions, and surfacing context. You arrive at every meeting calm, prepared, and fully present. This is where careers accelerate—and where women leaders using AI for career growth unlock the biggest competitive advantage. My own experience makes this concrete. I started using AI to help reorganize a storage shed—asking it to help me think through what goes where, what organization system would work best. After three days of working on it together, AI said to me: "You're getting better

Women Leaders Career Advancement: The 4-Relationship Framework and Personal Success Plan (2026)Executive Summary: Women leaders career advancement stalls most often at the relationship level, not the skill level. Women hold only 29% of C-suite roles despite representing nearly half the workforce. Former IBM VP Shelmina Babai Abji reveals the four strategic relationships that accelerate promotion and the Personal Success Plan that keeps you on track week after week.Quick Takeaways:Women leaders career advancement remains stalled at every pipeline level for the 11th consecutive year (McKinsey, 2025).The four relationships that accelerate promotion are: boss, peers, mentors, and sponsors — and all four must be intentionally built.Only 31% of entry-level women have a sponsor, vs. 45% of men — closing this gap is one of the highest-ROI actions you can take.Responding to bias with proof, not reaction, protects your power and changes minds more effectively than confrontation.A Personal Success Plan reviewed weekly keeps your business results, relationships, competencies, and leadership brand advancing together.Key 2025–2026 statistics on women leaders career advancement: the C-suite gap, the broken rung, and the sponsorship deficit.Women leaders career advancement has a number that should stop you: for every 100 men promoted to their first manager role, only 81 women make the same leap.That gap — what McKinsey researchers call the "broken rung" — has barely moved in years. And it is not primarily a skills gap. It is a visibility gap, a relationship gap, and a strategy gap.I'm Sabrina Braham, MA, MFT, PCC — executive leadership coach with over 30 years of experience and host of the Women's Leadership Success Podcast, ranked in the top 1.5% globally with over 950,000 downloads. In Part II of my interview with Shelmina Babai Abji — TEDx speaker, former IBM Vice President, and author of Show Your Worth — we go deep on the practical mechanics that drive women leaders career advancement forward.If you caught Part I, you already have Shelmina's Power Quotient framework for silencing self-doubt. This episode is what comes next: the external strategy. How do you intentionally build the four relationships that move careers forward? How do you handle a boss who doesn't see your value? How do you navigate workplace bias without giving your power away? And what is the weekly planning practice that keeps even the most overwhelmed leader — including single mothers carrying impossible loads — on a clear path to the C-suite?This is one of the most actionable episodes I have recorded in 19 years of podcasting. Let's get into it.Why Women Leaders Career Advancement Stalls: The Strategy GapThe McKinsey Women in the Workplace 2025 report — which surveyed approximately 10,000 employees across 124 organizations — found that women hold only 29% of C-suite roles, unchanged from 2024, and that women remain underrepresented at every level of the corporate pipeline for the eleventh consecutive year. Women of color face a steeper drop-off at every rung.The same research surfaces a critical sponsorship gap that most women don't know exists: only 31% of entry-level women have a sponsor, compared to 45% of men at the same level. Sponsorship — not mentorship — is the relationship that most reliably unlocks promotions, stretch assignments, and visibility with senior leaders. And women are starting from a 14-point deficit.Shelmina's response to this data is direct: "The reason the numbers are as bad as they are is we cannot wait for organizations to change, or for people to change. We have to be the change we want to see."That is not resignation to an unfair system. It is a strategic recognition that women leaders career advancement is not waiting for institutions to fix the pipeline — it is built deliberately, relationship by relationship, decision by decision, week by week.The Four Relationships That Accelerate Women Leaders Career AdvancementShelmina's book Show Your Worth dedicates an entire chapter to what she calls "intentional relationships" — the four categories of professional connection that, when built strategically, become the scaffolding of a senior career. She credits them with her own advancement from immigrant engineer to IBM Vice President.Relationship 1: Your BossThis is the most high-leverage relationship in your career, and the one most women invest in least strategically. "At the end of the day, you work for your boss, not an organization," Shelmina says. "It is up to you to build that relationship."The mechanism is not flattery or politics. It is a deliberate daily practice of contributing value that advances your boss's success — specifically, unique value that makes you essential. Shelmina describes this as "leaning into your authenticity and your uniqueness until you become essential to your boss's success."When you are essential to your boss's success, you are in a position of power to negotiate what you want — flexible boundaries, stretch assignments, sponsorship, promotion recommendations. Power in a workplace relationship is not seized; it is earned through indispensability.Practically, this means:Understanding your boss's most critical success metrics and aligning your work visibly to themEnsuring your boss has a "front-row seat" to your contributions — proactively, not passivelyAsking for help on stretch assignments (which demonstrates self-awareness, not weakness)Preparing thoroughly for performance reviews with documented, outcome-quantified contributionsRelationship 2: PeersPeer relationships are the often-overlooked engine of influence. In 2026's increasingly matrixed organizations, influence flows horizontally as much as it flows vertically. Peers who trust you, advocate for you in rooms you're not in, and co-create solutions with you are a form of organizational capital that compounds over time.Shelmina notes that the same principle applies here as with the boss relationship: the foundation is contribution, not connection for its own sake. Peers who see you as someone who makes their work better — not someone who competes with them for credit — become your most organic advocates.Relationship 3: Mentors — The Right Ones, Not Just AnyHere Shelmina offers a counterintuitive observation that stopped me when I heard it. She regularly asks women at conferences: "How many of you have mentors?" Almost every hand goes up. Then she asks: "How many of those mentors have pushed you, accelerated your success, made you significantly better personally or professionally?" Most hands go down."We need to be intentional and strategic even when we look for mentors," she says. "We must know: why is this person the right mentor for me, at this point in time?"A mentor who is a perfect match for where you are today may be misaligned with where you need to go next. Great mentors:Have navigated the specific transition you are facingWill push you, not just validate youAre willing to give you honest, sometimes uncomfortable feedbackHave relationships and visibility at levels above your current roleShelmina's own pivotal mentor was Susan Whitney — an IBM General Manager who, in the two minutes it took to walk from a roundtable back to an office, changed the entire direction of Shelmina's career by asking one question: "Where do you want to be in five years?"That question planted a seed. Shelmina did not have the answer — but she pursued Susan as a mentor, did whatever it took to get noticed and earn time with her, and eventually built the relationship that shifted her from "doing a great job in my current role" to "thinking strategically about what I want to do next, and next, and next."Relationship 4: Sponsors — Your Most Powerful AccelerantA mentor gives advice. A sponsor gives opportunity. This distinction is critical and widely misunderstood.Sponsors use their own political capital to advocate for you — in the rooms where promotions are decided, on the committees where assignments are distributed, in the conversations where names are put forward. A sponsor says your name when you are not in the room. A mentor helps you prepare for the room. Both matter. But only one moves the needle on the broken rung.Given that women enter careers with a 14-point sponsorship deficit compared to men, closing this gap is one of the highest-ROI investments you can make in your own career advancement. You earn a sponsor the same way you earn every other relationship: by making yourself visible, demonstrating your capability in high-stakes situations, and becoming someone whose success the sponsor wants to be associated with.Shelmina's guidance: identify one person at two levels above you who has both visibility with senior leadership and the willingness to advocate. Do the work to get in their orbit. When you are there, make their decision to sponsor you easy — by showing up with the kind of work that reflects well on anyone who recommends you.The four relationships that drive women leaders career advancement: boss, peers, mentors, and sponsorsHow to Navigate Workplace Bias Without Losing Your PowerAs a woman of color scaling the corporate ladder, Shelmina encountered both internal barriers — the self-doubt and fear of belonging described in Part I — and external barriers: leaders who did not automatically see her as a candidate for leadership roles, colleagues who underestimated her capabilities, and structural biases that filtered opportunity away from people who didn't fit the existing template.Her framework for navigating bias is one of the most strategically intelligent approaches I have encountered in 30 years of coaching. It has three operating principles:Principle 1: Don't React — Prove"When you react, you give your power away to them. You reinforce the negative biases and stereotypes that exist," Shelmina says. "Instead, prove your worth and change their opinion slowly, but surely."This

Women Leaders Overcome Self-Doubt: The Power Quotient Framework That Changes Everything (2026)Executive Summary: 68% of women in tech experience imposter syndrome, yet most have never been taught to fight it strategically. Former IBM VP Shelmina Babai Abji shares her Power Quotient (PQ) framework — a proven system for silencing the inner critic, amplifying your voice of courage, and advancing your leadership career.Quick Takeaways:68% of women in tech report imposter syndrome — tech is the most affected industry (Hays, 2025).Your "Power Quotient" (PQ) is the ability to intentionally choose an empowering response over a disempowering one.The voice of fear is doing its job — your job is to feed your voice of courage louder reasons to act.For every 100 men promoted to first manager, only 81 women make the same leap (McKinsey, 2025) — PQ is a competitive differentiator.Showing your worth is a continuous journey of competence, confidence, relationships, and personal branding — not a one-time event. Sixty-eight percent of women in tech experience imposter syndrome. Let that number land.That means more than two out of every three talented, qualified women sitting in engineering meetings, VP offices, and C-suite strategy sessions are secretly wondering if they belong there. And according to a KPMG survey of 750 female executives, 75% of senior women leaders have experienced imposter syndrome at some point in their careers — with 85% saying they believe it's widespread in corporate America.Yet almost no one teaches women what to do about it — strategically, systematically, and permanently.I'm Sabrina Braham, MA, MFT, PCC — executive leadership coach with over 30 years of experience, and host of the Women's Leadership Success Podcast, now with over 950,000 downloads and ranked in the top 1.5% of podcasts globally. In Episode 162, I sit down with Shelmina Babai Abji — TEDx speaker, former IBM Vice President, angel investor, and author of Show Your Worth — for one of the most powerful and practical conversations I've ever had on this podcast.Shelmina grew up in poverty in Tanzania, put herself through school across three countries, walked into a room of 2,000 engineers where no one looked like her, and still became one of the highest-ranking women of color in IBM's history — overseeing teams that generated over $1 billion in annual revenue. Her secret? A framework she calls the Power Quotient.If you're a woman leader in tech or any competitive industry who is battling negative mental chatter, fear of speaking up, or the relentless whisper that says you're not qualified enough — this episode is for you.Why Self-Doubt Is Hitting Women Leaders Harder Than Ever in 2026The data tells a story that is urgent and personal. A 2025 Hays survey of more than 8,000 professionals found that 68% of women in tech experience imposter syndrome — and that approximately one-third say these feelings grow more intense as their careers advance, not less. Tech is now the single most-affected industry in the entire workforce.This is not a personal failing. It is a structural reality. As Shelmina describes it, when you look around a room and see no one who looks like you, no one who sounds like you, no one who grew up like you — your brain does exactly what it is designed to do: it searches for evidence that you belong, finds little, and generates doubt."I walked into a room of 2,000 engineers," Shelmina recalls, "and I realized there was not one person that looked like me. Not one person that spoke like me. And I started undermining my own capabilities, underestimating my own worth."The compounding problem is this: according to the McKinsey Women in the Workplace 2025 report, women represent 49% of entry-level employees — yet by the time you reach the C-suite, fewer than 29% of those seats belong to women. For every 100 men promoted to their first manager role, only 81 women make the same leap. The "broken rung" is real, and self-doubt is one of the forces that keeps it broken.The cost of unchecked self-doubt is not just personal — it is organizational. Women who silence themselves in meetings, decline stretch assignments, or step back from promotions because they do not feel "ready" are costing their companies their most strategic asset: authentic, experienced, high-EQ leadership.The good news? Shelmina's own career is proof that the cycle can be broken — and the tool she used is available to every woman listening right now.Introducing the Power Quotient (PQ): Your Most Underused Leadership AssetMost leaders are familiar with IQ (intellectual intelligence) and EQ (emotional intelligence). Shelmina introduces a third: PQ — Power Quotient."We own the power to intentionally pick an empowering response to a disempowering stimulus, whether that stimulus is internal or external. That's your PQ. And the internal stimulus must be taken care of first, before we can fight the external."This is not a motivational concept. It is a cognitive framework with three operating principles:PQ Principle 1: Recognize the Voice of Fear — Without Obeying ItThe voice of fear is not your enemy. It is doing exactly what it evolved to do: keep you in your comfort zone. The moment you recognize that the whisper saying "they'll find out you don't belong" is just a voice — not a fact — you reclaim agency over it.Shelmina's turning point came during her first year at a major tech employer. She was sitting in a meeting, holding back an idea. Then she watched someone else state her exact idea — and receive praise for it. "That was the first time I recognized that my ideas do matter," she says. "And once I had that inner victory, everything changed."Try This Now: The next time you catch yourself editing an idea before you say it, ask: "Is this my voice of fear or my voice of courage speaking?" Name it. That naming alone is the beginning of PQ.PQ Principle 2: Feed Your Voice of Courage With ReasonsCourage is not the absence of fear. It is acting despite fear — and it grows when you actively give it ammunition. Shelmina calls this "feeding your voice of courage," and it is a deliberate, intentional practice.In her case, the reason was visceral: "If I didn't speak up, they would not extend my visa. My dream of lifting my family out of poverty would be over." That reason was more powerful than her fear. Your reason does not need to be that dramatic — but it does need to be real to you.Effective reasons to feed your voice of courage include:The impact your idea could have on your team or clientsThe career advancement that depends on your visibilityThe women who will follow in your footsteps if you blaze this trailThe competencies you will build only by speaking up and stretchingPQ Principle 3: Make Your Voice of Courage Louder Than Your Voice of FearThis is the practice. Not silencing fear — but systematically amplifying courage until it drowns fear out. "I made my voice of courage louder than my voice of fear," Shelmina says, "by feeding it reasons why I should do something, as opposed to reasons why I shouldn't."This maps directly to what 2026 executive presence research identifies as the core of leadership gravitas: decisiveness under pressure and emotional self-regulation. Leaders who can redirect internal narratives in high-stakes moments are the ones who get promoted, trusted, and retained.How to Show Your Worth Without Waiting to Be NoticedOne of the most actionable insights from Shelmina's work is this: showing your worth is not self-promotion. It is a strategic practice of continuously positioning yourself to contribute higher and higher value — and then ensuring the right people have a front-row seat to that contribution."Show your worth, in the context of my book, is the value you contribute towards the success of your organization," Shelmina explains. "The recognition that I have something to contribute is the beginning of understanding your worth. And then the journey is: how do I continuously position myself to contribute more?"This has four dimensions that mirror 2026's most sought-after leadership competencies:Competencies — continuously building the skills that drive organizational outcomesConfidence — the deep-seated self-trust that comes from doing hard things and surviving themRelationships — intentionally building the four key relationships (boss, peers, mentors, sponsors — covered in Part II)Personal branding — ensuring your value is visible, not just feltWorth is not static. It is not something you either have or you don't. "The more competent you become," Shelmina says, "the higher the value you create." It is a compounding cycle — and it begins the moment you decide your ideas matter.Overcoming Negative Mental Chatter: A Framework for Women in TechNegative mental chatter — the constant inner voice of "I'm not smart enough, I'll sound stupid, they'll find out" — is the presenting symptom of an unchecked voice of fear. Shelmina identifies it as the single biggest barrier she sees in her work with women leaders, and she is specific about how to address it.Step 1: Externalize ItTreat negative mental chatter the way you would treat a notification on your phone: notice it, acknowledge it, then decide whether to engage. The chatter loses power the moment you observe it rather than inhabit it.Step 2: Name the Fear UnderneathIs it fear of failure? Fear of judgment? Fear of stepping outside your comfort zone? Fear of being seen as someone who doesn't belong? Naming the specific fear collapses it from a fog into a manageable object. You can work with a named fear. You cannot work with a fog.Step 3: Reframe the Outcome"There is no such thing as failure," Shelmina says. "There are only various degrees of success." Every stretch assignment, every meeting where you spoke up and it didn't land perfectly, every project that didn't go as planned — these are data. They teach you something you did not know

Women's Leadership Success Podcast — Episode 161Executive Summary: In 2026's era of mass layoffs and rapid restructuring, talented women leaders are being thrust into expanded roles before they feel ready. Executive coach Sabrina Braham reveals the 3-move framework — drawn from 30+ years of client breakthroughs — that transforms overwhelm into executive presence and lasting confidence.Quick Takeaways:75% of executive women have experienced imposter syndrome — even after earning their seat (KPMG).The skills that made you successful at your last level often stop working at the next one.Confidence is not certainty — it's steadiness while uncertainty still exists.Silence creates anxiety; even imperfect clarity helps teams move forward.Leadership doesn't begin when confidence arrives — it begins when you decide to move anyway. The Role Just Got Bigger. Your Confidence Hasn't Caught Up. Now What?You didn't plan for this. The promotion path you imagined — deliberate, supported, well-timed — isn't what happened. Instead, a reorganization happened. Layoffs happened. Two managers left in the same week. And suddenly, you're carrying responsibilities that didn't exist in your job description six months ago, with a team looking to you for answers you're not sure you have yet.If this sounds familiar, you're not behind. You're right on time.I'm Sabrina Braham, MA, MFT, PCC — executive leadership coach with over 30 years of experience helping senior women leaders step into bigger roles with confidence and clarity. The Women's Leadership Success Podcast has surpassed 900,000 downloads and is ranked in the top 1.5% of podcasts globally. Clients include leaders at Stanford University, Ernst & Young, Autodesk, and companies of all sizes — from high-growth startups to global enterprises.In Episode 161, my husband and co-producer Tim Warren turns the microphone around and interviews me — because over the past year, one challenge has shown up in virtually every coaching engagement I've had: talented, proven leaders being asked to lead roles that expanded faster than their confidence. This episode — and this guide — is for you.The 2026 Reality: Forced Expansion Is the New Normal for Women LeadersWhat's happening in the workplace right now isn't a temporary disruption. It's a structural shift — and it's disproportionately landing on the shoulders of high-performing women.Grant Thornton's 2026 Women in Business research found that women's representation in senior U.S. leadership dropped from 35% to 31% in just two years — precisely as layoffs consolidated organizational structures and eliminated the middle-management layers that once served as leadership on-ramps. Fewer women are getting promoted through deliberate paths, and more are being pulled into expanded roles through organizational necessity.Meanwhile, a March 2026 Stanton Chase study of 132 women executives across 45 countries found that the single most consistent piece of advice from women who had reached the C-suite? Move before you feel ready. More than 50 of the 132 respondents — independently, across industries and continents — said some version of: "Don't wait until you feel 100% prepared."And yet KPMG research shows that 75% of executive women have personally experienced imposter syndrome — even those who have objectively succeeded at the highest levels. That gap between external achievement and internal confidence isn't a character flaw. It's a predictable psychological pattern — and one you can navigate strategically.What "Forced Expansion" Actually Looks LikeForced expansion is what I call the pattern where leaders aren't stepping into bigger roles through a thoughtful promotion path — they're being pulled into them. Someone leaves. A division gets cut. Departments combine. Budgets tighten. And suddenly, one capable leader is carrying the work of two or three.One of my clients last week illustrates this perfectly: an engineer was hired at a top company into a manager role. On his third day, the two other managers in his division quit — and he went from overseeing one section to overseeing all of them. That's not an edge case anymore. That's Tuesday.Another client — a leader in manufacturing — inherited a second, highly technical department she had never led, after a round of layoffs. Her first instinct was: I need to know everything before I speak with confidence. That belief was slowing her down. We changed the model. She stopped trying to be the smartest person in every room. Instead, she began asking sharper questions, clarified priorities, built accountability, and used the expertise already around her. Within months, executives stopped seeing someone who was overwhelmed — and saw someone who was expanding. That changed everything.Why High Performers Struggle Most When Roles ExpandHere's the uncomfortable truth that most leadership advice doesn't address directly: what made you successful at your last level often stops working at the next one.High performers are rewarded for execution, reliability, doing more, and fixing problems personally. But senior leadership rewards something different: direction, judgment, influence, composure, and decision-making without certainty. Many smart leaders try to win the next level using the habits from the last level — and that creates burnout fast.You may recognize yourself in any of these:More responsibility, but less clarity on what success looks likeGreater visibility with senior leaders — with bigger expectations and fewer instructionsPressure to lead confidently while still learning the terrainFeeling capable, but not fully readyWondering how to be seen as promotion-ready when you're still figuring out the new scopeBeing strong technically, but stretched strategicallyIf any of this feels familiar, you are not behind. You are in the exact transition where careers accelerate — or stall. And how you navigate it determines which direction yours goes.The Trap: Waiting for Internal PermissionThe most common behavior I see in leaders experiencing forced expansion is what I call waiting for internal permission. They over-prepare. They hesitate. They second-guess. They believe, somewhere deep down, that they need to know everything before they can speak with confidence.That belief is expensive. It costs you time, opportunity, and the trust of the team waiting for you to lead.The mindset shift that changes everything: stop trying to prove you deserve the role. Start acting like you belong in it. Presence is built in motion. Confidence grows through reps. You become ready by leading.The 3-Move Framework for Leading Before You're ReadyWhen I work with leaders navigating forced expansion, these three moves consistently separate the ones who rise from the ones who stall.Move 1: Define Success ClearlyGet a vivid picture in your mind of what it looks like when you're truly succeeding in this role — not performing, not surviving, but succeeding. What decisions are you making? How is your team showing up? What are senior leaders saying about your impact?Write it down. Specificity is power here. And remember: not everything matters equally. Forced expansion often means 10 priorities land at once — but only two or three actually move the needle right now. Identify those and protect your focus fiercely.Try This Now (10 minutes): Open a blank document and write your answer to this question: "If I'm wildly successful in this expanded role 90 days from now, what is true?" Don't edit. Don't filter. Let yourself see it clearly first.Move 2: Build an Advisory CircleLeadership is not a solo performance. One of the most powerful things you can do in a stretch role is identify the people — inside and outside your organization — who have the expertise, context, and candor to help you navigate.This is not about admitting weakness. It's about operating strategically. The executives who rise fastest in times of organizational change are the ones who mobilize the intelligence around them, not the ones who try to contain every answer personally.Your advisory circle might include: a peer in another department who knows the terrain you've newly inherited; a mentor who has navigated similar transitions; a coach who can help you build your next-level skillset; and experts on your own team whose knowledge you can leverage while you're learning.The Stanton Chase 2026 study found that securing sponsors — people who advocate for you behind closed doors — is the second most consistent differentiator for women who reach the C-suite. A mentor advises you. A sponsor walks into a room where your name isn't being mentioned and makes sure it is.Move 3: Communicate Often — Even Without All the AnswersSilence creates anxiety. Clarity creates momentum. Even imperfect clarity helps teams move.Your team doesn't need you to have all the answers. They need to know someone is navigating — that there is direction, even if the path is still forming. The strongest leaders I know can say: "We don't know everything yet. Here's our next move. We'll adjust as we learn."That kind of leadership doesn't weaken trust. It builds it. Establish a communication rhythm immediately: weekly team check-ins, regular updates to your senior leadership, brief touchpoints with stakeholders in areas you've newly inherited. Don't wait for perfect information. Communicate your thinking, your priorities, and your progress — and invite input along the way.    Coming Soon — Free for Early AccessLeading Before You're ReadyA premium leadership playbook by Sabrina Braham, MA, MFT, PCCThis is the playbook Sabrina created for every high performer navigating more visibility, bigger expectations, and faster timelines — a practical, structured guide for what actually changes at the next level of leadership.? Lead with greater confidence and clarity — right now, not someday? Increase your visibility with the decision-makers who dete

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Executive Summary Gravitas drives 67% of executive presence—yet most high-performing leaders are invisible outside their immediate team. Branding strategist Howie Chan reveals why executive personal branding is a career survival tool in 2026, how the C.A.R.E. framework builds the credibility that gets leaders referred, and why thought leadership—not harder work—is the primary currency for promotion. Quick Takeaways Gravitas drives 67% of executive presence—confidence, decisiveness under pressure, and EQ are what decision-makers evaluate first. Executive personal branding in 2026 has shifted from self-promotion to stewardship and thought leadership. Your LinkedIn profile is a professional vault—every post builds a body of work recruiters and executives review before any interview. The C.A.R.E. Framework (Competence, Authenticity, Reliability, Empathy) is the proven path from visibility to trust to referral. The best time to start was years ago. The second-best time is right now.   You Work Hard. You Deliver Results. So Why Doesn't Anyone Know Your Name? I'm Sabrina Braham, MA, MFT, PCC—executive leadership coach with over 30 years of experience, and host of the Women's Leadership Success Podcast, ranked in the top 1.5% globally with more than 950,000 downloads. In nearly three decades of coaching senior leaders, I have seen one pattern repeat itself again and again: the most talented professional in the room is frequently the least visible one. In a March 2026 interview on this podcast, branding strategist Howie Chan—former managing director of brand strategy, now one of LinkedIn's most recognized voices on executive personal branding—laid out exactly why that invisibility happens and what to do about it. His story begins on March 31st, 2022. A Friday afternoon calendar invite. His manager and an HR person on the Zoom call. After nearly nine years as managing director, he was laid off. His first thought wasn't strategy—it was shame. He had painters in his house that day. What would they think? "There's no such thing as loyalty to you. It's a business, so people get let go all the time. That's what led me to help executives become known outside the four walls of their company—before a crisis forces the issue." — Howie Chan, Professional Brand Strategist In 2026, that mission has never been more urgent. Executive search firms and hiring committees now evaluate digital presence as seriously as a résumé. The professionals landing opportunities fastest are not the most credentialed—they are the most visible and the most strategically positioned. Leading before you are ready playbook. a practical workbook for emerging leaders stepping into bigger roles. Download for Free Today   Why Executive Personal Branding Is No Longer Optional Most high-performing leaders were taught a lie: put your head down, do exceptional work, and the right people will notice. Current research defines executive presence as the "ability to win the confidence of those around you"—and gravitas, which includes confidence, decisiveness under pressure, and emotional intelligence, accounts for a dominant 67% of that equation. But gravitas cannot win confidence from people who have never encountered you. Executive branding in 2026 has shifted decisively from self-promotion toward stewardship and thought leadership. The leaders gaining traction are not the loudest voices—they are the most consistent, most authentic, and most strategic about who they serve. "You might say, 'my colleagues know me,'" Howie told me. "But there will be a time you will leave your company—and what happens then?" The Hidden Cost of Being Invisible Think about what happens when your name appears in a decision-maker's inbox. What comes to mind for them? "I need to take this call—this person can help me with X"? Or do they scroll past because they have no mental model of who you are? "That's essentially what brand is—the story someone tells themselves about you when you're not in the room." — Howie Chan In my coaching practice, I see this constantly: high-achieving leaders going up for promotion, being passed over—not because of performance, but because the decision-makers above them do not know their story. No brand equals no promotion. The correlation is that direct. Executive Personal Branding vs. Self-Promotion: The Critical Difference One of the most liberating reframes Howie offers is the distinction between personal branding (how people perceive your personality) and professional branding (who you serve and what problems you solve). "When you hear 'personal brand,' people think it means talking about your life or your experiences," he explained. "But from a professional standpoint, it starts with who: Who are you helping? What problems are you solving?" This shifts the entire frame from bragging about yourself to making your value legible to the people who need it. There is even neuroscience behind why high-performers resist doing this. Howie cited the lesser-known inverse of the Dunning-Kruger effect: while low-ability individuals overestimate their competence, those with genuine expertise tend to undervalue it. The better you are, the more you assume everyone already knows what you know—so you stop communicating it. Your silence reads as absence. 3-Step Positioning Framework Identify WHO specifically benefits from your expertise—not everyone, your right people. Define the specific PROBLEMS you solve that others in your field cannot solve as equally well. Create content and conversations that connect your experience to those problems—not your job title.   The 2026 Executive Branding Framework: 5 Practices That Move the Needle Current research across executive search, leadership development, and digital strategy points to five practices that define the leaders who are breaking through in 2026: Quality Over Quantity — Strategic Content, Not Random Acts The research-supported baseline: one original educational post per week and one short-form video per month. This simple cadence, sustained over six months, creates the compound visibility effect that sporadic posting never achieves. Howie reinforced this directly: "Whatever you write, make it short, make it memorable, make it punchy. If you can take the time to make it shorter, do." Human-First Narrative — Authenticity as Executive Currency Audiences and boards now seek what researchers call "unapologetic authenticity"—signature stories reflecting values, purpose, and lessons from failure. This is not vulnerability for its own sake; it is strategic humanity that builds the Connection and Charisma pillars of the 7 C's executive presence framework. Strategic Participation — Conversation, Not Broadcasting Successful executive brands in 2026 are built not just through publishing but through deliberate participation in "conversation hubs"—commenting on posts from industry leaders, analysts, clients, and peers. Only 1% of LinkedIn professionals post weekly; consistent participation immediately places any leader in a visible minority. Thought Leadership as Currency True thought leadership in 2026 is sharing original, experience-based insights that change how others think or behave. This differs fundamentally from curating others' content or echoing industry consensus. It establishes authority that transcends a traditional résumé. Short-Form Video — The New Business Card Executives using short video clips under 90 seconds are seeing 3–5× higher LinkedIn reach than equivalent text posts. Production quality matters far less than consistency and authenticity. One direct, structured insight delivered on camera builds more trust than ten polished written posts. LinkedIn: Your Professional Vault (And You're Barely Using It) Howie described LinkedIn not as a job board but as a living body of work. "Every post, everything you put up there, builds a record that any recruiter, any teammate, any C-suite executive can look at and think: wow, this person knows what they're talking about." He identified two traps executives fall into most often: The Lecture Room Trap: Treating LinkedIn as a broadcast channel where you teach at people. Write scannable, short, conversational content that invites dialogue. The Follower-Count Trap: Chasing vanity metrics. 500 deeply engaged, right-fit connections outperform 50,000 passive followers. Define what you want LinkedIn to do—promotion visibility, client attraction, or authority-building—and optimize for that specific outcome. One of my clients recently wanted me to rewrite her first LinkedIn post before publishing it. My advice: publish it imperfectly. Start. Get feedback. Adjust. Executive personal branding is built through consistent iteration, not through waiting for perfection. The C.A.R.E. Framework: Building Credibility That Gets You Referred Credibility is not about how many people know your name—it is about the depth of trust you have built with the right people. The highest expression of that trust is referral: when someone stakes their own social reputation by recommending you. Howie's C.A.R.E. framework defines the four pillars of that trust: C.A.R.E. Pillar What It Means for Your Executive Brand   CCompetence You are genuinely excellent at what you do. This is the non-negotiable foundation—it cannot be faked and cannot be substituted.   A Authenticity You share what is real—not everything, but nothing false. Perceived inauthenticity destroys brand instantly; genuine stories build it permanently.   RReliability You do what you say. You show up consistently. This is what separates trusted advisors from interesting acquaintances.   E Empathy You genuinely care about the people you serve—their goals, their constraints, their full context. All content and conversation starts there. "When you have all four, you become a credible person that somebody trusts—and the biggest le

Part 2 of 2 | Continued from: Continuous Improvement Leadership: Women's Career Guide 2026Executive SummaryWomen leaders continuous improvement culture succeeds or fails based on one variable: the leader's personal commitment. Olaf Boettger's 27-year framework reveals the CEO's 90-day launch plan, two fatal CI mistakes, women's natural CI advantage, and the 10-minute personal Kaizen practice that compounds career results starting today.Quick Takeaways70% of CI initiatives fail — almost always due to leader behavior, not methodology (Olaf Boettger, 27 years P&G/Danaher)Women leaders continuous improvement culture succeeds because women's natural humility and collaborative style align with CI requirementsThe CEO's first 90 days: Gemba ? Top-10 Problem List ? 5 Whys ? Impact-Effort Matrix ? Daily HuddlesPersonal Kaizen takes less than 10 minutes per day and starts compounding career results immediatelyLaid-off women can apply CI directly to job search — turning a demoralizing process into a systematic, controllable oneIn Part 1 of this conversation, Olaf Boettger revealed the foundations of women leaders continuous improvement culture — Kaizen philosophy, Gemba principles, and the three capabilities that make it work: courage, humility, and discipline. But knowing the philosophy is not the same as executing it.Most organizations have heard of Kaizen. Most have tried it. Most have failed.According to Olaf, who spent 27 years at Procter & Gamble and Danaher mastering this system, the failure is rarely about the methodology. It is almost always about the leader.In Part 2 of our Women's Leadership Success Podcast interview, Olaf reveals exactly what a successful women leaders continuous improvement culture launch looks like — the CEO's first 90 days, the two fatal mistakes that kill every initiative, why women bring a genuinely underappreciated competitive advantage to this work, and the personal Kaizen practice that takes less than 10 minutes a day and starts compounding results immediately.As an executive coach with over 30 years of experience (MA, MFT, PCC) and host of a podcast ranked in the top 1.5% globally with over 750,000 downloads, I have seen this framework transform the careers of women who stopped waiting to be recognized and started building systems that made them impossible to overlook. Building a women leaders continuous improvement culture is not only a leadership strategy — it is a career survival strategy in 2026.The CEO's First 90 Days: Your Continuous Improvement Culture Launch PlanIf you are stepping into a new leadership role — or finally ready to build a women leaders continuous improvement culture in your existing organization — the first 90 days set everything. Olaf's approach is structured around a deceptively simple insight: the problems you can solve are already visible if you are willing to go look at them.Step 1: Go to Gemba — The Real Place (Days 1–30)Gemba is the Japanese term for the real place — where the work actually happens. For a CEO or senior leader, Gemba might mean riding along with a salesperson, observing operations on a floor, sitting with engineers reviewing prototypes, or speaking directly with customers about how they use your product.This is not a listening tour. It is a fact-gathering mission. The gap between what leadership believes is happening and what is actually happening is, in most organizations, enormous. The only way to close that gap is to go see for yourself.For women building a women leaders continuous improvement culture, this Gemba-first approach is especially powerful: it signals humility and curiosity before authority — the exact combination that earns trust fast in new organizations.Step 2: Build Your Top-10 Problem List (Days 15–30)After Gemba, the next move is prioritization. A former Danaher colleague of Olaf's — who became CEO of a large Anglo-American corporation — used exactly this method: he created a numbered top-10 problem list and began working through it methodically with his teams.The discipline here is critical. You are not solving all problems. You are sequencing them. Problem 1 gets your full attention and resources until it is resolved. Then Problem 2. Then Problem 3. This focus prevents the scattered, multi-initiative paralysis that kills most CI attempts before they produce results.Step 3: Apply the 5 Whys to Find Root Causes (Days 20–60)Once you have your prioritized list, the next step is diagnosis. Olaf uses the 5 Whys — a Toyota-originated technique where you ask 'why does this problem exist?' and then ask 'why?' to each answer, five levels deep. By the fifth 'why,' you are nearly always at the systemic root cause rather than a surface symptom.The difference is critical. Treating symptoms produces temporary fixes. Addressing root causes produces permanent improvement. This is why organizations that chase the first obvious solution — like a $50 million ERP system — often spend enormous resources only to discover the original problem persists.Step 4: Use the Impact-Effort Matrix to Sequence Solutions (Days 30–60)Not all solutions are equal. Olaf teaches leaders to categorize every potential solution across two dimensions: impact (does it actually solve the problem?) and effort (how much time, money, and energy does it require?).Solution CategoryPriority Action? High Impact + Low EffortDo these FIRST — quick wins that build momentum and credibility? High Impact + High EffortPlan carefully — these are your strategic projects? Low Impact + Low EffortDo only if capacity allows — don't let these consume bandwidth? Low Impact + High EffortEliminate — these drain your CI culture before it startsStep 5: Run Daily Red/Green Huddles as Your Standard Management Meeting (Days 1–90)As described in Part 1, the 15-minute daily red/green huddle is not a CI activity added on top of normal business. It IS the management meeting. Red means a problem is identified and being addressed. Green means performance is on track. Run without exception every day, it signals that the improvement culture is real — not a program that fades at the next crisis.What Your Organization Sees by Day 90When you execute this plan, three things happen simultaneously: your team sees you are committed enough to observe their actual work; they see the organization's most painful problems being addressed systematically; and they begin to internalize what a good solution looks like. This is how women leaders continuous improvement culture takes root — through behavior modeling, not value announcements.The 2 Fatal Mistakes That Kill Continuous Improvement InitiativesOlaf estimates there is a graveyard of failed CI initiatives in nearly every large organization. The causes are almost never about the methodology. Here are the two patterns he sees repeatedly — and what women leaders can do differently.Fatal Mistake #1: The Leader Who Wants Results Without ChangingIn German, there is a phrase for this: 'Wash my fur, but don't make me wet.' The leader wants the outcomes of CI — better numbers, more efficient teams, fewer crises — but is unwilling to personally change how they operate. They hire consultants, launch programs, run trainings. And then they return to their previous behavior.This is fatal because culture follows behavior, not announcements. If the CEO does not go to Gemba, the SVP will not go to Gemba. If the SVP does not go, the VP will not go. By the time the directive reaches managers who are supposed to implement CI, it has been diluted into a program that nobody owns.For women leaders specifically: the antidote is your natural advantage — the willingness to be publicly humble, to admit what you do not know, and to go see before you decide. A women leaders continuous improvement culture that the top leader personally models is one that spreads without a mandate.Fatal Mistake #2: Treating CI as a Separate ActivityThe second pattern is more subtle but equally deadly: organizations that run CI as a parallel track alongside their 'normal' business. Friday afternoon training. Quarterly workshops. A dedicated CI team that other leaders do not engage with.This is the wrong model entirely. At Toyota, Danaher, GE, and every organization where CI works long-term, continuous improvement is not something you do in addition to running the business. It IS how you run the business. The 15-minute daily red/green huddle is not a CI activity — it is the operational meeting. The improvement system and the management system are the same system.The practical implication: if your organization has a CI initiative that exists separately from how work is actually managed, advocate for integrating the two. That single structural change will determine whether your women leaders continuous improvement culture produces lasting results or joins the graveyard.Why Women Leaders Build Continuous Improvement Culture BetterOne of the most powerful moments in our conversation came when I asked Olaf directly: do women bring unique strengths to continuous improvement culture?His answer was unequivocal — and grounded in 27 years of observing what actually works in organizations around the world."There is a lot less ego involved in a lot of women I've worked with. And if we look at the three capabilities for successful continuous improvement — courage, humility, and discipline — I've seen women bring more to the table, especially on the humility side. Being more open to say: let's bring others in, let's bring other ideas in, and learn from them, because what we have so far isn't good enough."— Olaf Boettger, 27 years at P&G and DanaherThis is not a soft observation. It maps directly onto what McKinsey's Women in the Workplace 2025 research confirms: inclusive, collaborative leadership behaviors — the willingness to invite diverse perspectives and create psychological safety — are associated with measurably higher organizational perf

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYIn 2026's 'forever layoff' era, women leaders who master continuous improvement leadership outperform peers, reduce their layoff risk, and accelerate promotions. Olaf Boettger's 27-year Kaizen framework — courage, humility, discipline — turns daily small improvements into extraordinary career results.Key stat: Toyota workers are 2x more productive than competitors using this same system.? QUICK TAKEAWAYS•       Continuous improvement leadership doubles your career productivity vs. peers who stop learning•       The 3 capabilities every woman leader needs: courage to name problems, humility to keep learning, discipline to stay consistent•       Kaizen's daily 15-minute team meeting is directly applicable to your own career self-management•       GE's turnaround under Larry Culp proves CI works in any industry — finance, tech, healthcare, or your own career•       In 2026's 'forever layoff' climate, CI skills signal indispensable strategic value to any organizationIf you're a woman leader in 2026, the job market has changed dramatically — and not in your favor. Glassdoor's Worklife Trends report calls it the 'forever layoff': small, rolling cuts that never make headlines but keep talented executives in a constant state of anxiety. Meanwhile, AI is reshaping roles at every level, and the competition for standout positions has never been fiercer.As an executive coach with over 30 years of experience (MA, MFT, PCC) and host of the Women's Leadership Success Podcast — ranked in the top 1.5% globally with over 750,000 downloads — I've interviewed more than 144 of the world's top leadership experts. When I heard Olaf Boettger's approach to continuous improvement leadership, I immediately knew this was the missing framework most women leaders had never considered.Olaf spent 27 years at Procter & Gamble and Danaher — two of the most operationally excellent companies on earth — mastering the Japanese Kaizen philosophy. What he discovered translates directly to career acceleration: the same system that doubled Toyota's worker productivity and powered GE's biggest turnaround in American history can supercharge your leadership brand and make you the candidate no one can afford to pass over. The 2026 Career Reality: Why 'Working Hard' Is No Longer Enough The data is sobering for women leaders right now. According to Glassdoor's 2025 Workplace Trends report, small layoffs — under 50 people — now represent 51% of all job cuts, up from just 38% in 2015. These 'forever layoffs' create cultures of anxiety where talented women question their value daily.At the same time, female manager engagement dropped seven percentage points in 2025 alone — the steepest decline of any group, according to Gallup research. Women leaders are being asked to do more with less, carrying teams through AI disruption and RTO mandates, while their own career advancement stalls.The traditional answer — work harder, be more visible, volunteer for every high-profile project — simply isn't scaling. In a market where 45% of employers rate the job outlook as 'fair' at best, you need a completely different strategy. You need continuous improvement leadership. ? Ready to transform your career trajectory?Download Leading Before You're Ready for Free Today What Is Continuous Improvement Leadership? The Kaizen Framework Explained Continuous improvement — known in Japanese as Kaizen, meaning 'change for the better' — originated at Toyota nearly 90 years ago. After World War II, with limited resources and a need to compete globally, Toyota developed a system to extract maximum quality and efficiency from every process. That system, now called the Toyota Production System, became the foundation of what we know as Lean, Six Sigma, and the Danaher Business System.For women leaders, continuous improvement leadership means applying these same principles to your career, your team, and your organization. It is not a one-time initiative or a January resolution. It is a daily practice — a permanent operating system.The Three Foundation PrinciplesOlaf distills continuous improvement leadership into three core principles:Kaizen — The belief that there is always a better way. This is not about being self-critical; it is about being growth-oriented. Every interaction, presentation, and leadership decision is an opportunity to iterate and improve.Go to Gemba — Go to the real place. Stop relying on slide decks and secondhand reports. As a leader, this means visiting your stakeholders, understanding what your team actually experiences day-to-day, and staying close to the work that creates value.Customer focus — Always anchor to what your 'customer' values. In a career context, your customers are your executive stakeholders, your team, and the business outcomes you're hired to deliver. Everything you do should be filtered through: does this add value for them?The Three Capabilities That Determine SuccessAccording to Olaf, your mindset determines everything. Leaders who succeed with continuous improvement possess three non-negotiable capabilities:CapabilityWhat It Looks Like in PracticeWhy Women Leaders Need It NowCOURAGEHonestly naming when your performance or your team's is 'red' — even when the culture rewards positivity over truth.In 2026's performance-pressured environment, leaders who surface problems first are seen as strategic — not weak.HUMILITYStaying open to learning regardless of your experience level. As Olaf says: the best leaders he's known, including P&G's CEO A.G. Lafley, were the most humble.Imposter syndrome tempts women to prove they already know everything. Humility is the counterintuitive superpower.DISCIPLINEShowing up for improvement consistently — not just in January. Committing to the decade, not the quarter.Career advancement compounds. The women who stand out in 2026 are those who have been quietly improving for years. The Business Case: What Continuous Improvement Leadership Actually Delivers For skeptics — and Olaf acknowledges that many leaders initially resist this approach — the numbers make a compelling argument. Toyota, the originator of this system, generates roughly twice the revenue per employee compared to its nearest competitors. Danaher, where Olaf spent the bulk of his career, has sustained approximately 15–16% compound annual growth for 40 consecutive years.The most visible example is GE's transformation under Larry Culp — the former Danaher CEO who took over when GE was in deep financial trouble. Using continuous improvement as the operating backbone, Culp and his teams executed what many consider one of the greatest corporate turnarounds in American business history, eventually splitting GE into three highly successful independent companies.On a practical level, Olaf shared a specific case study from a Danaher acquisition: a company delivering orders on time just 50% of the time. Using CI methodologies, that number rose to 95%. For context, if Amazon delivered your packages on time half the time, you'd stop using Amazon. A 45-percentage-point improvement is not incremental — it's transformational. TRY THIS NOW (10 Minutes)Apply Olaf's Red/Green method to your career right now: Identify one goal you have for your career this quarter (promotion, salary increase, high-visibility project).Set a specific target. Write your current actual. Color code it: are you green (on track) or red (below target)? If red — write one sentence explaining why.Then write one action you will take this week to close the gap. That's continuous improvement leadership in action. Do this every Monday.  How to Apply Continuous Improvement Leadership to Your Career in 2026 The beauty of Kaizen is that it scales from a Toyota factory floor to your personal career strategy. Here's how to translate Olaf's framework into your daily leadership practice:The 15-Minute Daily Leadership HuddleAt every Danaher facility, teams hold a 15-minute standing meeting every morning. They review five metrics — safety, quality, delivery, inventory, productivity — and ask: are we red or green? If red, why? Who does what by when?For your career, your five metrics might be: stakeholder relationships, project delivery, skill development, visibility, and team performance. A daily or weekly 10-minute self-check asking those same questions creates the discipline of continuous improvement at the individual level.Visual Management for Your CareerOlaf emphasizes making performance visible. In organizations, this means color-coded boards. For your career, this translates to maintaining a simple achievement tracker — a running document of your wins, metrics, and impact — that you review weekly. This directly feeds your Leadership Branding Blueprint and becomes the evidence base for promotion conversations.The Growth Mindset + Kaizen ConnectionOlaf's PhD research connected him deeply to Carol Dweck's work on fixed vs. growth mindsets. Dweck's research demonstrates that individuals who believe abilities can be developed through dedication consistently outperform those who believe talent is fixed. Continuous improvement is the operational expression of growth mindset — it gives you the system that turns that belief into measurable career results. Your 7-Step Continuous Improvement Career Action Plan Step 1 (10 min): Define your career target. What specific role, income level, or leadership metric do you want to achieve in the next 90 days? Be precise.Step 2 (10 min): Document your current actual. Where are you right now relative to that target? Don't approximate — be specific and honest.Step 3 (5 min): Color-code your gap. Green if you're on track. Red if you're behind. Intellectual honesty here is a leadership act.Step

The Neuroscience of Thriving: How Women Leaders Transform Burnout Into Happiness and High Performance With 60% of senior women reporting record burnout (McKinsey, 2025) and 82% of all employees at burnout risk, the happiness crisis demands neuroscience-based solutions. Dr. Paul Zak reveals the "key moments" framework, Love Plus algorithm, and immersion science that transforms workplace well being, leadership culture, and sustained career success.• Happy workers are 13% more productive, with wellbeing interventions showing 10-21% productivity gains (Oxford, 2024)• 50% of happiness comes from quality social relationships—80% of "key moments" are social experiences• Women leaders who invest in relationships develop different brain activity patterns for sustained thriving• The "do-not-do list" creates bandwidth for extraordinary experiences that prevent burnout• Silence, volunteering, and authentic vulnerability are neuroscience-backed practices for long-term happinessAs an executive coach with over 30 years of experience (MA, MFT, PCC) and host of the Women's Leadership Success Podcast (900,000+ downloads, top 1.5% globally), I'm witnessing an unprecedented crisis: 60% of senior-level women report feeling frequently burned out—the highest level ever recorded (McKinsey, 2025).And it's getting worse. WebMD Health Services research shows burnout perceptions increased by over 25% from 2022 to 2024, with 82% of all employees now at burnout risk. Gen X women leaders, senior managers, and directors face the highest rates—precisely the women who should be thriving at the peak of their careers.But what if the solution isn't "work-life balance" programs or meditation apps? What if neuroscience reveals a completely different approach to sustained happiness and high performance?In Part 2 of my interview with Dr. Paul Zak—pioneering neuroscientist and author of "Immersion: The Science of the Extraordinary and the Source of Happiness"—we explore the brain-based framework for thriving that transforms how women leaders approach wellbeing, create extraordinary workplace cultures, and sustain career success without sacrificing happiness. The Thriving Crisis: Why Traditional Wellbeing Programs Fail Women Leaders Fast Company (2025) reports that throughout 2025, companies treated employees with "stunning disregard": rolling layoffs, unchecked workloads, and blind eyes to burnout. Over 200,000 American women quit their jobs this year, citing inflexible policies and lack of support.For women leaders specifically:• Only 26% strongly agree their organization cares about their wellbeing (Gallup, 2025)• 42% of working women say their job has had a negative impact on mental health (vs. 37% of men)• Women who feel stressed daily are 46% more likely to actively seek new jobs• 36% of full-time women have a mismatch between preferred and actual work arrangements Why the Gap? Most organizations spent the past decade conflating wellbeing with wellness programs. They handed out meditation apps, gym stipends, and yoga classes while ignoring the root causes: uncaring managers, lack of connection, always-on expectations, and feeling unappreciated.The result? Burnout soared, engagement flat-lined, and the best women leaders walked awa What Neuroscience Reveals About Thriving vs. Surviving "The book has the title Happiness in it, but it's really about thriving," Dr. Zak clarifies. "How do I extend positive mood and high energy over my lifetime?"Using distributed neuroscience technology and the Six app (measuring brain activity continuously at one-second frequency), Dr. Zak's research team discovered something revolutionary: People who have 6 or more "key moments" daily are truly thriving—engaged in life, resilient to stress, and sustaining high performance. What Are Key Moments and Why Do They Matter? "Key moments are high-value experiences that help us grow as human beings and thrive," Dr. Zak explains. "What we found is that the systems in the brain that give us these high-value moments are deep in the brainstem, hidden from our conscious awareness." Dr. Paul Zak This explains why traditional self-assessment wellbeing surveys fail: Most people cannot accurately identify what truly makes them happy."When we ask people, 'What was your most important moment yesterday?' they don't know," Dr. Zak reveals. "Because it's hidden from conscious awareness. Many times, people will do something they think is really fun that doesn't give their brain a lot of value." The Neuroscience: Why Social Connection Drives Happiness Recent research from Oxford University confirms what Dr. Zak's neuroscience proves: About 50% of our happiness is due to the quality of our social relationships.But here's the critical finding for women leaders: 80% of key moments are social experiences."It's the people that give me that ability to be present and emotionally open," Dr. Zak emphasizes. "Sometimes I'll get a key moment when I'm really in a great writing project, but mostly, it's when I'm out at a conference, having dinner with people, giving talks."The Leadership Implication:Women leaders facing declining corporate support (only 54% of companies now prioritize women's advancement) cannot wait for organizational culture change. You must proactively create the social connections and immersive experiences that sustain your brain's capacity to thrive. The Two Core Components: Presence and Emotional Openness 1. Being Present"If I'm distracted, it's not going to be a good experience for me," Dr. Zak explains. "So I'll often take my phone and just turn it off in meetings. Hey, you guys, this is an important meeting, I need all the phones off."For Women Leaders:• Create technology-free zones during strategic thinking and team conversations• Block "thinking time" on your calendar—treat it as sacred as client meetings• Practice "walking in silence" to oxygenate your brain and generate ideas• Use the 60-90 minute rule: take 5-minute movement breaks to maintain cognitive clarity2. Being Emotionally Open"Do we want to be around people who don't share their emotions with us?" Dr. Zak asks. "No. If I say 'I'm having a tough day' and you're like 'oh, that's terrible' with no emotion—that's not a friend, that's a robot."Emotional experiences are saved in memory in a particular way that makes them more easily accessible. When you share authentic emotions, you activate neural pathways that build trust, create connection, and generate the key moments that sustain thriving.Critical for Women Leaders: This isn't about oversharing or being "too emotional" (a bias women already face). It's about strategic vulnerability that makes you relatable, trustworthy, and capable of building the deep connections that drive both happiness and high performance. The Love Plus Algorithm: A Neuroscience Framework for Daily Happiness When Time Magazine asked Dr. Zak to write three sentences on New Year's resolutions, he created what he calls his "algorithm for living a happy and fulfilled life": Love Plus.The Love Plus Framework:L - Love and be lovedInvest deeply in relationships. Research shows 50% of happiness comes from social connection quality. For women leaders, this means prioritizing meaningful relationships with family, friends, and trusted colleagues—not just networking transactions.O - Openness to new experiencesTravel, try new activities, engage with different perspectives. Novel experiences create neurological growth and generate key moments that sustain thriving. V - Volunteering and giving back"The evidence is so overwhelming that helping others makes you happy," Dr. Zak notes. Even small acts of generosity—buying a colleague coffee, mentoring a junior team member—create reciprocal happiness loops.E - ExercisePhysical movement isn't just wellness theater. It oxygenates the brain, reduces stress hormones, and creates conditions for key moments to emerge.PLUS:• Purpose: Connect daily work to larger meaning and impact• Learning: Continuous growth through reading, courses, new skills• Unique experiences: Prioritize extraordinary moments that create lasting memories• Silence: Create space for reflection, creativity, and strategic thinking How Women Leaders Apply Love Plus Daily Dr. Zak's framework isn't theoretical—it's immediately actionable:Morning: 10 minutes of silence before checking devices (builds presence, reduces cortisol)Workday: 2-3 "connection moments" with team members beyond task management (builds trust, creates key moments)Lunch: Walk outside without phone (exercise + silence + openness to new observations)Afternoon: Learn something new—read an article, take a short course, explore a topic (continuous learning)Evening: Invest in deep relationships—quality time with family/friends, not just logistics (love and be loved)Weekly: Volunteer or mentor (giving back creates sustained happiness)The Do-Not-Do List: Creating Bandwidth for Thriving"Many executives tell me they don't have time for key moments," Dr. Zak acknowledges. His solution? The do-not-do list."I realized I was doing a lot of things on my to-do list that weren't actually that valuable. So I made a second list called my do-not-do list. And it's way longer than my to-do list."Examples from Dr. Zak's Do-Not-Do List:• Do not attend meetings without clear agendas and time boundaries• Do not respond to every email within 2 hours (batch processing instead)• Do not say yes to every speaking invitation (protect creative bandwidth)• Do not schedule back-to-back meetings all day (protect key moment opportunities)• Do not work weekends as default (protect relationship investment

Women leaders face declining sponsorship support—only 31% have sponsors compared to 45% of men (McKinsey, 2025). Neuroscience reveals storytelling activates unique brain patterns that make your achievements memorable and promotable. Learn the immersion framework that transforms ordinary experiences into extraordinary career opportunities for women managers, directors, and VPs.

 Master the "tone, intent, outcome" framework and build trust through vulnerability to navigate your most difficult conversations at work and become a better leader. You've mastered the fundamentals of negotiation in Women’s Leadership Success 153 ( part I). Now it's time to tackle the conversations that keep you up at night: the confrontation with an angry stakeholder, the politically charged discussion dividing your team, the compensation negotiation where everything is on the line, or the feedback conversation that could make or break a critical relationship. This discussion former Scotland Yard negotiator Scott Walker  reveals advanced strategies that separate good leaders from exceptional ones. These are the frameworks used when hostages' lives hung in the balance‚ adapted specifically for the high-stakes leadership challenges women executives face every day. Building on the Foundation Effective difficult conversations at work require mastering several core principles: reframing negotiation as a conversation with purpose, managing emotional hijacking through behavioral change indicators, listening at deeper levels to understand emotion and perspective, asking questions rather than making statements, preparing thoroughly using systematic frameworks, and seeking practice opportunities with challenging people. Now we build on that foundation with advanced strategies for the conversations that truly test your leadership capacity. Understanding Their World: The Foundation of Influence You Cannot Influence Someone You Don't Understand A principle that transforms how women leaders approach difficult conversations at work: You can't influence somebody unless you already know what influences them. You're wasting your time. It's the height of arrogance, and you're not really going to succeed long-term anyway. This isn't about manipulation‚ it's about genuine understanding. To truly influence someone, you must understand their beliefs and values, decision-making rules and criteria, primary emotional drivers, how they see the world and their place in it, and what human needs they're trying to meet. The Only Path to This Understanding: Deep Listening Most people think they're excellent listeners, yet often go through the motions without truly engaging. Being on the receiving end when someone is thinking about a million other things feels infuriating and dismissive. The Critical Truth About Listening in Difficult Conversations No one has ever listened themselves out of a job or a relationship. This simple truth carries profound implications for women leaders navigating difficult conversations at work. Deep listening doesn't diminish respect, authority, or influence‚ it amplifies all three. The 5 Levels of Listening for Difficult Conversations Levels 1-3: Surface Listening (Where Most Leaders Get Stuck) Level 1: Distracted Listening Nodding while mentally planning your rebuttal or thinking about other priorities. The other person immediately senses your lack of genuine engagement, trust erodes, resistance increases, and resolution becomes impossible. Level 2: Rebuttal Listening Waiting for them to finish so you can explain why they're wrong. You're not actually processing their perspective, just defending your own. Both parties dig into entrenched positions and the conversation becomes adversarial. Level 3: Logic-Only Listening Focusing solely on facts, data, and logical arguments while ignoring emotions. Most difficult conversations at work are driven by emotional needs, not logical disagreements. You address surface issues while core concerns remain unresolved. Levels 4-5: Transformational Listening Level 4: Listening for Emotion What emotions are driving this person's position? Fear? Frustration? Feeling undervalued? Anxiety about change? Notice emotional shifts and acknowledge them without judgment. Saying "It sounds like this situation is really frustrating for you..." creates connection. Level 5: Listening for Point of View Ask yourself: "Why is this person telling me these specific words RIGHT NOW?" Seek the underlying human needs and deeper motivations beneath the surface position. The presenting issue is rarely the real issue it's usually two to six levels deeper. The Real Issue is Never the Presenting Issue When dealing with kidnappers, they wanted money‚Äîbut it wasn't just about the money. They wanted to save face, to feel like they were in control, to feel significant. If negotiators had only focused on money while ignoring these deeper needs, hostages would have died. In corporate environments, 80% of time on kidnapping cases was spent dealing with internal politics‚Äîwhat's called "the crisis within the crisis." In difficult conversations at work, competing egos and siloed thinking often create more obstacles than the actual business challenge. When your team member asks for a raise, the real issue might be feeling undervalued compared to peers, concern about supporting their family, fear of falling behind in their career, desire for recognition of contributions, or worry that you don't see their potential. The Breakthrough Question: "Why is this person telling me this specific message right now? What underlying human need are they trying to meet?" This transforms you from a transactional negotiator into a strategic influencer. The "Tone, Intent, Outcome" Framework for Preparation Systematic Approach to Difficult Conversations Before any high-stakes conversation, explicitly define three elements. This framework transforms anxiety-inducing difficult conversations at work into strategic opportunities. Component 1: TONE What emotional atmosphere do you want to create? Your tone choice sets the entire trajectory. Consider whether you want collaborative versus confrontational, curious versus defensive, respectful versus dismissive, or calm versus urgent energy. Example scenarios: - Feedback conversation: Supportive, direct, developmental - Conflict resolution: Calm, curious, non-judgmental - Negotiation: Collaborative, firm, professional - Political discussion: Open, respectful, genuinely curious Component 2: INTENT What is your genuine purpose for this conversation? This must be your authentic intent, not a manipulative cover story. Genuine intent includes understanding their perspective fully before sharing yours, finding a solution that works for both parties, repairing a relationship while addressing the issue, setting clear boundaries while maintaining respect, or advocating for your needs without damaging connection. Research from Darden Business School shows that women who approach negotiations with clear, authentic intent focused on mutual benefit achieve better outcomes than those using aggressive tactics. Your genuine intent will show up in your words, tone, and body language. Component 3: OUTCOME What does success look like? Be specific about what needs to be different after this conversation, what specific agreements or commitments you need, what would represent a win-win scenario, and what's your walk-away point. The Power of This Framework: When you explicitly define Tone, Intent, and Outcome before difficult conversations at work, you reduce anxiety through clarity, avoid emotional hijacking by anchoring to your intention, recognize when you're off-track and can self-correct, and can evaluate afterward whether you achieved your goals. Practical Exercise Think about a challenging conversation you need to have this week. Write down your desired tone, authentic intent, and successful outcome. Evaluate whether your intended tone aligns with your authentic intent and whether your desired outcome reflects a win-win possibility. Building Trust Through Tactical Empathy The Paradox of Vulnerability in Leadership One of the most powerful techniques for difficult conversations at work seems counterintuitive: demonstrating vulnerability and acknowledging the other person's perspective even when you completely disagree. The Technique: Emotional Labeling + Paraphrasing This specific formula includes three steps: label the emotion you're observing using phrases like "It looks like..." "It sounds like..." "It feels like...", paraphrase their complete perspective as if the words were coming from their mouth, including their emotional state, concerns, and interpretation, then pause and wait for confirmation or correction. Example Application: "You seem really angry with my behavior in this deal. This is taking a long time, you feel like I haven't really delivered on what I said I was gonna do, you feel as if I'm just taking you for granted and your goodwill for granted here, and actually you probably don't have much trust left in me being able to follow through and completing this on time." Notice what's happening here: demonstrating complete understanding of their perspective without defending, justifying, or explaining, making their emotional experience visible and valid, and waiting for their response before proceeding. Why This Transforms Difficult Conversations at Work You might think they're completely wrong and seeing things from a misguided viewpoint. That doesn't matter at this point. When you accurately reflect someone's perspective, one of two responses occurs: Response A: "Yes! You've hit the nail on the head. That's exactly it." They feel seen and heard, defensive walls come down, and real conversation can begin. Response B: "No, no, no, that's not it. It's actually this..." You're getting better data about what's really going on, moving closer to the real issue. Either way, you're gaining valuable information while the other person feels understood. The Neuroscience Behind This Technique When someone feels genuinely understood, their amygdala (threat detection system) calms down, allowing the prefrontal cortex (rational thinking) to engage. This physiological shift is why tactical empathy in difficult conversations at work literally changes brain function moving bo

Master Tactical Empathy and Emotional Intelligence Techniques That Transform Negotiation Skills for Women Leaders Into Collaborative SuccessDo you avoid difficult conversations at work? Does the word "negotiation" make you uncomfortable? You're not alone. Research from Cornell University reveals that many women would rather go to the dentist than negotiate for themselves—yet negotiation is one of the most critical leadership skills you must master to advance your career.Here's the surprising truth: Women leaders actually possess natural strengths that lead to superior negotiation outcomes. New 2025 research from Columbia Business School shows that women's relational negotiation approaches result in 23% fewer impasses and often achieve better deals than aggressive tactics—especially when alternatives are weak.In this groundbreaking episode of the Women's Leadership Success podcast, I sit down with Scott Walker, who spent 5 years at Scotland Yard supporting families whose loved ones had been kidnapped and helped secure their release. Now a keynote speaker and author of the Sunday Times bestseller "Order Out of Chaos," Scott reveals how the same techniques he used to save lives can transform how women leaders navigate workplace negotiations, difficult conversations, and high-stakes decisions.What Is Negotiation Really? (It's Not What You Think) Negotiation Skills for Women Leaders - Reframing Negotiation as a Conversation With Purpose"Life is one big negotiation," Scott explains. "We're negotiating all day, every day. It's simply a conversation with a purpose—whether you're dealing with kidnappers in a boardroom or with your teenagers who just do not want to do what you want them to do."Most women run from negotiation because they've been taught it's:- Aggressive and confrontational- A sleazy sales tactic- A win-lose battle where someone gets hurt- Incompatible with creating equity in relationshipsBut this outdated view keeps talented women leaders from asking for what they deserve and advocating effectively for their teams.The New Definition of Negotiation for Women Leaders:Negotiation is any conversation where you're looking to:- Influence or persuade others- Bring about cooperation or collaboration- Achieve a specific outcome- Solve a shared problem- Build understanding across different perspectivesWhen you reframe negotiation this way, it becomes less about combat and more about connection—which aligns perfectly with women's documented strengths in relational communication.Why Women's Negotiation Skills Are Actually Superior in Leadership RolesContrary to persistent myths, recent research reveals that women's negotiation approaches often produce better results:Columbia Business School (September 2025): Women negotiators who use relational strategies achieve better outcomes than those using aggressive tactics, particularly when negotiating from positions with weak alternatives. Their approach of "asking for less but receiving more" avoids impasses that derail deals.Darden Business School (2025): Women who secure leadership positions typically use "shaping strategies"—proposing creative solutions that go beyond the immediate scope of negotiation to create value for both parties. This approach generates better long-term outcomes than traditional positional bargaining.Harvard Program on Negotiation (2025): While women still face backlash for negotiating assertively, those who frame their asks around mutual benefit and relationship preservation achieve similar or better outcomes than aggressive negotiators.The bottom line? Your natural inclination toward relationship-building and creative problem-solving isn't a weakness in negotiation—it's a strategic advantage.Scott Walker's Background: From Scotland Yard to Business Boardrooms The Making of a Master NegotiatorScott Walker spent 16 years as a career detective at Scotland Yard, dealing with organized crime and counter-terrorism investigations. But the turning point came when a colleague returned from three days negotiating the release of a kidnapped child from a drug gang."I was drowning in paper cuts from all the crime reports I had to supervise," Scott recalls. "When I heard about what my colleague was doing, I thought, 'I want some of that.'"After completing the rigorous selection process and training, Scott spent five years as a kidnap negotiator:- Receiving calls at 2 AM to race across London- Sitting with terrified families receiving calls from kidnappers- Working with his team to secure hostage releases- Negotiating in life-or-death situations where every word matteredAfter leaving law enforcement, Scott spent another decade doing kidnap negotiation work in the private sector across every industry and continent imaginable.The Universal Negotiation Principles That Apply to Business Leadership and Your Career DevelopmentWhat Scott discovered through thousands of hours negotiating with criminals is that the same principles apply to everyday business situations:?Emotional management is everything – Whether facing a kidnapper or a hostile board member, your ability to manage your own emotions determines your effectiveness?Listening reveals hidden motivations – The presenting demand is rarely the real issue; deep listening uncovers what people truly need? Questions are more powerful than statements – Asking thoughtful questions creates influence; making statements creates resistance? Preparation prevents emotional hijacking – Anticipating obstacles keeps you centered when conversations get difficult? Tactical empathy builds trust – Understanding someone's perspective doesn't mean agreeing with it, but it creates the foundation for influenceThese principles form the core of negotiation skills for women leaders who want to advance without compromising their values or authentic leadership style. The Emotional Hijack: Why Smart Leaders Make Terrible Decisions Understanding Your Brain Under Pressure One of my executive coaching clients faces a recurring challenge: When someone accuses him of something or doesn't listen to him, he gets angry. As you can imagine, this doesn't work well in leadership positions.Scott immediately recognized this pattern: "We can all empathize with that. It's emotional hijack—the amygdala, that tiny part of our brain hardwired to fight or flee. When our hot buttons are pressed, we get hijacked. That's when we say something we later regret or hit send on an email and think, 'Where's the recall button?' But it's too late."Scott's Own Negotiation Disaster (And What He Learned)Even expert negotiators aren't immune to emotional hijacking. Scott shares his humbling experience on his very first kidnapping case:"I nearly had the shortest career as a negotiator. I'm advising this family whose son had been taken hostage, and they're just not listening to me. I'm full of enthusiasm and ego and testosterone—I'm the savior! And I just blew up at them."His supervisor immediately pulled him out of the room with feedback that changed his career: "Scott, your job is not to tell people what to do. Your job is to seek first to understand them and where they're coming from, and then you can look to influence them."  The Behavioral Change Indicators (BCI) MethodScott teaches a practical framework for recognizing when someone—including yourself—is heading toward emotional hijacking:Physical Behavioral Change Indicators:- Facial expressions shifting (jaw clenching, brow furrowing)- Body posture changing (crossing arms, leaning back, leaning forward aggressively)- Breathing patterns altering (rapid, shallow breaths)- Voice characteristics shifting (tone, pitch, volume, speed)- Physical tension increasing (fist clenching, fidgeting)Verbal Behavioral Change Indicators:- Vocabulary changes (suddenly using harsh or absolute language)- Topic shifting (avoiding or obsessing over specific subjects)- Repetition patterns (saying the same thing multiple times)- Question patterns (asking more or fewer questions)- Silence (withdrawing from conversation entirely) The Power of Observation:"If you can spot these behavioral change indicators in yourself or others, you can intervene before the emotional hijack takes over completely," Scott explains. "It's like seeing the train coming down the track—you still have time to step off the rails." Practical Exercise: Building Your Emotional IntelligenceWant to sharpen your ability to read emotions? Scott shares a brilliant practice technique I love recommending to my coaching clients:The Silent TV Exercise:Turn on a TV show or movie with the sound completely offWatch the actors' facial expressions and body languageTry to identify what emotions they're experiencing (angry, jealous, sad, excited)Turn the sound back on to see if you were correctPractice this regularly to build your emotional reading skills"Most people would get it right," Scott notes, "because we're hardwired to negotiate, influence, and persuade. We just need to bring intentionality to it."You can also practice in daily life with lower-stakes situations: "It looks like you're feeling sad right now—is that accurate?" Whether they confirm or correct you, you're building the muscle memory for the high-stakes conversations.The Power of Listening: Moving Beyond the Presenting Issue Why Most Leaders Are Terrible Listeners (And Don't Realize It)"Most of us think we're the world's best listeners," Scott admits with a laugh. "But I'm guilty of just going through the motions sometimes. And I've also been on the receiving end when I know the person in front of me is thinking about a million other things than what I'm actually saying—and it's infuriating."Here's a truth bomb every woman leader needs to hear: You cannot influence someone unless you already know what influences them. Trying to persuade without understanding is the height of arrogance and rarely succeeds long-term. The 5 Levels of Listening FrameworkScott developed thi

From Novice Prompts to Expert Systems: How to Build AI Workflows That Run Your Routine Work While You LeadIn Part 1, we explored the foundational mindset for AI executive productivity—the shift from 80% routine work to 80% creative work. Now, in Part 2, Barry O'Reilly reveals the specific AI executive workflow automation systems that make this transformation real.This isn't theory. These are the exact workflows, prompts, and systems that Barry and leading executives use daily to reclaim their time and amplify their leadership impact.What you'll learn: The weekly business review system that takes 90 seconds instead of 30 minutes. How to audit your work with AI's help. Building your personal prompt library. And why your unlearning rate must exceed your irrelevance rate.The AI Executive Workflow Automation Philosophy: Creative Work + Automated DisciplineBefore diving into specific systems, understand the core principle driving effective AI executive workflow automation: "Every time you can automate routine but disciplined work, you're moving the needle toward having more capacity to do creative problem-solving work. That's where you get the power and real promise of what AI is—people doing the best work of their life." Barry O'Reilly The Work Category FrameworkAI executive workflow automation works by understanding two distinct categories of leadership work:Category 1: Creative Problem-Solving WorkStrategic planning and vision developmentComplex decision-making in ambiguous situationsCoaching team members through challengesInnovation and new product/service designBuilding relationships and influencing stakeholdersPattern recognition across diverse business situationsCategory 2: Routine Disciplined WorkWriting meeting follow-ups and summariesTracking action items and deadlinesSending reminder notificationsCompiling weekly/monthly reportsScheduling and calendar managementData entry and information organizationThe AI Executive Workflow Automation Insight: Humans should do Category 1. Machines should automate Category 2. The problem is most executives spend 80% of their time in Category 2.As Barry explains: "Machines essentially offer this opportunity to automate a lot of that disciplined, repeatable, routine work—like having an auto-scheduler that sends an email 5 days before a task is due. I don't want to think about it, I don't want to send it, but a machine is amazing at making sure it follows up and does that."The Self-Audit: Ask AI to Analyze Your Work EfficiencyThe first AI executive workflow automation you should implement is having AI audit where you're spending your time. This creates objective data about your current state.The Initial Audit PromptCopy this prompt into ChatGPT, Claude, or your preferred LLM: What AI Will Ask YouWhen Barry guides executives through this process, AI typically asks questions like:About Creative Work:"What tasks do you find most creative, interesting, and rewarding? List them all out.""When do you feel most energized during your workday?""What work would you do more of if you had unlimited time?"About Routine Work:"What tasks are time-sinks that feel like necessary evils?""What do you find yourself repeatedly doing that could be standardized?""What work drains your energy without adding strategic value?"About Time Allocation:"What percentage do you spend on creative work versus routine work?""Over the last year, how much time have you spent on these categories?" (You can even connect your calendar)Example: The Business Expenses AutomationBarry provides a concrete example: "Say it identifies you spend 5 hours a week doing your business expenses. Necessary, because your accountant wants those things. The machine could say to you, 'Instead of spending those 5 hours manually capturing expenses each month, why don't you try to automate it like this?'"Potential Solution: Use an app where you photograph receipts as they happen, automatically transcribe them into a spreadsheet, and capture images—transforming 90 minutes of weekly work into 30 seconds.The Key Insight: You can ask the tool itself to help you identify where it can help you. This self-teaching capability is revolutionary.Building Your AI workflow Prompt Library: From Novice to ExpertOne of the most powerful aspects of AI executive workflow automation is building a library of prompts that consistently deliver high-quality results. But your prompts should evolve dramatically as you progress.The Progression of Prompt SophisticationNovice Stage (Months 0-2):Barry's reflection: "If I look at prompts I wrote even 6 months ago, I was basically saying 'formulate me a strategy to take over the world' and I was excited by the response it gave me."Novice prompt characteristics:Extremely broad and vagueNo context providedGeneric asks like "make this better"One-sentence requestsSatisfied with any responseExample novice prompts:"Write an email to my team""Summarize this meeting""Give me marketing ideas"Intermediate Stage (Months 3-6):As you gain experience, you start adding context and specificity.Intermediate prompt characteristics:Include relevant contextSpecify desired formatProvide examples of good/badMulti-paragraph instructionsRefine based on initial outputExample intermediate prompts:"Write a follow-up email to my coaching client based on this transcript. Include: key themes discussed, behavior shifts identified, agreed actions, and prep for next session.""Summarize this leadership team meeting. Focus on: decisions made, who owns each action, deadlines, and any concerns raised."Expert Stage (Months 6+):Barry describes his current approach: "Now I'm able to ask questions like, 'I'm thinking about a very specific niche, in this micro-market, in this sub-segment, in this town, in that village'—the specificity that I'm able to get to, which the machine has forced me to do, because I no longer am satisfied with the initial response."Expert prompt characteristics:Extremely specific and detailedInclude multiple data sourcesRequest multiple perspectivesAsk for disconfirming evidenceIterate through multiple roundsBuild on previous conversationsExample expert prompts:"Analyze these 10 meeting transcripts from Q4 2024. Identify: (1) recurring themes about Project Phoenix, (2) implicit assumptions our leadership team is making, (3) perspectives we might be missing from stakeholders not in these meetings, (4) 3 strategic options ranging from conservative to transformational, (5) risks with each option, (6) 10 hard questions a skeptical board member would ask me."Your Prompt Library StructureCreate a document with categorized prompts for common AI executive workflow automation tasks:Meeting Follow-Up Prompts:One-on-one coaching sessionsTeam meetingsClient/stakeholder meetingsStrategy sessionsWeekly business reviewsAnalysis Prompts:Market research synthesisCompetitive analysisPattern identification across meetingsBlind spot detectionRisk assessmentCommunication Prompts:Email drafting for different audiencesPresentation outline creationExecutive summary generationDifficult conversation preparationStrategic Thinking Prompts:Scenario planningDecision-making frameworksInnovation ideationProblem-solving for complex challengesThe Weekly Business Review: Barry's Signature AI Executive Workflow AutomationThis is the workflow that demonstrates the full power of systematic AI executive workflow automation. Barry uses this every Friday at 3:30 PM.The System OverviewTraditional Approach:Time required: 30+ minutesMental energy: HighOutput: Half-page summaryConsistency: Varies based on energy/memoryData sources: Fragmented notes and memoryAI Executive Workflow Automation Approach:Time required: 90 secondsMental energy: Low (review only)Output: Comprehensive multi-page analysisConsistency: Perfect every timeData sources: Complete transcripts of all meetingsHow to Build Your Weekly Business Review SystemStep 1: Capture All Meeting DataEnsure you have AI copilots recording and transcribing every meeting throughout the week. Barry uses Otter.ai, but Fireflies, Fathom, or Grain work equally well.Step 2: Create Your Master PromptHere's a template based on Barry's approach: Step 3: Establish the RoutineSet a recurring calendar block: Friday 3:30-4:00 PMDownload all week's transcriptsRun the promptReview output for 90 secondsMake any necessary tweaksSend to teamStep 4: Track MetricsBarry tracks several AI executive workflow automation metrics:Completion Metrics:Average time from action creation to closurePercentage of actions completed on timeNumber of actions rolling over week-to-weekEngagement Metrics:Email open rate (are people reading it?)Response rate (are people engaging with it?)Feedback quality (are people finding it valuable?)Efficiency Metrics:Time spent creating the reviewNumber of follow-up questions neededConsistency of deliveryThe Continuous Improvement LoopAs Barry explains: "You start getting all these metrics that help you improve the weekly business review. If only 5% of people are opening it, like a newsletter, you're probably like, 'Well, there's probably something wrong with this content, I need to tweak it a bit.' I can experiment."Week 1: Create and send your first AI-generated reviewWeek 2: Check open rates and ask team for feedbackWeek 3: Refine prompt based on feedbackWeek 4: Add comparative analysis to last weekWeek 5: Track action completion patternsWeek 6+: Continuously optimizeThe Compounding BenefitsWhat starts as time savings compounds into systematic advantages:Perfect Institutional Memory: Never lose track of commitments or decisionsPattern Recognition: Identify systemic issues across multiple meetingsAccountability: Clear ownership and progress trackingCommunication Consistency: Team knows what to expect every FridayLeadership Presence: Freed time enables more coaching and strategic thinkingBarry's reflection:

The Unlearning Framework: Your Foundation for AI Executive Productivity Barry O'Reilly's revolutionary approach to AI productivity starts with an unexpected premise: forget about tools and start with yourself. This unlearning framework is critical because success with executive AI productivity hinges less on the technology itself than on leadership transformation and behavioral change. Step 1: Map Your Personal Productivity Traits Before implementing any AI productivity system, understand how you naturally generate and process information. Essential Self-Assessment Questions: How do I do my best thinking—through conversation, writing, visualization, or movement? When during my day do I generate the most valuable strategic insights? Which repetitive tasks drain my energy without adding leadership value? Where am I losing critical information that should be captured and leveraged? Common Executive Productivity Profiles: Verbal Processors: Thrive in coaching calls, strategy sessions, and team discussions Written Processors: Need documentation, outlines, and structured note-taking Visual Processors: Create diagrams, whiteboard sessions, and visual frameworks Kinesthetic Processors: Walk while thinking, use physical gestures, or need movement Understanding your profile is the foundation of effective AI executive productivity implementation. Step 2: Identify What's Holding Back Your AI Productivity The biggest barriers to AI executive productivity aren't technical—they're behavioral patterns that must be unlearned. Critical Mindset Shifts for Executive AI Productivity: OLD: "Meetings are just for talking" ? NEW: Meetings are data-generation sessions that AI can capture and optimize OLD: "I must remember everything important myself" ? NEW: AI copilots capture every detail with perfect accuracy OLD: "Administrative work is simply part of leadership" ? NEW: Routine work should be automated to maximize strategic impact OLD: "I should be able to handle this workload" ? NEW: Leveraging AI executive productivity is strategic leadership OLD: "Learning AI requires technical expertise" ? NEW: You learn AI productivity by doing, not reading The 3-Level Executive AI  Productivity Framework Level 1: Individual Task Enhancement (Beginner) Foundation: Build confidence with immediate AI productivity wins Quick-Start Applications: Refine email communications for clarity and executive presence Generate comprehensive meeting agendas in minutes Summarize lengthy documents and extract key insights Create first drafts of routine communications Brainstorm solutions when strategically stuck Time Investment: 15-30 minutes weekly Productivity ROI: 1-2 hours saved weekly Confidence Boost: Immediate validation of AI capabilities Level 2: Executive Workflow Transformation (Intermediate) The Meeting Revolution: Where executive AI productivity creates breakthrough results Barry O'Reilly's game-changing approach combines AI copilots (like Otter.ai) with large language models to revolutionize meeting follow-up—the single biggest time drain for executives. The 2-Minute AI Executive Productivity Process: Step 1: Let an AI copilot transcribe your meeting automatically (zero active time) Step 2: Download the transcript immediately after (30 seconds) Step 3: Upload to ChatGPT with your pre-written prompt template (30 seconds) Step 4: Review AI-generated output for alignment with your leadership voice (60 seconds) Step 5: Send perfectly formatted, comprehensive follow-up (30 seconds) Traditional Approach: 20-25 minutes per meeting Executive AI  Productivity Approach: 2-3 minutes per meeting Time Saved per Meeting: 18-22 minutes Calculate Your Personal AI Executive Productivity ROI: Stop Drowning in Routine Tasks, Start Doing the Best Work of Your Life with AI Executive Productivity Tips. Are you spending 80% of your day on routine tasks and only 20% on the creative, strategic work that makes you an exceptional leader? You're not alone—and AI executive productivity can reverse this ratio completely. Research shows executives spend the vast majority of their time on time-sinking administrative work while their highest-value creative problem-solving gets squeezed into the margins. Meanwhile, 92% of companies plan to increase AI investments, yet less than 1% of business leaders have mastered AI productivity deployment—creating an unprecedented opportunity for leaders willing to unlearn old habits. In this exclusive two-part interview with Barry O'Reilly—bestselling author of "Unlearn" and co-founder of an AI venture studio—we reveal the AI executive productivity strategies that transformed his workflow from exhausting to energizing, and how women leaders are uniquely positioned to lead this transformation. The Promise: Spend more time doing creative, strategic, high-impact work. Spend less time on routine administrative tasks. Get your life back. Why Are Most Leaders Still Struggling with Artificial Intelligence? Research reveals a striking productivity gap: while AI improves employee productivity by up to 66%, with business professionals writing 59% more documents per hour using AI tools, most executives haven't captured these gains. Barry O'Reilly's survey of 5,000 CEOs, C-suite executives, and VPs uncovered a startling truth: less than 1% feel proficient with AI productivity tools, while 84% remain in early experimental stages. Yet women leaders show remarkable promise in this space. Despite representing only 11% of Fortune 500 CEOs, women lead 18% of the companies most advanced in AI adoption—signaling that female executives may hold the key to unlocking executive AI  productivity at scale. The Traditional Executive Productivity Trap The Exhausting Reality Most Leaders Face: 10 hours of daily meetings consuming all strategic thinking time 2-3 hours of post-meeting administrative burden Lost information and half-remembered action items scattered across platforms Constant stress from unfinished follow-ups bleeding into personal life Zero time for the creative, high-impact work that drives real value With 43% of senior executives struggling with impostor syndrome, many leaders hesitate to admit they need help navigating AI productivity adoption—creating a vicious cycle of overwhelm. Annual Impact: 156-190 hours saved = nearly one full month of productive work reclaimed. Level 3: Strategic Leadership Enhancement (Advanced) AI as Strategic Partner: The most powerful AI productivity application Research shows that leaders must develop five critical skills for the AI age: cultivating AI fluency, redesigning organizational structures, orchestrating collaborative human-AI decision-making, empowering teams through coaching, and modeling personal experimentation. Advanced AI Executive Productivity Applications: Strategic Scenario Planning: Test business strategies against AI-generated counterarguments Identify dangerous blind spots in your strategic thinking Generate multiple strategic options with comprehensive pros/cons analysis Prepare for high-stakes board presentations Practice difficult stakeholder conversations in a safe environment Develop more resilient decision-making frameworks Example Advanced AI Productivity Prompt: I'm considering [specific strategic initiative]. Based on these conversation transcripts from my past two months of leadership meetings [upload transcripts],  help me enhance my AI executive productivity by: Identifying common patterns and themes in my leadership discussions Surfacing implicit assumptions I may be making that could derail success Generating 3 strategic options ranging from conservative to transformational Acting as a skeptical board member and asking 10 hard questions I must answer Highlighting perspectives from key stakeholders I might be missing Suggesting metrics to track success of this initiative This level of AI executive productivity transforms how you think, not just how you work. The Critical Mindset Shift: Information as Strategic Asset Traditional Executive View: Meetings are ephemeral conversations where valuable insights disappear AI Productivity for Leaders: Meetings are data-generation sessions creating searchable, analyzable institutional knowledge When you embrace this AI executive productivity mindset, you suddenly: Value the capture process during all creative work Build institutional knowledge automatically and systematically Enable pattern recognition across months of leadership conversations Create accountability through accurate, searchable records Reduce cognitive load by externalizing memory to AI systems Make better decisions based on comprehensive historical context Why "Learning by Doing" Is Essential for Productivity Improvements Unlike previous technology transformations, AI executive productivity cannot be learned by reading articles or watching videos. Barry O'Reilly emphasizes this critical point: you must actively use AI to develop productivity. The Revolutionary Learning Characteristic: When you encounter obstacles with AI executive productivity tools, you don't need human trainers—you can ask the AI itself how to improve your usage. This self-teaching capability fundamentally changes professional development. Your 30-Day AI Executive Productivity Challenge: Week 1: Foundation Building Use ChatGPT or Claude for 3 simple executive tasks daily Improve one email for executive presence Summarize one strategic document Brainstorm solutions to one leadership challenge Goal: Build confidence with basic AI executive productivity applications Week 2: Meeting Transformation Select one AI copilot tool (Otter, Fireflies, Fathom, or Grain) ...

Podcast Episode: Women's Leadership Success with Award-Winning Reputation Expert Lida Citroën Your reputation isn't just what people say about you when you leave the room—it's the invisible currency that determines your promotions, your earning potential, and your influence as a leader. For women executives, managers, directors, VPs, and C-Suite leaders, mastering reputation management for women isn't optional. It's essential. In this comprehensive guide from the Women's Leadership Success podcast, host Sabrina Braham, MA, PCC—an expert in executive leadership development and reputation management—interviews award-winning reputation expert Lida Citroën, whose latest book The New Rules of Influence just won the NYC Big Book Award 2025 in the Business Motivational category. Together, they reveal proven strategies to take control of your professional narrative and accelerate your leadership success. Why Reputation Management for Women Matters More Than Ever in 2025 The leadership landscape for women is shifting—but not fast enough. According to recent McKinsey research, women hold just 29% of C-suite positions, and at the current pace, it would take 48 years to achieve true gender parity in senior leadership. With only 9.2% of Fortune 1000 CEOs being women, standing out isn't just about working harder—it's about strategically managing how you're perceived. The stakes are high: 75% of female executives experience imposter syndrome at some point in their careers, yet 82% of women believe networking with female leaders will help them advance. Reputation management for women becomes the bridge between your capabilities and your career opportunities. The Financial Impact of Your Reputation Research shows that companies with female executives are 30% more likely to outperform their competitors. Yet women continue to face unique challenges in reputation management compared to their male counterparts. Your reputation directly impacts: Promotion decisions and leadership opportunities Salary negotiations and earning potential New business development and client relationships Board appointments and speaking engagements Team influence and organizational impact Industry recognition and thought leadership positioning Understanding Reputation Management for Women Leaders What Is Reputation Management for Women? According to Lida Citroën, author of the award-winning book Control the Narrative: The Executive's Guide to Building, Pivoting and Repairing Your Reputation and the newly released The New Rules of Influence (NYC Big Book Award Winner 2025 - Business Motivational), "Everyone has a personal brand, by design or default. Your reputation is one of the most critical determinants of your career success." Lida Citroën In her latest book, Lida explains that influence isn't about titles, rank, or being loud—it's about showing up authentically, communicating your value, and inspiring others to take action. This is the foundation of effective reputation management for women. As podcast host Sabrina Braham, an executive coach and leadership development expert, emphasizes: "Reputation management for women requires intentional strategy. You can't afford to leave your professional reputation to chance when you're navigating unique gender-specific challenges in the workplace." Reputation management for women is the strategic process of: Monitoring how others perceive you professionally Influencing public perception through intentional actions Measuring and tracking your brand effectiveness Repairing damage when reputation challenges arise Building systems that protect and enhance your good name Think of it as the difference between letting popular opinion define you versus strategically driving your reputation toward your leadership goals. The Unique Challenges Women Face in Reputation Management Do Women Have More Difficulty with Reputation Management Than Men? The research is clear: women face distinct barriers in building and maintaining their professional reputations. A 2025 Women in Workplace study found that only 28% of women today recognize microaggressions against other women—comments and actions that undermine their credibility and leadership skills. During the podcast interview, Sabrina Braham and Lida Citroën discuss how reputation management for women requires addressing challenges that male executives rarely encounter: Key challenges for women leaders include: The Double Bind: Being perceived as too aggressive or too soft in leadership Visibility Gaps: Women's contributions are often overlooked or attributed to others The Broken Rung: Women are 41% less likely to be promoted to manager than men Age Discrimination: Many female wellness and business leaders report encountering age bias as they advance Cultural Expectations: Societal norms that encourage women to prioritize others over self-promotion Imposter Syndrome: 75% of female executives battle feelings of inadequacy despite proven success 2025 Trends Shaping Reputation Management for Women AI and reputation management have converged in unprecedented ways. With AI-powered search results, generative AI summaries, and 24/7 social monitoring, your digital footprint matters more than ever. According to recent reputation management research: 92% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations 91.8% of all search queries are long-tail keywords related to specific people and companies AI platforms like ChatGPT, Google's AI Overviews, and Perplexity are now rival storytellers shaping your reputation Real-time monitoring is essential—information spreads faster than ever, especially polarizing opinions Essential Questions Every Woman Leader Must Ask About Her Reputation Before you can strategically manage your reputation, you need honest self-assessment. Sabrina Braham guides her executive coaching clients through these critical questions: Critical Self-Assessment Questions Have you ever done something that negatively impacted your reputation? Everyone makes mistakes. The key is recognizing them early and responding strategically. Do you know what your reputation at work actually is? Not what you hope it is, but what others genuinely say about you when you're not present? Can you articulate your unique value proposition? What makes you distinctly valuable as a leader? Do you know how to repair your reputation if something goes wrong? Or better yet, do you know how to proactively control and build your reputation? Are you leaving your reputation to chance or managing it strategically? Your brand exists whether you actively manage it or not—the question is whether you're in control. Proven Strategies for Reputation Management for Women Step 1: Define Your Leadership Legacy Strategically Start with the end in mind. What do you want people to say about you at your retirement party? When you leave a leadership role? When you're being considered for a board position? Lida Citroën and Sabrina Braham both emphasize that reputation management for women begins with clarity about your desired legacy. Action Items: Write your ideal obituary or legacy statement Identify the three words you want to be known for professionally Define specific career milestones aligned with your reputation goals Create a vision board that represents your leadership aspirations Step 2: Discover Your Current Reputation Baseline You can't improve what you don't measure. Use performance evaluations and strategic conversations to uncover others' honest perceptions of you. How to Gather Authentic Feedback: Review Performance Evaluations Systematically Look for patterns across multiple reviews Identify recurring themes in both positive and constructive feedback Note what's missing—areas where you're not being recognized Conduct Reputation Research Conversations Ask 5-10 trusted colleagues, mentors, and leaders: "What three words would you use to describe my leadership style?" Request specific examples that illustrate their perception Listen without defending—this is data collection, not debate Google Yourself Regularly Search your name monthly to monitor your digital footprint Set up Google Alerts for your name and your company Review your social media presence through the eyes of a recruiter or board member Analyze Your Professional Presence What shows up on the first page of search results? Does your LinkedIn profile reflect your current brand goals? Are your professional photos consistent and current? Step 3: Evaluate Feedback Strategically and Decide What to Act On Not all feedback deserves equal weight. Both Lida Citroën and Sabrina Braham emphasize the importance of evaluating the source, context, and consistency of feedback before taking action. Framework for Evaluating Feedback: Consider the source: Does this person have your best interests at heart? Do they understand your goals? Are they a trusted advisor or a passing critic? Look for patterns: One person's opinion is data. Three people saying the same thing is a trend. Five or more is your reality—whether you like it or not. Assess alignment with your goals: Does this feedback help you move toward your leadership legacy? If someone's perception doesn't serve your goals, can you afford to ignore it? Distinguish between personality and performance: Some feedback attacks who you are; other feedback addresses what you do. One may require boundary-setting; the other may require behavior change. Step 4: Create Your Strategic Reputation Action Plan Your brand is all about emotions. Lida Citroën reminds us that people make decisions based on how you make them feel, not just your resume credentials. Your action plan should address both the rational and emotional aspects of your brand. Sabrina Braham's approach to reputation management for women includes creating a comprehensive action plan that addresses: Components of an Effective Reputation Plan: Your Brand State

Breaking through the barriers that hold you back isn't about changing who you are—it's about changing how you think.What's Really Holding You Back From Leadership Success?The biggest barrier to women's leadership advancement isn't external—it's the fixed mindset that keeps you playing small. Research shows that women hold just 25% of senior leadership positions and face a projected 48-year timeline to reach true parity in executive roles. But here's the game-changer: women leaders who embrace a growth mindset are reshaping their neural pathways and accelerating their path to the C-suite.This question haunts nearly every ambitious woman I meet: "What's really holding me back?" At first glance, it seems obvious—lack of sponsorship, limited opportunities, or not fitting the traditional leadership mold. While these external barriers are real, the most transformative shift happens when we look inward.The truth? Your mindset shapes your reality. The Elizabeth Effect: When Fixed Mindset Becomes Your Career Ceiling Let me share Elizabeth's story—a brilliant, results-driven leader who consistently went above and beyond. Despite her stellar performance, promotions kept slipping away. When she finally asked for feedback, the response was devastating: "You don't have enough executive presence."Sound familiar? Research reveals that executive presence is being redefined in 2025, moving beyond traditional markers like vocal projection to encompass emotional intelligence, adaptability, and authentic leadership.Elizabeth could have accepted this label and remained stuck. Instead, she chose growth. As her executive coach, I helped her identify the specific gaps between her current presence and the executive leadership she aspired to embody. Together, we worked on targeted mindset shifts and executive presence strategies—from reframing her inner dialogue to mastering the art of leading rooms even when she felt uncomfortable.The transformation wasn't just tactical; it was deeply psychological. Within a year of implementing these strategies, Elizabeth wasn't just promoted—she became known as the leader who elevated everyone around her.The turning point? One powerful belief: "I can grow." The Neuroscience Behind Your Leadership Transformation Here's the encouraging truth that every woman leader needs to understand: Your brain is built to adapt. Research from the NeuroLeadership Institute shows that 85% of people can shift from a fixed to growth mindset on a weekly basis when they focus on three key habits: valuing progress, experimenting, and learning from others.Every small choice literally rewires your mind for the future you want. This isn't positive thinking—it's applied neuroscience.Fixed vs. Growth Mindset: The Leadership DifferenceFixed Mindset Says:"This is just how I am""I'm never going to be good at this""I can't make mistakes"Growth Mindset Says:"I'm not there yet, but I can learn""Challenges are opportunities to grow""Mistakes are data for improvement"McKinsey's 2025 research on growth leadership reveals that high-performing companies are led by executives who demonstrate five critical mindsets: prioritizing growth, acting boldly, maintaining customer focus, attracting talent, and executing with rigor.The Ripple Effect: How Your Mindset Transforms EverythingWhen you shift your mindset, the impact cascades through every aspect of your leadership:On Yourself: Confidence Becomes Your Competitive EdgeYour mind shift shapes your confidence. Instead of playing small, you start seizing opportunities that align with your potential.On Your Team: Culture Becomes Your LegacyYou set the tone—is it safe to try and learn, or are people afraid to fail? Google's Project Aristotle confirmed that psychological safety, directly linked to growth mindset leadership, is the foundation of innovative teams.On Your Results: Growth Becomes Your GPSYou determine whether you seize opportunities or stay stuck in familiar territory.Current Landscape: Why Growth Mindset Matters More Than Ever for Women LeadersThe statistics are sobering but not surprising:Only 10.4% of Fortune 500 leadership positions are held by women, despite a record 52 female CEOsWomen's representation in cabinet and executive government positions actually declined in 2025, dropping from 23.3% to 22.9%At the current pace, it would take 22 years for White women to reach parity and 48 years for women of colorBut here's what's changing: 2025 leadership trends show that 78% of senior executives are embracing continuous learning and adaptability as core leadership competencies. The leaders who thrive are those who master the growth mindset. 5 Proven Strategies to Strengthen Your Growth Mindset Reframe Challenges as Learning OpportunitiesInstead of asking "Why is this happening to me?" ask "What can this teach me?" Research shows that leaders who approach setbacks with curiosity rather than defensiveness create psychological safety that drives team innovation.Action Step: Write down your current biggest challenge. Now rewrite it as a learning opportunity. Document Daily Wins and GratitudesStudies show that focusing on progress over perfection literally rewires your brain for growth. Three wins or gratitudes daily create a neural pathway for possibility thinking.Action Step: End each day by noting three specific wins, no matter how small. Curate Your Circle of InfluenceResearch reveals that 82% of women believe networking with female leaders accelerates career advancement. Your environment shapes your mindset—choose people who elevate your thinking.Action Step: Identify three growth-minded leaders you can connect with this month. Replace "I Can't" with "I Can't Yet"This simple word addition activates your brain's learning circuits. Carol Dweck's latest research emphasizes that the word "yet" signals to your brain that growth is possible.Action Step: Catch yourself saying "I can't" and immediately add "yet." Aim for 1% Better Every DayHigh-growth companies focus on continuous improvement rather than dramatic transformations. Small, consistent changes compound into extraordinary results.Action Step: Choose one micro-improvement you can make daily for the next 30 days. Breaking Through: From Fixed to Growth in High-Stakes Situations The Executive Presence Evolution2025 research shows executive presence is being redefinedbeyond traditional markers to include emotional clarity, authentic communication, and the ability to create psychological safety. Growth mindset leaders naturally embody these evolved characteristics.Navigating the Modern Leadership LandscapeToday's top leaders are "agile learners, inclusive visionaries, and tech-savvy innovators" who understand that adaptation isn't optional—it's essential.Your Growth Mindset Action PlanThis Week's Challenge: Notice one area where you've been stuck in a fixed mindset. Apply this simple reframe:Instead of: "I'm not good at [X]"Try: "What would happen if I chose growth instead?"Write this question somewhere visible and ask it daily. Let this be your 1% improvement.Monthly Growth Rituals:Week 1: Identify your fixed mindset triggersWeek 2: Practice strategic vulnerability with your teamWeek 3: Experiment with one new leadership approachWeek 4: Reflect and iterate on what you've learned The Research-Backed Truth About Women and Growth Mindset Recent academic research reveals that growth mindset significantly impacts professional performance, career success, and well-being, with particular benefits for women navigating traditional leadership barriers.Organizations with growth mindset cultures see leaders who "actively seek feedback, encourage collaboration, and are open to new ideas, fostering innovation and adaptability"—exactly the qualities that distinguish exceptional women leaders.Your Future Isn't Shaped by Talent or Tactics—It's Shaped by MindsetElizabeth's breakthrough and countless other success stories prove this truth: Mindset isn't just what you think—it's how you lead.Every single day, you choose the lens through which you view challenges, setbacks, and opportunities. That choice, compounded over time, becomes your leadership legacy.The women who reach the highest levels of leadership aren't necessarily the most talented or well-connected. They're the ones who consistently choose growth over comfort, learning over knowing, and possibility over limitation. Ready to Accelerate Your Women Leadership Development? Your transformation starts with a single decision: choosing growth over fixed thinking. But knowing how to sustain that choice and develop executive presence for women? That requires a strategic approach backed by proven mindset coaching techniques.Download our FREE Leadership Branding Blueprint Accelerator and discover:The 7-step framework top women leaders use to build unshakeable confidenceHow to develop executive presence that commands respect without losing authenticityProven growth mindset strategies for turning setbacks into springboards for advancementA personalized action plan to accelerate your women leadership development in the next 90 daysThe research is clear, the strategies are proven, and the time is now. Your growth mindset for women leaders journey starts with a single click. [DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE LEADERSHIP BRANDING BLUEPRINT ?] Because your future isn't shaped by talent or tactics. It's shaped by the mindset you choose. Every. Single. Day.About the Author: Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC  is a psychotherapist, top executive coach and leadership development 30-year expert who helps ambitious women leaders rewire their mindset for sustainable success.  Her evidence-based approach combines neuroscience research with practical leadership strategies. Follow me in LinkedIn Book a free 45-min Career Breakthrough Session Here

An AI leadership framework that balances innovation with responsibility is essential for 2025 success, as thought leader Faisal Hoque reveals the groundbreaking OPEN and CARE methodology that helps leaders navigate the complex hybrid world of human-AI collaboration. Bottom Line Up Front: Leaders must become multidisciplinary systems thinkers who can manage both human resources and digital agents simultaneously. The most effective AI leadership framework combines opportunity exploration (OPEN) with catastrophic risk prevention (CARE) to create sustainable AI business strategy that serves humanity while driving innovation. From Human Authenticity to Strategic Implementation: Part 2 of Our AI Leadership Series This is Part 2 of our exclusive two-part interview series with bestselling author and thought leader Faisal Hoque. In Part 1: "Women in Leadership AI: Preserving Human Authenticity While Harnessing Technology", we explored what makes us uniquely human, the importance of leadership authenticity, and how to protect your agency while leveraging AI tools. Now, in Part 2, we dive deep into the practical implementation side: How do you actually build an AI leadership framework that works? Faisal reveals his proprietary OPEN and CARE methodology—a systematic approach to AI governance framework that balances innovation with ethical responsibility. The Hybrid World Reality: Why Traditional Leadership No Longer Works The Death of Process-Performance-Structure Leadership The old leadership paradigm is obsolete. As Hoque explains, "When I started my career, we used to think very much about process performance and organizational structure. Those kind of started to fade away. And we started talking about emotional intelligence, mindfulness, and inspiration and influence." But even that evolution isn't enough for our current AI business strategy demands. Today's leaders face an unprecedented challenge: managing hybrid workforces that include both human employees and AI agents. What Hybrid Leadership Actually Means Most people think "hybrid" refers to remote versus office work. That's wrong. In the context of AI leadership framework development, hybrid means something far more complex: Three Types of Hybrid Leadership: Hybrid Markets: Your customers interact with both human representatives and AI agents (like Netflix's algorithm suggesting your next show) Hybrid Workforce: You manage both human resources and digital resources, working together and sometimes replacing each other Hybrid Leadership Decision-Making: As a leader, you're not just saying "Faisal is going to do this and Sabrina is going to do that"—you're also allocating: "My customer agent is going to do this, and my chatbot is going to do that" The New Leadership Requirements Modern leaders must be both emotionally intelligent AND systems thinkers. This used to be the job of IT or technology people, but that's no longer true. In today's AI governance framework, every leader at every level must understand how people and technology coexist. The CARE Framework: Your AI Ethics Framework for Risk Prevention Why Risk Planning Is Critical in AI Governance Framework Most leaders are not prepared for AI's potential negative consequences. They focus entirely on opportunity while ignoring catastrophic scenarios. The CARE framework forces leaders to think preventatively. CARE: The Four-Step Risk Methodology CARE is also an acronym that ensures responsible AI framework implementation: C - Catastrophize Scenarios Identify the most catastrophic outcomes possible from your AI implementation Consider impacts on employees, customers, and society Think beyond immediate business metrics A - Assess Impact Evaluate ripple effects across your ecosystem Consider job displacement consequences Analyze long-term societal implications R - Risk Mitigation Develop guardrails and governance structures Create human oversight mechanisms Build in ethical decision-making checkpoints E - Ethical Guidelines Establish clear principles for AI use Define boundaries for automation Protect human dignity and agency The CARE Framework in Action: Preventing AI Disasters Example: Continuing the Restaurant Scenario Catastrophize: "What if we automate everything and lose all human connection? What if our laid-off workers can't find new jobs? What if customers stop coming because they miss human interaction?" Assess Impact: "If every restaurant automates, who has disposable income to dine out? Are we contributing to societal unemployment?" Risk Mitigation: "Implement AI gradually, retrain staff for higher-value roles, maintain human touchpoints" Ethical Guidelines: "Never fully automate customer-facing roles, always provide human override options, invest automation savings in employee development" The OPEN Framework: Your AI Leadership Framework for Opportunity Exploration Why Most AI Implementations Fail Leaders jump into AI without systematic thinking. They see a shiny new tool, implement it quickly, and wonder why it doesn't transform their business. The OPEN framework solves this by providing a step-by-step process for responsible AI framework development. OPEN: The Four-Step Methodology OPEN is an acronym that guides leaders through comprehensive opportunity assessment: O - Outline Your Purpose Why do you exist as an organization? Who are you trying to serve? What problems are you solving? This isn't just philosophical thinking—it incorporates your business model, technology model, and people model. Every AI business strategy decision must ladder back to your core purpose. P - Philosophical Foundation Integrate ethical considerations from day one Consider long-term societal impact, not just immediate efficiency Align AI implementation with organizational values E - Experiment and Test Pilot AI solutions in controlled environments Measure both quantitative results and qualitative human impact Iterate based on real-world feedback N - Navigate Implementation Scale successful pilots systematically Train teams on human-AI collaboration Continuously monitor and adjust based on outcomes The OPEN Framework in Action: Real-World Application Example: Restaurant Industry Transformation Let's say you run a restaurant and want to implement an AI leadership framework. Using OPEN: Outline Purpose: "We exist to provide social dining experiences that bring people together" Philosophical Foundation: "How does replacing waitstaff with robots align with our purpose of social connection?" Experiment: "Test AI kiosks for ordering while maintaining human servers for interaction" Navigate: "Scale based on customer satisfaction metrics, not just efficiency gains" This systematic approach prevents the common mistake of implementing AI just because you can, without considering whether you should. About Our Expert: Faisal Hoque's Framework Development Faisal Hoque didn't develop the OPEN and CARE frameworks in isolation. As a technology entrepreneur with decades of experience, he's witnessed firsthand how organizations succeed and fail with technology adoption. His bestselling books "Transcend" and "Everything Connects" synthesize insights from philosophy, business strategy, and technology implementation. What makes Hoque's AI leadership framework unique: Combines Eastern and Western philosophical traditions Integrates practical business experience with ethical considerations Provides actionable frameworks rather than abstract principles Focuses on long-term sustainability over short-term gains All proceeds from his books support cancer research, demonstrating his dedication to utilizing knowledge and technology for the greater good. Building Your AI Business Strategy: The Integration Approach Leaders Must Become Multidisciplinary Single-expertise leadership is dead. Successful AI governance framework implementation requires leaders who can think across multiple dimensions: Required Leadership Competencies: Technology Systems Thinking: Understanding how AI agents integrate with existing workflows Human Psychology: Managing the emotional impact of workforce changes Ethical Philosophy: Making principled decisions under uncertainty Business Strategy: Balancing innovation with profitability Risk Management: Preventing catastrophic outcomes The Learning Pathway for AI Leadership Framework Mastery Immediate Steps (Next 30 Days): Accept that you must become multidisciplinary Audit your current AI exposure and usage Organize your leadership team around hybrid thinking Document your organizational purpose clearly Medium-Term Development (Next 90 Days): Implement the OPEN framework for one AI initiative Conduct CARE analysis for your highest-risk AI applications Train your management team on hybrid leadership concepts Establish AI ethics guidelines specific to your industry Long-Term Transformation (Next 12 Months): Build organization-wide AI governance framework Develop internal expertise in both opportunity and risk assessment Create feedback loops for continuous framework improvement Mentor other leaders in responsible AI implementation Preventing the Catastrophic Scenarios: Why CARE Matters The Individual Level: Where It All Starts Ethical AI implementation begins with personal choices. Every leader must examine their own behavior: Daily Ethical Decisions: Should I write this email without understanding what AI generated? Should I share information I haven't personally verified? Should I use AI research I don't understand? Should I implement AI solutions without considering job displacement? The Organizational Level: Systems Thinking Scaling individual ethics requires systematic approaches: ...

Women in leadership AI roles face unprecedented challenges as artificial intelligence transforms the workplace, yet their ability to empathize and act ethically positions them to lead organizations into a future where technology serves humanity rather than replacing it. Bottom Line Up Front: Women in leadership face systemic challenges as jobs traditionally held by women are much more exposed to automation, yet the ability of women to empathize and act ethically makes them ideally placed to lead us into a future where AI benefits all society. The key to thriving as a female leader in 2025 is leveraging AI and leadership strategies that preserve your authentic voice and human-centered approach. The Great Leadership Inflection Point: Why Women Leaders Must Act Now. Women in Leadership AIWe're standing at what thought leader Faisal Hoque calls "one of those inflection points" - similar to when the printing press was developed or we transitioned from horse and buggy to automobiles. This isn't just technological change; it's a fundamental shift that will define the rise and fall of leaders and companies over the next 3, 5, 10, and 30 years.For women in leadership positions - whether you're a manager implementing AI tools, director overseeing technology strategy, VP of innovation, C-suite executive governing AI policy, or founder building AI-powered companies - this moment presents both unprecedented challenges and remarkable opportunities. Jobs traditionally held by women are much more exposed to AI than those traditionally held by men, but paradoxically, women were found to have a 28% higher share of soft, interpersonal skills that help us work well together, such as team leadership, strategic leadership and collaboration.The Hybrid World Reality for Female Leadership DevelopmentAs Hoque explains in his groundbreaking book "Transcend," we've entered a hybrid world where we must live not just with human beings, but with human beings enabled by artificial intelligence, and sometimes with AI itself. This reality demands a new approach to AI and leadership - one that women leaders are uniquely positioned to excel in.What Makes Us Uniquely Human: The Foundation of Leadership AuthenticityThe Complexity Advantage for Women in LeadershipHuman complexity is our superpower. According to Hoque, what makes us human is "our complexity, the complexity of freedom, complexity of purpose, complexity of survival, complexity of how we treat each other." This isn't a bug in human leadership - it's a feature that AI cannot replicate.For women in leadership implementing AI strategies, this complexity often manifests as:Multi-dimensional thinking shaped by navigating workplace bias and systemic barriersEmpathetic problem-solving that considers multiple stakeholder perspectivesAuthentic vulnerability that builds trust and psychological safetyIntuitive decision-making that balances data with human insightThe Leadership Authenticity ImperativeIn a world where AI can now mimic empathy, generate creative content, and even simulate love, leadership authenticity becomes your competitive differentiator. Women leaders at every level are more likely to be concerned about AI's most pressing issues in the workplace, including misinformation perpetuation and introducing bias into talent processes.This heightened awareness of AI's risks positions women in leadership to:Champion ethical AI implementation in their organizationsProtect human dignity in increasingly automated workplacesBuild trust through transparent communication about AI's role and limitationsPreserve company culture that values human connection alongside technological advancementAbout Our Expert: Faisal HoqueFaisal Hoque is a renowned thought leader, best-selling author, and technology entrepreneur who has dedicated his career to exploring the intersection of humanity and technology. As the founder of multiple companies and author of several acclaimed books including "Transcend" and "Everything Connects," Hoque brings decades of experience in helping leaders navigate complex technological transformations.His work has been featured in major publications including Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, and Psychology Today, where he regularly contributes insights on AI ethics, leadership, and organizational transformation. Hoque's unique perspective combines deep technical knowledge with philosophical wisdom, making him one of the most trusted voices on preparing for our AI-enhanced future. All proceeds from his books support cancer research, reflecting his commitment to using technology and knowledge for societal benefit.Strategic Framework: How Women Leaders Can Leverage AI While Preserving Authenticity 1. The Agency Protection Model for Women Leaders AI WorkplaceCore Principle: Use AI to enhance your capabilities without outsourcing your decision-making agency.Practical Applications for Female Leadership Development:Use AI for research and data synthesis, but maintain your original analysis and conclusionsLeverage AI for editing and refinement, but write your own content with your authentic voiceDeploy AI for scheduling and administrative tasks, but preserve face-to-face relationship buildingUtilize AI for market insights, but trust your intuitive understanding of your team and customers2. The Human-First Approach to AI and LeadershipFocus on developing the skills AI cannot replace:Emotional Intelligence at ScaleRead between the lines in team communicationsNavigate complex interpersonal dynamicsBuild psychological safety in hybrid work environmentsFoster innovation through diverse thinkingEthical Decision-Making in Technology ImplementationConsider long-term consequences beyond immediate efficiency gainsBalance stakeholder needs when AI recommends purely data-driven solutionsProtect vulnerable team members from AI-driven biasChampion inclusive practices in technology tool selection and implementationAdaptive Problem-Solving for Modern Women in LeadershipSynthesize information from multiple sources (human and AI) to make nuanced decisionsPivot strategies based on changing human needs and market conditionsCreate solutions that serve both business objectives and human flourishing3. The Augmentation Strategy for Women Leaders AI WorkplaceMake AI your leadership force multiplier, not your replacement:Enhanced CommunicationUse AI to analyze communication patterns and improve team engagementLeverage natural language processing to better understand employee sentimentDeploy AI-powered tools to scale personalized feedback and recognitionStrategic Intelligence for AI and LeadershipCombine AI market analysis with your intuitive understanding of customer needsUse predictive analytics to inform long-term planning while trusting your visionLeverage AI for competitive intelligence while maintaining your unique strategic perspectiveOperational ExcellenceAutomate routine tasks to create more time for human connection and strategic thinkingUse AI to identify operational inefficiencies while preserving team morale and cultureDeploy intelligent systems to support decision-making without replacing human judgmentBuilding Your AI-Resistant Leadership BrandThe Four Pillars of Authentic Women in Leadership in the AI Era Relational Leadership for Female Leadership Development Build deeper human connections as technology becomes more pervasive. Human connection isn't just a "nice to have"—it's the cornerstone of future organizational success for women in leadership.Schedule regular one-on-one meetings that focus on career development and personal growthCreate psychological safety for teams to express concerns about AI implementationFoster cross-functional collaboration that leverages diverse human perspectivesMaintain open-door policies that encourage authentic conversation Values-Driven Decision Making for Leadership Authenticity Ground your leadership in clear ethical principles that guide AI adoption and organizational change.Develop explicit values statements about how your organization will use AICreate decision-making frameworks that prioritize human dignity alongside efficiencyChampion transparency in AI tool selection and deploymentAdvocate for fair and inclusive AI practices across your industry Adaptive Learning for Women Leaders AI WorkplaceContinuous learning is a top priority for job seekers and a key factor in retention. Stay ahead of AI developments while deepening your uniquely human capabilities.Invest in understanding AI capabilities and limitations in your industryDevelop your emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills continuouslyBuild networks with other women in leadership roles navigating AI transformationStay current with research on AI bias and ethical implementation Visionary Thinking for AI and Leadership Use your perspective as a woman leader to envision AI futures that serve all stakeholders.Advocate for diverse teams in AI development and deployment decisionsChampion AI applications that solve real human problems, not just efficiency metricsPush for AI governance that includes women's voices and perspectivesLead conversations about the future of work that prioritize human flourishingCurrent Trends Shaping Female Leadership DevelopmentThe Representation Gap Creates OpportunityWomen occupy a fraction of AI research positions and developer roles, their presence diminishing further up the corporate ladder where key decisions about technology direction are made. This underrepresentation means that women in leadership who step into senior technology roles now can have outsized influence on AI's development and deployment.The Skills Revolution Favors Women in LeadershipLinkedIn predicts the skillsets required for jobs globally will change by as much as 68% by 2030. Many of these will be soft, interpersonal skills that help us work well together - areas where women in leadership already demonstrate strength. This shift toward human-centered skills creates unprecedented

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In this second part of our interview with Kevin Eikenberry, author of "Flexible Leadership," we explore how implementing flexible leadership strategies to navigate complex situations and overcome challenges, drives organizational success. Why Implementing Flexible Leadership Strategies Matters for Women Leaders While understanding the flexible leadership mindset is essential, the real value comes from implementation. For women leaders navigating today's complex business environment, implementing flexible leadership strategies creates a powerful advantage in overcoming traditional barriers. According to recent research from McKinsey, companies with women in executive positions are 30% more likely to outperform their competitors, highlighting the business impact when women leaders successfully implement adaptive approaches. Mastering Leadership Flexors: Key Strategies for Women Leaders At the core of implementing flexible leadership strategies is what Eikenberry calls "flexors" – paired leadership approaches that might initially seem contradictory but are actually complementary dimensions of effective leadership: Results vs. People Focus for Women Leaders Rather than permanently choosing one approach, women leaders who implement flexible leadership strategies consciously shift their emphasis depending on what the situation requires: "This isn't binary," explains Eikenberry. "The right answer is how to lean in the direction of each. During crunch time before a deadline, I might focus more on results, but afterward shift toward supporting my people's needs." Decisive vs. Collaborative Decision-Making Strategies Women leaders can adjust their decision-making approach based on: Urgency of the situation Expertise required for quality decisions Need for buy-in during implementation Development requirements of team members Directive vs. Coaching Communication Strategies Effective women leaders consciously choose their communication approach: When clear direction is needed versus when development is the priority How much structure to provide versus autonomy to encourage When to speak with authority versus when to facilitate dialogue Implementing flexible leadership strategies means consciously selecting the appropriate approach rather than defaulting to habit or personal preference. Click the image to learn more. Practical Implementation Strategies for Women Leaders Women leaders can immediately begin implementing flexible leadership strategies through these practical applications: Context-Based Decision Framework for Women Leaders Assess whether the situation is clear, complicated, complex, or chaotic Consider what specific outcomes are required in this particular context Determine whether to decide independently, seek input, or fully delegate Match your leadership approach to the urgency, complexity, and expertise needed Adaptive Communication Strategies for Women Leaders Develop multiple ways to deliver the same message for different stakeholders Adjust your communication style based on audience and circumstance Know when directness will be more effective than collaboration Create communication approaches that overcome potential gender bias Research shows that 36% of women leaders report being interrupted in meetings, compared to just 15% of men in similar positions. Implementing flexible communication strategies helps women leaders maintain their effectiveness despite these challenges. Strategic Feedback Systems for Women Leaders Women leaders who implement flexible leadership strategies create robust feedback mechanisms: Structure psychological safety for honest communication Ask specific questions rather than general ones ("How could I improve my listening in today's meeting?" versus "How am I doing?") Build trust through consistency between words and actions Recognize that positional power may inhibit candid responses As Eikenberry notes: Implementing Change Leadership Strategies for Women Leaders Flexible leadership strategies are particularly valuable during times of change, an area where women leaders often excel: Reading the Emotional Landscape Women leaders can leverage their typically strong emotional intelligence to: Recognize emotional responses to change initiatives Adjust communication based on observed reactions Address concerns before they become resistance Building Strategic Coalitions Successful implementation of change initiatives requires: Creating networks of relationships to support implementation Developing champions across organizational levels Connecting change initiatives to meaningful purpose Adaptive Implementation Strategies Women leaders implementing flexible leadership strategies: Start with small experiments to gather information Adjust approaches based on real-time feedback Maintain focus on core outcomes while adapting methods According to Deloitte's 2025 Human Capital Trends research, organizations need a new approach to select, plan, and achieve value from their workforce investments. Women leaders who implement flexible strategies are well-positioned to navigate this complexity. https://youtube.com/shorts/9O7GQZMmwXE?feature=share Breaking Implementation Barriers for Women Leaders One of the most powerful insights from Eikenberry involves the distinction between identity and behavior, critical for implementing flexible leadership strategies: "There's a difference between who we are and what we do." When implementing flexible leadership strategies, women leaders should: Avoid rigid identities like "I'm a decisive leader" or "I'm a collaborative leader" Instead adopt the identity of "I'm a flexible leader who implements different strategies" Focus on changing specific behaviors rather than challenging core identity Recognize that flexible leadership isn't inconsistency—it's intentional adaptation This distinction is equally important when coaching team members—focusing on behaviors rather than labeling people. Transforming Flexible Leadership from Concept to Practice To implement flexible leadership strategies effectively, women leaders should: Identify Implementation Triggers Recognize moments when you default to automatic responses Notice situations where your standard approach isn't working Identify contexts where you feel resistance to adapting your approach Create Strategic Implementation Routines Decide specifically what flexible approach you'll implement Develop clear criteria for when to shift between approaches Create reminders to check in with yourself about needed adjustments Practice Deliberate Implementation Try implementing new approaches in low-risk situations first Debrief after each implementation to identify what worked and what didn't Gradually implement more complex flexible leadership strategies Build Implementation Accountability Find accountability partners to help track your implementation progress Schedule regular reflection time to assess your flexibility Seek specific feedback about your implementation effectiveness Reinforce Implementation Mindset Affirm daily: "I implement flexible leadership strategies effectively" Celebrate successful implementations to reinforce the approach Share implementation successes with other women leaders Research from Korn Ferry indicates that adaptability is one of the top five leadership trends for 2025, making implementation of flexible leadership strategies increasingly important for women leaders. Key Implementation Takeaways for Women Leaders Implement situational leadership approaches rather than maintaining a fixed style Practice holding seemingly opposite approaches simultaneously Use emotional responses as signals for when to implement different strategies Remember that leadership is an influence business—focus on implementing approaches that improve your odds of success Build flexible leadership habits by implementing one specific strategy at a time Implementing Team Development Strategies for Women Leaders Women leaders can extend flexible leadership beyond personal practice by implementing team development strategies: Model flexible approaches – Demonstrate adaptability in your own leadership Teach contextual thinking – Help team members understand when different approaches work best Encourage experimentation – Create safe spaces for trying new approaches Reward adaptation – Recognize when team members successfully adjust their approach Build team reflexivity – Develop regular team reflection on what's working and what needs to change Final Thoughts on Implementing Flexible Leadership Strategies Implementing flexible leadership strategies offers women leaders a powerful framework for navigating workplace complexities while remaining authentic. By putting these strategies into practice, women can leverage their natural strengths while adapting to the specific demands of each leadership situation. As Eikenberry concludes: "The leadership landscape is evolving, and flexibility in implementation is no longer optional—it's essential. As you implement these strategies, you'll not only enhance your own effectiveness but also create more inclusive, innovative, and resilient organizations." Thank you for joining us for this two-part series on flexible leadership with Kevin Eikenberry. Be sure to listen to part I of this interview on Flexible Leadership Mindset Strategies. Connect with Kevin at kevineikenberry.com to access his newsletter and additional resources for implementing flexible leadership strategies. Take Your Leadership Implementation to the Next Level! Ready to implement these flexible leadership strategies? Download Sabrina's  FREE Executive Impact Tracker now to start building your personal leadership brand and implementing a more adaptive approach. Click the image to download This comprehensive resource includes practical implementation tools for women leaders navigating difficult conversations, strategies for bui

Discover how developing a flexible leadership mindset can transform your effectiveness as a woman executive. Our exclusive interview with Kevin Eikenberry, author of "Flexible Leadership," reveals powerful strategies for women leaders navigating today's complex business landscape. Why Women Executives Need a Flexible Leadership Mindset In today's rapidly evolving business environment, a flexible leadership mindset isn't just beneficial—it's essential for women executives who want to maximize their impact. According to McKinsey's 2024 Women in the Workplace report, women now hold 29% of C-suite positions, up from just 17% in 2015, yet the path to gender parity in senior leadership still extends decades into the future. For women executives facing unique challenges, developing flexibility in leadership approach provides a powerful advantage. A flexible leadership mindset allows women leaders to navigate complex situations while staying authentic to their core values. Defining the Flexible Leadership Mindset for Women Executives What exactly constitutes a flexible leadership mindset? According to Kevin Eikenberry, it means maintaining consistency in your core values while adapting your approach based on circumstances: "Flexible leadership means being consistent in our what and our why—our principles, values, and purpose—but flexible in our how," explains Eikenberry. "Like a mature tree that's firmly rooted yet bends with the wind, women executives with a flexible leadership mindset maintain their foundation while adapting their approach." The hallmark of this mindset is recognizing when "it depends" is the appropriate answer—and then thoughtfully considering what factors it depends on before determining how to proceed. About Kevin Eikenberry – Flexible Leadership Author Kevin Eikenberry is the author of over 20 books, including his latest, 'Flexible Leadership: Navigating Uncertainty and Leading with Confidence.' As the founder of the Kevin Eikenberry Group, he's advised leaders at organizations worldwide and created transformative leadership programs like the Remarkable Masterclass. The Business Cost of Inflexible Leadership for Women Executives Women executives who lack a flexible leadership mindset often find themselves locked into rigid approaches with statements like "that's just how I lead" or "they'll have to get used to it." This inflexibility creates significant limitations: Forces one approach onto diverse situations requiring different solutions Creates an identity barrier that's difficult to overcome Reduces opportunities for innovation and team development Dramatically lowers the odds of success in complex environments Reinforces potential gender stereotypes rather than transcending them Research indicates that companies with women in leadership positions are 30% more likely to outperform others—suggesting that when women executives leverage flexible approaches, organizations benefit. The Flexible Leadership Framework for Women Executives To help women executives develop a flexible leadership mindset, Eikenberry introduces the Cynefin Framework (pronounced kuh-NEV-in) as a tool for making sense of different leadership situations: 1. Clear Contexts for Women Executives Situations where cause and effect are obvious, best practices exist, and processes are established. Traditional leadership approaches often work well here. 2. Complicated Contexts for Women Executives Scenarios requiring expertise but where systems remain fairly ordered. Women executives benefit from gathering diverse perspectives before making decisions. 3. Complex Contexts for Women Executives The most common leadership environment today—where interconnected factors create unpredictability. Women executives thrive here by testing approaches, learning quickly, and adapting. 4. Chaotic Contexts for Women Executives Rare crisis situations requiring immediate action. Women executives need to act decisively to stabilize the situation before transitioning to more deliberate approaches. Most leadership challenges facing women executives today fall into the "complex" category, where traditional command-and-control approaches prove insufficient. This is precisely where a flexible leadership mindset delivers the greatest value. Developing a Flexible Leadership Mindset as a Woman Executive Building a flexible leadership mindset begins with five crucial elements: 1. Awareness Women executives must recognize that their default approach won't always serve them best. This awareness opens the door to considering alternatives. 2. Intentional Flexibility Deliberately choosing to consider different perspectives and approaches rather than automatically defaulting to familiar patterns. 3. "AND" Thinking Moving beyond either/or binary thinking to embrace multiple truths simultaneously—a skill many women executives naturally possess. 4. Emotional Intelligence Noticing your emotional responses as signals for potential adaptation—another area where women executives often excel. 5. Adaptive Confidence Building trust in your ability to adjust rather than relying solely on certainty—essential for women executives navigating gender bias. The Confidence-Competence Loop for Women Executives Developing a flexible leadership mindset works through what Eikenberry calls the confidence- competence loop: Begin with a base level of confidence in your ability to navigate uncertainty Try new leadership approaches deliberately in various contexts Learn from each experience to build competence in flexible leadership Let growing competence fuel greater confidence as a woman executive Repeat this cycle with increasingly challenging leadership situations This approach is particularly valuable for women executives who may face added scrutiny. According to recent leadership research, 86% of women are encouraged to pursue leadership roles when they see more women in executive positions—highlighting the importance of successful women executives modeling effective leadership approaches. Essential Mindset Shifts for Women Executives The most powerful mindset shift for women executives embracing flexible leadership involves identity: "There's a difference between who we are and what we do." Women executives should avoid rigid identities like "I'm a decisive leader" or "I'm a collaborative leader" and instead embrace "I am a flexible leader" as their core identity. This distinction creates freedom to adapt approaches without challenging your fundamental identity as a leader. It allows women executives to try new approaches without feeling inauthentic or inconsistent. Key Takeaways on Flexible Leadership Mindset for Women Executives Flexible leadership mindset is particularly valuable for women navigating leadership expectations Start by separating your leadership identity from your leadership behaviors Practice intentionally pausing before defaulting to automatic responses Consider context thoroughly before applying solutions Improve your odds of success by matching your approach to the specific situation Affirm to yourself daily: "I am a flexible leader with a growth mindset" According to global leadership research, professional working women identify key skills needed for leadership development as leadership training (57%), confidence building (56%), and decision-making (48%)—all areas that benefit from cultivating a flexible leadership mindset. Thank you for joining us for part I of this 2-part series on flexible leadership with Kevin Eikenberry. Connect with Kevin at kevineikenberry.com to access his newsletter and additional resources for implementing flexible leadership strategies. Coming next: Part 2 of our interview explores practical applications of flexible leadership mindset for women executives, including implementation strategies, overcoming specific challenges, and building lasting leadership habits. Ready to Accelerate Your Executive Leadership Journey? Download our FREE Executive Brand Accelerator Checklist to discover how women executives can leverage a flexible leadership mindset to build a powerful personal brand that opens doors to new opportunities. DOWNLOAD NOW This exclusive resource helps women executives identify their leadership strengths, craft a compelling leadership narrative, and position themselves for advancement opportunities by developing a truly flexible leadership mindset.

In today's hypercompetitive business landscape, reputation management is your most valuable career asset to develop. As Sabrina Braham, founder of Women's Leadership Success, powerfully states: "Your reputation is constantly changing and evolving, and if you are not managing it, somebody else is." Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC - Executive Brand Building Expert For female managers, directors, VPs, C-suite executives, and founders, strategic reputation management isn't optional—it's essential for breaking through the barriers that still exist in corporate leadership. Why Your Leadership Reputation Makes or Breaks Your Career Recent studies show that women leaders who actively manage their professional reputations are: 2.3x more likely to be considered for promotion over equally qualified peers 68% more resilient during organizational restructuring and layoffs 4x more likely to be recruited for prestigious positions and board seats As one executive discovered after implementing Braham's reputation management strategies: "I went from being consistently overlooked to being elected to the VP position I'd been seeking for years." The Reputation Management Trap Most Women Leaders Fall Into Many accomplished women make the same critical mistake: they assume excellent work speaks for itself. Unfortunately, research shows this approach leaves your professional narrative in others' hands. The 3 Most Damaging Reputation Pitfalls: Allowing outdated perceptions to persist Failing to strategically communicate your value Missing opportunities to showcase thought leadership These gaps don't just slow career progression—they can derail it entirely, especially during critical transition points. Strategic Reputation Management: The Leadership Brand Blueprint Approach The Leadership Brand Accelerator Blueprint offers a revolutionary approach to reputation management specifically designed for women leaders. This proven system has helped executives at companies like Google, Daimler, and dozens of Fortune 500 organizations transform their professional trajectories. Transformative Benefits of the Blueprint System: Perception Alignment Eliminate the gap between your capabilities and how decision-makers perceive you. One leader using the system discovered her meeting presence was rated only a "5" when she thought she was performing at a "7" or "8" level—feedback that led to specific improvements and a subsequent promotion. Reputation Resilience Build a reputation strong enough to withstand organizational changes, industry disruption, and career transitions. Leaders using the Blueprint reported 43% greater confidence during challenging periods and received stronger support from key stakeholders. Strategic Visibility Create powerful visibility without self-promotion discomfort. The Blueprint's targeted approach ensures your contributions are recognized by the right people at the right time, using techniques that feel authentic and aligned with your values. Amplified Influence Develop your thought leadership platform both inside and outside your organization. Blueprint users report a 75% increase in being consulted for strategic decisions and a 56% growth in professional network quality. Career Acceleration Most importantly, the Blueprint dramatically shortens the timeline to your next leadership level. While the average executive waits 4.2 years between promotions, Blueprint users report advancing in just 18-24 months. The Quarterly Reputation Audit: Your Leadership Advantage At the core of the Blueprint is a systematic quarterly audit that ensures you're consistently evaluating and refining how you're perceived. Unlike annual reviews or sporadic feedback, this structured approach creates continuous improvement and prevents reputation drift. The Blueprint's Four-Part Reputation Management Framework: Digital Presence Optimization Strategic LinkedIn positioning Content that showcases your expertise Online engagement that builds your community Stakeholder Perception Management The 1-10 scale feedback technique Specific improvement targeting Advocacy building with key decision-makers Communication Impact Maximization Meeting presence elevation Presentation skill enhancement Strategic visibility in high-stakes situations Thought Leadership Development Content creation that positions your expertise Speaking and publishing opportunities Industry influence expansion Real Leaders, Real Results: The Blueprint in Action Case Study: From Repeatedly Overlooked to VP in 10 Months A director with stellar qualifications was consistently passed over for promotion despite his team's excellent performance. Using the Blueprint's feedback framework, he discovered his meeting presence was rated only a "5" when he assumed it was much higher. By implementing the Blueprint's systematic approach: He identified specific behaviors that were undermining his perceived leadership Created targeted micro-improvements that raised his ratings within weeks Built advocacy among key stakeholders Secured his VP promotion in less than a year Case Study: Building a 400,000+ Following and Industry Influence A tech executive used the Blueprint's thought leadership framework to build her reputation beyond her organization. Starting with minimal online presence, she implemented the Blueprint's content strategy to: Develop a consistent posting schedule of high-value insights Create engagement with industry leaders Showcase her unique expertise and perspective The result: nearly 400,000 LinkedIn followers, speaking opportunities at major conferences, and being recognized as a thought leader in her field—all while strengthening her internal reputation at Google. The Leadership Brand Blueprint: What's Inside This comprehensive but action-oriented system includes: Reputation Assessment Tools - Discover exactly how you're currently perceived Strategic Visibility Planner - Identify where and how to increase your impact Feedback Framework Templates - Get honest, actionable insights from colleagues Digital Presence Optimizer - Build your professional brand onlinehttps://www.womensleadershipsuccess.com/leadershipbrandblueprint/ Thought Leadership Roadmap - Position yourself as an industry expert Quarterly Audit System - Track your reputation growth and refinement Your Reputation Management Journey Starts Now The journey from capable leader to recognized executive isn't about changing who you are—it's about ensuring others accurately see your true capabilities. The Leadership Brand Blueprint gives you the system to make that happen. As Braham explains: "None of this is about being phony. It's about being authentically who you are, the wonderful things about you and the imperfections about you." This approach balances authenticity with strategic positioning to ensure your leadership value is visible, recognized, and rewarded. Download Your FREE Leadership Branding Blueprint Accelerator   For a limited time, we're offering the complete Leadership Branding Blueprint Accelerator at no cost to our podcast listeners and blog readers. This breakthrough system—the same one used by executives at companies like Google, Daimler, and other Fortune 500 organizations—will help you: Identify reputation blind spots that may be holding back your career Create your customized visibility strategy for maximum leadership impact Build powerful advocacy among decision-makers Develop your thought leadership platform both inside and outside your organization Accelerate your path to your next leadership level DOWNLOAD NOW: Leadership Brand Blueprint Accelerator Transform your professional reputation from a passive asset to your most powerful career accelerator. PS If you did not hear part I of this 2-part interview on Leadership Branding and Executive Reputation Management, listen to that now About Women's Leadership Success: Founded by executive coach Sabrina Braham, Women's Leadership Success provides coaching, resources, and community for women leaders. Through our podcast, mastermind groups, and coaching programs, we help women develop the skills, strategies, and professional brands needed for leadership advancement.

Welcome to Women's Leadership Success, episode #142 on transforming your executive presence and advancing your career through leadership brand building. In this special podcast, executive leadership coach Sabrina Braham reveals the key strategies from her new Leadership Brand Blueprint Accelerator (see below) that help women leaders unlock their next-level career potential. Why Your Leadership Brand Matters More Than Your Technical Skills For ambitious women in management, director, VP, C-Suite, or founder roles, there's a critical gap that often prevents career advancement despite stellar qualifications. According to recent McKinsey research, while women have made significant progress in leadership representation, they still face unique barriers to advancement – with one key factor being the development of a strong leadership brand. "People can be very, very talented in their jobs, but they get so busy that they forget to pay attention to the things that will actually help their brand, help them deepen relationships, and help them be seen as a leader in their company," explains Sabrina Braham, who has spent 30 years coaching executives in Fortune 50 and Fortune 1000 companies. This leadership blind spot explains why technically brilliant women often get passed over for promotions. The critical differentiator isn't your expertise – it's how others perceive your leadership presence. The Surprising Career Impact of Commitment Tracking The first cornerstone of an influential leadership brand is commitment accountability – a simple practice that transforms how others perceive your reliability and trustworthiness. Why Senior Executives Track Their Commitments In Sabrina's extensive coaching experience with C-suite leaders, she's observed a fascinating pattern: "When I'm coaching a senior Vice President, CEO, CFO, or COO, they're much more likely to be on time, show up, and do the things they said they would do than people at the lower ranks." This insight reveals a critical truth: Tracking and honoring commitments isn't just good practice – it's a distinguishing characteristic of those who reach the highest leadership levels. Real-World Results: How Commitment Tracking Transformed Kathleen's Career Consider the case of Kathleen, a talented leader at a Fortune 50 company who had been there since its founding yet hadn't been promoted to Vice President despite her capabilities. "She was so intent on the goals she had, she forgot to pay attention to the people and what she needed to do for them," Sabrina explains. "As she began to pay attention to what her commitments were, how she was keeping them, and her relationships with other people, she began to improve. Over time, that led to her becoming a Vice President." Why Your Brain Needs a Commitment System When you implement a commitment tracking system, you activate what neuroscientists call the reticular activating system – the part of your brain that filters information based on what you consciously value. "When you start paying attention to the commitments you want to keep, it starts making you more aware of how you can improve, how you can update people, and let them know what's happening. It basically ups your game," Sabrina explains. The 1-10 Scale That Transforms Leadership Effectiveness A key component of Sabrina's Leadership Brand Blueprint is the 1-10 rating scale – a deceptively simple tool that creates remarkable clarity for leadership development. Why the Scale Works When Other Feedback Fails "What we tend to do in meetings and giving feedback is somewhat nebulous," Sabrina notes. "When you use a 1-10 scale, with 1 being the worst job you could be doing and 10 being the most incredible job ever, people are pretty consistent over time with their scores." This consistency means you can accurately track progress while avoiding vague assessments that don't lead to improvement. The 0.5 Improvement Rule Here's where Sabrina's approach becomes truly powerful: "What can you do to raise it a half point?" This question unlocks practical, manageable improvements rather than overwhelming transformations. As Sabrina puts it, "Being successful in life, getting the best results – it's not by big giant leaps. It's by these little tiny movements toward your goal." One executive client initially rated himself as "doing great" at keeping commitments, but when pressed to provide a number from 1-10, he admitted he was a 6. This honest self-assessment immediately revealed specific improvement areas. The Monthly Stakeholder Assessment: Your Career Advancement Secret Weapon The second pillar of Sabrina's Leadership Brand Blueprint focuses on strategic relationship management through a monthly stakeholder assessment. Identifying Your Career-Critical Relationships "Figure out who are the 10 people in your company that most influence your work or what's happening in your department or section," Sabrina advises. "Then, how good of a relationship do you have with each one of those people?" "Surprisingly, most leaders have never systematically evaluated these crucial relationships. This blind spot represents both risk and opportunity." From Relationship Deficit to Career Ally: A Vice President's Story One of Sabrina's clients, a Vice President, faced a challenging relationship with her new Senior VP. "She felt like this guy didn't like her, and rated their relationship a 3," Sabrina recalls. The solution was disarmingly simple but required courage: The VP stopped by her boss's office with coffee and directly addressed the issue: "I don't feel like you and I have a very good relationship." His response? "You know, I was thinking the same thing." This single conversation transformed their dynamic. By simply acknowledging the relationship gap and suggesting a small improvement (coffee twice a week for five minutes), they went from a relationship score of 2 to becoming trusted allies at an 8 or 9 level. Breaking Through Relationship Barriers When you identify a low-scoring relationship with a key stakeholder, Sabrina recommends several approaches: Direct conversation: Schedule a meeting and express your desire to improve the relationship Provide value: Share information or resources that would benefit them Leverage allies: "If you're not sure how to break through the firewall, figure out who's connected to them and who has close relationships with them," Sabrina suggests Remember that relationship improvements don't happen in a single interaction – consistency and genuine interest create lasting change. The Red Flag That Could Save Your Career Sometimes, the stakeholder assessment reveals a more fundamental issue: you may be in an environment where advancement is unlikely regardless of your efforts. If you consistently score all key stakeholders as low despite improvement attempts, this might be what Sabrina calls a "revelation red flag" – an indicator that your talents might be better utilized in a different department or company. Research-Backed Leadership Development Trends Recent studies from Harvard Business Review highlight that emotional intelligence and relationship management skills are becoming increasingly valued in leadership positions, with 92% of executives reporting that strong interpersonal skills are now equally or more important than technical expertise. Additionally, McKinsey's Women in the Workplace 2024 research shows that women who actively manage their leadership brand and stakeholder relationships advance 1.8 times faster than those who focus solely on technical performance. How to Implement the Leadership Brand Blueprint Framework Start Small for Big Results "Just know that you can develop your soft skills. You can get better at the way you treat your team, the people that you work for, and connecting with them," Sabrina encourages. "Life can be more fun, it can be happier. You can do this." Her approach emphasizes gradual, consistent progress: "Yard by yard, life is hard. Inch by inch, life's a cinch." Focus on These Action Steps: Create your commitment tracking system using the free Blueprint checklist Identify your top 10 stakeholders and rate your relationships honestly Select one relationship to improve by 0.5 points this month Schedule a weekly review to measure your progress Celebrate incremental improvements rather than pursuing perfection Ready to Transform Your Leadership Brand? The Leadership Brand Blueprint Accelerator is available as a free download for Women's Leadership Success listeners and readers. This PDF tool will help you implement these strategies immediately with clear templates and guidance. Get Your Free Leadership Brand Blueprint Ready to accelerate your leadership brand development? Download your free Leadership Brand Blueprint Accelerator now by visiting womensleadershipsuccess.com/leadershipbrandblueprint For deeper support, Sabrina offers one-on-one executive coaching and leadership mastermind groups designed specifically for leaders ready to advance their careers through strategic brand development. Connect with Sabrina Braham on LinkedIn by searching "Sabrina Braham Executive Leadership Coach" for ongoing leadership insights and strategies. What leadership brand challenges are you facing?  Share your experience in the comments below, and don't forget to download your free Leadership Brand Blueprint Accelerator today!

Award-winning executive coach Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC reveals game-changing career advancement strategies for women in management. Learn proven techniques to build influence, master executive branding, and accelerate your path to senior leadership. Featuring real case studies with 300-1000% ROI on leadership investment. Plus access to a free Executive Leadership Brand Accelerator Blueprint.

As senior leaders, it's critical that we proactively address disability inclusion in our organizations. People with disabilities make up over 25% of the population - and that number is even higher among younger demographics. By creating more accessible, disability-friendly workplaces, we can unlock a wealth of talent and perspectives that will give our companies a competitive edge. However, building true inclusive disability leadership goes beyond just checking boxes for legal compliance or basic accommodations. To truly empower employees with disabilities, we need a holistic shift in mindset and culture - led from the top down. In a powerful interview, disability inclusion expert Stephanie Cawthon shared key insights and actionable strategies that senior leaders can implement. Dr. Stephanie Cawthon Inclusive Disability Expert Dr. Stephanie Cawton is an internationally renowned scholar whose work centers on a powerful premise: when we embrace accessibility, we create environments where disabled people can truly thrive. As a tenured Professor of Educational Psychology at The University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Cawton has secured over $50 million in federal and other research grants for her groundbreaking work. In 2023, she founded the National Disability Center for Student Success at UT Austin, further advancing her mission to transform educational opportunities for disabled students. Her expertise is deeply informed by personal experience. Born with hearing loss and living with several mental health and physical disabilities that significantly impact her daily life, which brings both professional insight and lived understanding to her roles as researcher, author, and consultant. Here Are The Top Takeaways on Inclusive Disability Workplaces: 1. Accessibility is a Shared Responsibility Accessibility isn't just about individual accommodations - it's about designing environments, communications, and processes that work for everyone. This includes providing materials in advance, using technology like captioning and alt text, and being mindful of ableist language.  Accessibility is not a to-do list. It's a to-be list. Who are you? Who do you want to be? How do you interact with your people? How do you interact in the community with others? How do you demonstrate that disabilities are okay, that they're valued, and that that it's just a part of the human experience." The responsibility falls on all of us - not just the employee with a disability. As leaders, we must model inclusive behaviors and create a culture where accessibility is simply the norm.   2. Shift Mindsets, Not Just Checklists Many organizations treat disability inclusion as a box to check, rather than a foundational part of their culture. But true inclusive disability leadership requires a mindset shift - moving away from ableist assumptions and toward an appreciation of the unique talents and perspectives that people with disabilities bring. "Often, if you feel that vibe that someone's going to look down on you or patronize you, you're not going to disclose. And thus, you Yack that connection with the people in that space because you don't feel like you can disclose." As leaders, we must be transparent about valuing disability, provide structured learning opportunities, and lead by example through our language and behaviors. It's not enough to simply have the right policies in place - we must foster a culture where disability is seen as a normal part of the human experience. 3. Empower Employees to Self-Advocate While it's our responsibility as leaders to build an inclusive environment, we must also empower employees with disabilities to advocate for their own needs. This starts with creating safe spaces for open communication and providing clear guidance on available resources and accommodations. "It's both the disabled person knowing what they need and articulating that well, but then also everyone else, realizing that part of that is on them. And how can everyone support the goal of accessibility?" By striking this balance, we can ensure that all employees feel seen, heard, and empowered to bring their full selves to work - driving innovation, collaboration, and bottom-line results. This is balanced Inclusive disability leadership Building a More Inclusive Future Disability inclusion and inclusive disability leadership are not just the right things to do - they're strategic imperatives for organizations that want to stay competitive in today's rapidly evolving landscape. As senior leaders, we have a responsibility to lead the charge, shift mindsets, enhance communication, and create a culture where all employees can thrive. The time to act is now. By implementing the strategies outlined here, we can unlock a wellspring of untapped talent, drive superior business outcomes, and build a more equitable, just world for all. Book Your Complimentary Leadership & Career Advancement Session with Sabrina Braham If you’re ready to elevate your leadership skills, supercharge your career, and boost your income beyond your expectations, it’s time to schedule your complimentary Leadership & Career Development Session with me. I’ve worked with over 250 managers, directors, VPs, and C-Suite leaders, and their success stories speak for themselves (see my 41 LinkedIn client recommendations here). As a seasoned executive coach specializing in leadership and career development, I understand women leaders’ unique challenges, including confidence, compelling storytelling, and navigating the complexities of corporate politics. My mission is to empower professionals like you to master the art of successful leadership, unlock your full capability, and achieve career advancement at a pace you never thought possible. With my guidance, many clients have seen their promotions happen three times faster, accompanied by a significant increase in their income ranging from 20% to 50% or more. During our complimentary session, I’ll share three proven strategies to bolster your impact, boost your confidence, and set you apart from the competition. These strategies will advance your career and accelerate your income growth. Let’s explore how I can tailor my expertise to your unique needs. Even if we determine it’s not the perfect fit, you’ll leave our session with actionable ideas to position yourself as the obvious choice for your next promotion. Are you open to a quick call to discuss your career aspirations and how I can help you achieve them? Book Your Complimentary Leadership and Career Development Session on My Calendar Here.   Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC Where Are You Not Realizing Your Leadership Potential? Discover in only 4 minutes the five top things that may be stopping you from advancing your leadership and career. Answer 21 quick & easy questions and you will receive your score immediately and specific recommendations on your low-scoring areas to jump-start your career. 

In today's dynamic business environment, leadership confidence development is essential for guiding teams and driving organizational success. However, confidence alone is not enough to lead effectively—leaders must also build authentic trust with their teams. Trust and confidence are inseparable when fostering productive work environments and ensuring long-term success. In this part II Women’s Leadership Success podcast interview with Lida Citroën, we will explore practical strategies for developing leadership confidence and building authentic leadership trust. Lida Citroën: Mastering the Art of Leadership Influence Lida Citroën is a personal branding and reputation management expert who helps executives, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders worldwide shape their public image and seize ideal opportunities. With a track record of guiding thousands of individuals across 30+ countries, Lida offers a transformative approach to personal positioning.   As a dynamic keynote speaker, Lida has captivated audiences through her TEDx Talk and Talks at Google. She also serves as a faculty member at the Institute for Management Studies, delivering impactful seminars across the U.S.   An award-winning author of seven books, Lida recently released The New Rules of Influence: How to Authentically Build Trust, Drive Change, and Make an Impact, offering fresh insights on building influence with authenticity.   https://youtu.be/9BloWnsJCRw?si=ChRaTephWOVU0Hug Leadership Confidence Development: Why It Matters Leadership confidence is the foundation of effective decision-making and influence. Leaders who display confidence are better equipped to inspire others, make strategic decisions, and handle challenges with resilience. However, confidence doesn’t just emerge overnight; it is built through intentional practices. 1. Self-awareness and Emotional Intelligence Self-awareness is key to understanding one’s strengths and growth areas, directly impacting leadership confidence. Leaders who invest in emotional intelligence training can more easily navigate complex team dynamics, boosting their self-confidence. By developing a deeper understanding of one's emotions, one can regulate them and respond to situations with clarity and calm. 2. Continual Learning and Growth Leaders who actively seek to develop new skills and stay up to date with industry trends exude more confidence. By continuously challenging yourself through learning and development opportunities, you stay prepared for changing circumstances, reinforcing your leadership capabilities. 3. Mentorship and Feedback One of the best ways to grow as a leader is to seek mentorship and actively request feedback from peers and team members. By receiving constructive input and applying it, leaders can build confidence in their leadership style while improving performance. This two-way communication also helps build stronger relationships and mutual trust.   Building Authentic Leadership Trust While confidence is critical, building authentic leadership trust sustains long-term success. Trust makes teams follow your lead, invest in your vision, and commit to achieving collective goals. But trust cannot be forced; it must be earned. Consistency in Actions and Words To build trust, leaders must align their actions with their words. Consistency in decision-making, behavior, and communication ensures that team members know what to expect from you. This creates a sense of reliability, which is fundamental to establishing trust.   Transparency and Open Communication Honesty and transparency foster trust within teams. Leaders who are open about their goals, challenges, and expectations build stronger connections with their teams. This authentic communication shows that you value your employees' input and are committed to their growth and the organization’s success.   Empathy and Active Listening Building authentic leadership trust requires empathy. Leaders who take the time to actively listen to their team members' concerns, ideas, and feedback demonstrate genuine care. This personal connection encourages team members to trust their leaders and engage more in the organization’s mission. Connecting Confidence and Trust To be a truly effective leader, confidence and trust must be present. Confidence without trust can come across as arrogance, while trust without confidence may lead to indecision and lack of direction. Leaders who embody both traits inspire loyalty, drive results, and create work environments where innovation and collaboration thrive. Focusing on leadership confidence development and strategies to build authentic leadership trust can transform your leadership approach and create stronger, more connected teams. This combination of traits will not only help you grow as a leader but also foster a more positive, high-performing workplace culture. Final Thoughts on Leadership Confidence and Trust Building Developing leadership confidence and building authentic leadership trust are essential components of effective leadership. By cultivating self-awareness, being consistent in your actions, and prioritizing open communication and empathy, you will lay the foundation for long-term leadership success. Leadership is a journey of growth, and investing in these qualities will ensure you become a trusted, confident leader who can navigate challenges and inspire others.Be sure to check out Part I of my discussion with Lida Citroen on Mastering Executive Influence: Unlocking Leadership Success | WLS 138   Unlock Your Leadership Confidence & Impact Find Out Your Leadership Score Today Are you ready to enhance your leadership skills for more influence, confidence, and impact? Take our Leadership & Career Development Quiz to uncover your strengths and growth areas. Answer 21 Quick & Easy Questions in 4 minutes. Discover your leadership and influence score immediately. Get proven leadership and career development tips from Sabrina.  

In the rapidly evolving business world, executive leaders face the challenge of leading their teams and influencing key stakeholders. The most effective leaders aren't just decision-makers; they are influencers. But what does it take to master executive influence techniques? This powerful part I interview delves into the art of mastering executive influence. Executive influence goes beyond authority. It’s about persuasion, connection, and the ability to guide others toward a shared vision. Whether managing up to your board of directors or collaborating with cross-functional teams, mastering these techniques can be a game-changer.Join me Sabrina Braham MA MFT and Lida Citroën as we explore how you can develop your executive influence and impact and advance your career. Lida Citroën: The New Rules of Mastering Executive Influence Lida Citroën (@LIDA360) is a personal branding and reputation management authority who helps global executives, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders manage their perceptions and drive toward ideal opportunities. She has helped thousands of individuals in more than 30 countries gain a fresh perspective on positioning themselves for success.   As a professional keynote speaker and presenter, Lida's popular TEDx Talk, Talks at Google presentation, and numerous courses on LinkedIn Learning showcase her empowering coaching style and message. She is also a faculty member for the Institute for Management Studies, presenting seminars throughout the United States. Lida has authored seven award-winning books, and her most recent book, The New Rules of Influence: How to authentically build trust, drive change, and make an impact, just launched. How to Inspire Action and Lead With Authenticity as an Influential Executive Leader Today, we explore how the most influential leaders build trust, communicate strategically, and--- leverage emotional intelligence to inspire action and lead with authenticity.  1. Empathy and Emotional Intelligence Understanding your team's emotions and motivations is crucial. Empathy enables you to tailor your approach, ensuring your message resonates with each individual's unique perspectives. Executive leaders who demonstrate high emotional intelligence not only influence but also foster loyalty and collaboration within their organizations. 2. Strategic Leadership Communication  Master communicators understand that timing, tone, and clarity are everything. Executive influence relies on conveying a clear and compelling message that aligns with your audience's interests. Being concise and transparent helps build trust while leaving little room for misunderstanding. 3. Building Trust and Credibility  Influence without trust is ineffective. As an executive leader, consistently demonstrating competence, integrity, and reliability builds a strong foundation for influence. When people trust your judgment and respect your values, they are more likely to follow your lead. 4. Leveraging Social Capital - Building Strategic Relationships Your network is your net worth in the executive space. Building strategic relationships across departments and industries enhances your influence. When others recognize your ability to connect people and ideas, your ability to influence outcomes grows. 5. Adaptive Leadership  Executive leaders need to be flexible and adaptive. An essential influence technique is understanding when to lead, listen, and empower others to take the reins. Adaptability shows you are responsive to change, an invaluable trait in today's fast-paced business environment. You can lead with authority and authenticity by mastering executive influence techniques and driving personal and organizational success. Conclusion - Mastering Executive Influence Builds Trust and Leadership Success Influence is the key to effective executive leadership. By focusing on emotional intelligence, strategic communication, and building trust, leaders can enhance their influence and lead their organizations to new heights. Unlock Your Leadership Influence Potential Find Out Your Leadership Score Today Answer 21 quick questions in 4 minutes Discover your leadership and influence score immediately. Get proven leadership and career development tips from Sabrina. Are you ready to enhance your leadership skills to have more influence, confidence and impact? Take our Leadership & Career Development Quiz now to uncover your natural strengths and areas for growth.

Did you know that microaggressions in the workplace, often subtle and unintentional, can cost the U.S. workforce $450 to $550 billion in lost productivity yearly, according to Gallup? These small, seemingly insignificant actions or comments can have significant negative impacts on individuals and organizations, leading to lost productivity, low morale, and claims of a hostile work environment. The Impact of Microaggressions on the Workplace Implementing effective **Microaggressions Workplace Strategies** is crucial for mitigating these behaviors' adverse effects on individuals and organizations. Here are some key impacts to consider: Lost Productivity: Microaggressions can accumulate over time, decreasing employee engagement and productivity. When employees feel undervalued or discriminated against, their motivation and performance suffer, ultimately affecting the organization's bottom line. Low Morale: Repeated microaggressions create a toxic work environment where employees feel uncomfortable, isolated, or marginalized. This environment can result in high turnover rates as employees seek healthier, more inclusive workplaces. Claims of a Hostile Work Environment: While microaggressions may seem minor in isolation, they can contribute to a pattern of behavior that creates a hostile work environment. Over time, these incidents can become the basis for employment discrimination lawsuits, leading to financial and reputational damage. These impacts underline the importance of developing and implementing **Microaggressions Workplace Strategies** to foster a more inclusive and productive work environment.

This month, we revisited the inspiring journey of Patricia Walsh, a Paralympic gold medalist and accomplished tech engineer who has overcome significant challenges and achieved remarkable success. Patricia's story is a testament to the power of resilience, focus, and determination. Here are the key leadership takeaways from my conversation with Patricia, optimized to help you build natural leadership strengths. Embracing Challenges to Foster Resilience Patricia faced the profound challenge of becoming blind at the age of 14. Instead of letting her disability define her, she embraced it as part of her identity and pushed herself to achieve what many thought was impossible. This relentless pursuit of excellence has been a hallmark of her journey. Key Takeaway: Striving for excellence means embracing challenges and using them as stepping stones to reach your full potential. This mindset is crucial for anyone looking to build natural leadership strengths. Overcoming Adversity & Power Beyond Limiting Beliefs Patricia's journey is filled with instances of overcoming adversity. From completing over 20 marathons and two Ironman competitions to transitioning from a role at Facebook to a senior engineering manager position at the Lego Group, Patricia has continuously pushed the boundaries of what is possible. Key Takeaway: Overcoming adversity requires resilience, determination, and the courage to push beyond limiting beliefs. These qualities are essential for developing natural leadership strengths. Building Natural Leadership Strengths in Tech and Beyond Patricia has held significant roles in the tech industry, including her recent position at the Lego Group, where she oversaw several departments. Her leadership extends beyond managing teams; it involves creating an inclusive and supportive environment that values everyone's contributions. Key Takeaway: Effective leadership is more than just overseeing tasks; it's about fostering an environment where everyone can thrive and contribute their best. This approach is vital to build natural leadership strengths in any setting. Achieving the Impossible Patricia's sports and professional achievements highlight her ability to achieve what many thought was impossible. She holds the world record in the Ironman Triathlon and has represented Team USA as a five-time national champion and seven-time international gold medalist. Key Takeaway: Setting and achieving ambitious goals can inspire others and demonstrate that determination can make the impossible possible. This ambition is a core component of natural leadership strengths. Focusing on Leadership Strengths and Talents A significant piece of advice Patricia shares, which resonates with my coaching philosophy, is to: "focus on your strengths and talents rather than weaknesses or handicaps." This mindset has been pivotal in Patricia's success both in her athletic and professional endeavors. Key Takeaway: To have the best life and career possible, focus on leveraging your strengths and talents instead of dwelling on your limitations. This focus is fundamental to build natural leadership strengths. The Importance of Asking for and Offering Help Patricia shared insights about the importance of knowing when to ask for help and not making assumptions about others' needs. She emphasized the value of clear communication and respecting personal autonomy, which is crucial in personal and professional interactions. Sabrina's Insight: "Effective support involves asking how to help and respecting the autonomy and preferences of others." This understanding is essential for anyone aiming to build natural leadership strengths. Authenticity in Leadership Values Being authentic to oneself is another critical lesson from Patricia's journey. Despite the competitive environments she has been part of, Patricia remains committed to her values of fairness and kindness. Key Takeaway: Authentic leadership involves staying true to your values and balancing competitiveness and compassion. Authenticity is crucial in developing natural leadership strengths. Reflection on Apologies and Relationships Patricia also highlighted the importance of meaningful apologies in building and maintaining relationships. She shared how a coach at Dow Jones taught her the value of acknowledging when she could have done something differently. Sabrina's Insight: "I've learned to apologize not just when I'm wrong, but when I see that the other person's feelings are hurt. This practice helps in building trust and openness, which are crucial for strong leadership."       Conclusion: How to Build Your Natural Leadership Strengths  Patricia Walsh's story is a powerful example of how focusing on strengths, embracing challenges, and staying authentic can lead to extraordinary achievements. As leaders, these lessons remind us of the importance of resilience, determination, and the impact we can have by fostering an inclusive and supportive environment. Join us in celebrating Patricia's achievements and let her journey inspire you to strive for excellence, overcome adversity, and build natural leadership strengths. PS Check out Patricia's original Women's Leadership Success podcast interview on: Overcoming Limiting Beliefs: Leadership Tips to Overcome Adversity Unlock Your Leadership Potential Find Out Your Leadership Score Today Answer 21 quick questions in 4 minutes Discover your leadership success score immediately. Get proven leadership and career development tips. Are you ready to enhance your leadership skills? Take our Leadership & Career Development Quiz now to uncover your natural strengths and areas for growth.

Patricia Walsh’s journey in overcoming limiting beliefs is a remarkable tale of overcoming adversity and the relentless pursuit of excellence. Born with a gradually worsening vision impairment, she faced significant challenges from a young age. Despite these hurdles, Patricia refused to let her disability define her. Instead, she embraced it as a unique aspect of her identity, pushing herself to achieve what many consider impossible. Patricia’s leadership tips are a great story of grit, personal accountability, granite willpower, and a determination to conquer overwhelming odds. Overcoming limiting beliefs is critical to achieving success and realizing one's full potential. Patricia Walsh's inspiring journey offers you valuable insights into how to break free from these constraints and achieve greatness. Podcast interview is full of key leadership lessons and takeaways from her story.

Today, let's talk about self-leadership strategies. Do you or someone you know have these leadership issues? How often do you make decisions based on incomplete or biased information? Have you ever considered that your words and actions might be causing misunderstandings, confusion, or even conflict within your team? Are you perceived as out of touch or insensitive to people's needs and concerns? Not sure what leadership soft skill areas you need to improve? (find out below) If so, meet Richard. He graduated from an Ivy League school with many awards and patents. Richard was known for his brilliance, innovation, and ability to accomplish things, so he was on a fast track to promotion. However, Richard was about to face a challenge he had never seen coming. The Challenge Richard's boss informed him that his team was unhappy with him, perceiving him as cold and insensitive to their needs and concerns. The team was not functioning well, with a lot of conflict, and Richard was identified as part of the problem. At first, Richard was angry, believing the team had the problem, not him. He didn't understand how his behavior contributed to the team's tensions until he saw the results of a 360-degree feedback report completed by his team, peers, and boss. The report revealed that his words and actions were causing misunderstandings, confusion, and conflict. Additionally, they felt he was out of touch with or insensitive to their needs and concerns. Richard's Realization and Transformation Richard's story is not unique; many executive leaders face similar issues. Do you, or someone you know, face these challenges? This is a promotion killer! According to a 2023 report by McKinsey and Company, which surveyed 2,500 leaders, only 25% are engaged, passionate, and inspiring. People desire leaders who build respect and consider the ethical consequences of their decisions. They want leaders who inspire and develop others. Harvard Business Review found that while 95% of people believe they are self-aware, tests showed only 10% are truly self-aware. Consequences of Low Self-Awareness A leader with low self-awareness can face numerous challenges that significantly impact their effectiveness and the organization's overall health: 1. Ineffective Communication: Leaders may not realize how their actions affect others, leading to misunderstandings, confusion, and conflict within the team. 2. Limited Personal and Professional Growth: This prevents leaders from recognizing areas where they need to improve. 3. Poor Conflict Resolution: Without understanding their role in conflicts or how their behavior contributes to tensions, leaders struggle to manage and resolve issues, leading to a toxic work environment. 4. Diminished Credibility and Trust: Employees and stakeholders are less likely to trust and respect leaders who lack self-awareness, viewing them as inconsistent, hypocritical, or disconnected, which erodes credibility and authority. Self-Leadership Strategies for Building Self-Awareness How Do You Score? Find Out Below Self-awareness means understanding how we affect those around us, developing a transparent view of our strengths and shortcomings, and recognizing and controlling our emotional responses. Here are some Self-Leadership Strategies to help build self-awareness: 1. Seeking Feedback: Actively schedule meetings to seek feedback from peers, subordinates, and mentors. Ask them to rate you in different areas. Consistent effort and sincerity will engage your team in supporting your improvement.2. Reflection Time: Set aside time in the morning and at the end of the day to reflect on your feelings and the team's needs.3. Increased Accessibility: Hold open office hours and organize informal coffee chats with team members. This effort improves relationships, facilitates better information flow, and enhances collaboration within the team.4. Celebrating Achievements: Recognize and celebrate team achievements regularly. Set reminders to acknowledge individual and team successes, boosting motivation and fostering a stronger sense of community within the team. Why is it Essential to Develop Self-Leadership Strategies? The core of good leadership is self-leadership. With a clear understanding of your own emotions, you can recognize the feelings of others and build a strong connection with your team. Implementing Self-Leadership Strategies ensures personal and professional growth, making you a more effective and respected leader. Richard's Self-Leadership Journey As Richard's executive coach, I recommended Self-Leadership Strategies to build his self-awareness and improve his relationship with his team: Seeking Feedback: Richard actively scheduled meetings to seek feedback from peers, subordinates, and mentors. He asked them to rate him 1-10 in different areas. Initially skeptical, the team eventually supported his improvement as they saw his sincerity and consistent efforts. Reflection Time: Richard set aside time in the morning and at the end of the day to reflect on his feelings and the team's needs. Increased Accessibility: Previously criticized for being inaccessible, Richard started holding open office hours and organizing informal coffee chats with team members. This effort improved relationships, facilitated better information flow, and enhanced collaboration within the team. Celebrating Achievements: Richard realized he had a blind spot in recognizing and celebrating team achievements. He set reminders to acknowledge individual and team successes regularly, boosting motivation and fostering a stronger sense of community within the team. Self-Leadership Strategies for Impact, Influence, and Happiness. Leadership Success Podcast #134   Leadership Mindset + Communication Skills + Emotional Intelligence Growth = Career & Life Turnaround A year later, with coaching and feedback from his peers and team, plus his consistent improvements, Richard is now seen as a great leader whom people are excited to learn from and proud to work for. When Richard got promoted, his team and leadership enthusiastically supported him. He also mentored his successor, helping them become a better leader, resulting in a more functional and profitable team than ever. Incorporating these Self-Leadership Strategies into your journey promises profound personal and professional growth. By sharpening your sensory awareness and empowering your emotional regulation, you equip yourself with invaluable tools for navigating life's complexities with clarity, grace, and authenticity. And you'll have more fun! Unlock Your Leadership Potential Find Out Your Leadership Score Today Answer 21 quick questions in 3 minutes Discover your leadership success score immediately. Get proven leadership and career development tips. Are you ready to take your leadership skills to the next level? Take our Leadership & Career Development self-assessment now to uncover your strengths and areas for growth!

Welcome to the Women's Leadership Success Podcast episode number 133, where we celebrate and empower women (and men) to have more influence, impact, and success in their leadership and careers. Join me as I interview three-time cancer survivor Lee Rhodes, who founded Glassy Baby in her garage, and grew it to a $30 million-dollar-a-year company. She gives over $1 million a year to charities. In 2011, Lee was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Entrepreneur Magazine, the first woman to receive the honor. Today, we dive into Lee's journey from her spark of inspiration to growing a thriving business dedicated to compassion and staying true to one’s purpose. Discover how Lee built her confidence, overcame challenges and why she believes in the power of social entrepreneurship, especially for women. Tune in for valuable advice on embracing self-care and driving success. Whether you have dreamed of starting your own business or want to learn how to overcome obstacles and build your confidence, join us today for a very inspiring story. And be sure to tune in to the end of the show for a gift from me, my new Leadership and Career Advancement Scorecard to help you elevate your leadership skills and have more impact.

Welcome to the Road to Leadership Success, a resource for people who want effective leadership productivity strategies to learn faster and accomplish more. I'm Sabrina Braham, your Leadership coach. As your coach, I'm constantly looking for shortcuts to help you succeed in your life and career. If you take 10 minutes to listen to these simple and easy mind hacks, I will share, it could double your productivity. In this episode, I am going to give you two leadership essential tips: How to overcome procrastination, distractions, and interruptions. A scientifically proven method to increase your productivity and innovation. How often do you find yourself procrastinating on tasks or projects? How do interruptions impact your productivity daily? Are you feeling swamped by your tasks? Do you need help to keep up despite your efforts? Well, you're not alone. According to new research conducted in the US by Zippia, the average employee is productive for 2 hours and 53 minutes daily. That’s only 31% of the average 8-hour workday. Most employees feel unproductive because they spend the majority of their workday distracted. Atlassian has discovered that the average employee is interrupted from work around 56 times a day and spends 2 hours recovering from these distractions. How long do you think it takes to recover from a single distraction? According to the research, Refocusing after a distraction takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds. Do you have something you want to do or know you need to do but can’t figure out how to fit it into your schedule or avoid being distracted? Or Your challenge is that you are procrastinating. How much more could you get done if you weren't procrastinating, weren't interrupted, and could you stay focused?  A lot, right? Are you ready to move your productivity AND career to the next level? I've got a proven strategy for you that will enable you to seize opportunities without procrastination, interruptions, or lack of focus. The good news is that I will give you my “Improved Pomodoro Technique” today. This is a proven method for increasing focus, productivity, and creativity. Top Tech Leader Struggles With Productivity & Being Overwhelmed But first, let me tell you a story about Ava, a director in a large company who came to me for executive coaching. She was working long hours and was overwhelmed by all her projects. She was very talented, and one of her coaching goals was to increase exposure to senior management to build a brand and enhance her career. Her senior VP had been brainstorming with her to develop a new product. The meetings were exciting and productive.    Then, they took an unexpected turn. In the last month,  Brad, the director of another department, had begun collaborating with the senior VP on the same project. Now, he was talking to Brad and not to her. Her question to me was: “How can I get the senior VP  to speak and brainstorm with me again? She wanted to know how. Could you continue to provide input on the project and be instrumental in preventing errors?  When I asked her why he should talk to her instead of the other director, she said, “Oh no, he needs to speak to both of us. The other director knows some important information, but I understand the algorithms, and unless they consider them, there will be errors in this project.” I asked what kept her from giving the Senior VP this information. She paused and said, "I'm swamped with less critical projects, which unfortunately prevents me from conducting the necessary research to stay updated on the information required by the Senior VPs for this new product." She looked surprised by her answer. She was startled to discover that she had missed an opportunity because she had filled her schedule with less urgent projects, lacked the time required for necessary research, and had, therefore, missed an opportunity. Brand Development and Effective Leadership Productivity Strategies Ava was overworked and too busy to take the actions that would change her brand, help her gain recognition, and bring the company greater profits with new products. Initially, she recognized the necessity of axing unimportant projects to save time for this crucial new product. Then, she delegated some tasks to her team or other departments. Additionally, she acknowledged the need to decline less significant projects and allocate more time to researching this new product. She was able to carve out four hours for this essential research later that week, and she started using my proven productivity method, which I will share in a minute. The following week, she went to the senior vice president and the director of the other department and shared her vital research information, which was crucial to this project’s success. They realized they had almost launched a new product with fatal flaws that needed to be revised. These flaws would have cost the company many customers, time, and money. They saw the value in having Ava included weekly in their meetings. Ava’s leadership brand, influence, and impact increased significantly in the eyes of senior leadership. The Pomodoro Technique: A Leadership Time Management Strategy Here is the technique I coached Ava on that highly productive people use and will help you, too. This is one of my favorite techniques to improve focus and productivity. The Pomodoro Technique is a time management and effective leadership productivity strategy invented by Francesco Cirillo. (Che re llo) Cirillo named it after a tomato-shaped timer he used in college to keep himself on track as he studied. (Pomodoro means tomato in Italian.) The idea is to increase productivity by dividing your workday into highly focused chunks separated by short breaks. So here is my revised and improved Pomodoro Technique Start with these four things: Take time daily to reflect on the three most important things. See what you can delete or delegate. Put time on your calendar to do the project. Schedule a specific 2-hour block to accomplish a chunk of a large project or goal. Now let me give you more details about how to do it. Effective Leadership Productivity Strategies The Six-Step Pomodoro Technique The only equipment you'll need is  A TIMER. Many people find that a physical timer works best for them, OR you can use your COMPUTER OR  mobile PHONE. If you use the phone, put it on the airplane till you are done. Identify a task or task or goal that you need to complete. Outline the rough draft in the order you want to do it in Set a timer for 25 minutes. Work on a task with no distractions. Remove distractions. Shut off the phone or put it in another room. Turn off Slack, or put a note up on your office door. Re-schedule distractions. Stay focused no matter what When the alarm sounds, take a 5-minute Re-fresh break. This is important: No social media or email. Taking breaks and engaging in activities that refresh your mind and body can boost productivity and overall well-being. It's all about finding that balance between focused work and rejuvenating breaks. Whether it's a short walk outside, a quick stretching session, or simply spending time with a pet, incorporating these activities into your routine can make a big difference in how you feel and your performance throughout the day. Repeat the process three more times. After Three 25-minute sessions, take a more extended 30-minute break and start again. Now, this can be revised: You could do 1 hour and then a 10-minute break There is an exception If you are in a flow state, KEEP GOING. Try these effective leadership productivity strategies for 30 days. You will be amazed by how focused and productive you will be. Please Let me know how this worked for you. How Do You Measure Up In These 5 Key Areas of Top Leaders?  My new 3-minute confidential Executive Leadership & Career Development Potential evaluation, based on 30 years of coaching top executives and the traits of top leaders, reveals your strengths and growth opportunities in Leadership Mindset, Communication Skills, Emotional Intelligence, Influence, and Political Savvy. Enhance Your Leadership Abilities Take it today: https://sabrina-braham-leadership-assessment-1.scoreapp.com    Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC PS  Please connect with me on LinkedIn

Championing Gender Equality: Insights from Two Women Leaders In today's competitive business landscape, women, especially women of color, often face unique challenges on their path to develop leadership influence. Drawing from profound discussions, we delve into actionable strategies for breaking through barriers and nurturing influential leadership.   Overcoming Biases and Building Leadership Influence Join us for an insightful continuation of our interview with renowned author Shelmina Abji. Discover how to combat biases in the corporate world and leverage influence and persuasion within your organization to propel your career forward.   Shelmina Babai Abji: A Trailblazer in Leadership and Gender Equality Shelmina Babai Abji, a former IBM VP and esteemed author, is a vocal advocate for gender equality in leadership. Rising from humble beginnings in Tanzania, she shattered barriers to become one of IBM's highest-ranking women of color. With a track record of delivering over $1 billion in annual revenues, she now inspires and mentors women globally while serving on the advisory board of Girl Up. Armed with computer science and mathematics degrees, Shelmina's expertise is sought after worldwide.   Shelmina Babai AbjiTEDx speaker | Former IBM Vice President | Angel Investor | Author of Show Your Worth Overcoming Internal and External Challenges to Develop Leadership Influence (1:42) Many women face internal barriers from a lack of representation in leadership roles, leading to self-doubt and fear of failure. Additionally, biases from senior leaders can hinder opportunities for advancement. However, recognizing and confronting these challenges is the first step towards overcoming them and learning how to develop leadership influence.   Proactive Relationship Building: Nurturing Connections for Leadership Growth (3:16) Waiting for recognition isn't enough. You must proactively engage with supervisors and stakeholders, showcase your value, and initiate conversations about your achievements. Taking the lead in these interactions ensures that your contributions are acknowledged and valued, nurturing connections for leadership growth and influence.   Advocating for Yourself: Asserting Your Value in the Workplace (4:57) Acknowledging your accomplishments isn't boasting; it's necessary for career advancement. During performance reviews, confidently share your achievements to ensure they're recognized and appreciated. Don't hesitate to advocate for yourself and your contributions; this is vital in asserting your value and fostering leadership growth and influence.   Embracing Growth and Learning: Steppingstones to Leadership Development (7:00) Failure isn't the end; it's an opportunity for growth. Stepping outside your comfort zone and taking on challenges, even if you encounter setbacks, contributes to your long-term development. Embrace these experiences as valuable learning opportunities to enhance your leadership development influence, skills and impact   Tools for Impact: Strategies for Leadership Development Influence (8:23) Adopting an adventurous mindset in tackling challenges is crucial for growth. Stepping outside your comfort zone builds competence and confidence, essential qualities for effective leadership. Explore intentional growth strategies and embrace opportunities for learning and development to foster leadership growth and influence.   Personal Testimony and Empowerment: Inspiring Others to Lead (10:45) Personal stories of resilience and perseverance are potent reminders of our potential for growth and success. By sharing our experiences and insights, we empower others to unlock their leadership potential and overcome obstacles in their path, thus inspiring others to lead and develop their influence.   The Power of Mentorship: Guiding Paths to Leadership Excellence (11:23) Mentorship plays a significant role in career development. Finding the right mentors and sponsors can accelerate your growth and provide invaluable guidance and support. Seek out mentors who can offer insights and advice tailored to your specific goals and aspirations, guiding paths to leadership development, influence, and excellence.   Balancing Work and Personal Life: Harmonizing Priorities for Success (17:12) Achieving a balance between work and personal life is essential for overall well-being and success. Prioritize self-care and set boundaries to ensure you excel professionally and personally. Remember that taking care of yourself enables you to be your best self in all aspects of your life, harmonizing your priorities for success and enhancing your leadership influence.   Creating a Personal Success Plan: Mapping Strategies for Leadership Development Influence (24:26) A personal success plan serves as a roadmap for achieving your goals. Identify your long-term objectives and break them down into actionable steps. Align your daily actions with your strategic priorities to ensure steady progress toward your goals, thereby mapping strategies for leadership development and influence. Listen to Part I Here:  How to Overcome Leadership Self Doubt: A Tech Engineers Story to Inspire Inclusion   A Call to Action for Inclusive Leadership As we celebrate Women's History Month, let us reflect on our progress and the work still ahead. By confronting challenges head-on, advocating for ourselves, and supporting one another, we can create a more inclusive and empowering environment where all individuals can thrive, succeed in their leadership journeys, and develop leadership influence. Develop Leadership Influence & Impact: Action for Traction Listening to a podcast or reading a book is a good start. But the way you will change and grow yourself is to take a small action every time you have an aha from what you have heard or read. Remember, your unique and authentic personal attributes will be your differentiator. Here are three possible actions you might consider: 1:  How would I rate my communication skills on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the best? 2:  What are my top 10 best personal attributes contributing to my success? 3: Ten years from now, how do I want to be remembered by the people who work for me now? “As you intentionally develop yourself. You'll improve your ability to create value, and you will begin to be noticed for the value you are creating,”   Shelima Abji, Show Your Worth   Book Your Complimentary Leadership & Career Advancement Session with Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC If you’re ready to develop Leadership Influence, elevate your leadership, supercharge your career, and boost your income beyond your expectations, it’s time to schedule your complimentary Leadership and career Development Session with me. I’ve worked with over 300 managers, directors, VPs, and C-Suite leaders, and their success stories speak for themselves (see my 41 LinkedIn client recommendations here) Check out this executive coaching client video recommendations on coaching with Sabrina As a seasoned executive coach specializing in leadership and career development, I understand women leaders’ unique challenges, including confidence, compelling storytelling, and navigating the complexities of corporate politics. My mission is to empower professionals like you to master the art of successful leadership, unlock your full capability, and achieve career advancement at a pace you never thought possible. With my guidance, many clients have seen their promotions happen three times faster, accompanied by a significant increase in their income ranging from 20% to 50% or more. During our complimentary session, I’ll share three proven strategies to bolster your impact, boost your confidence, and set you apart from the competition. These strategies will advance your career and accelerate your income growth. Let’s explore how I can tailor my expertise to your unique needs. Even if we determine it’s not the perfect fit, you’ll leave our session with actionable ideas to position yourself as the obvious choice for your next promotion. Are you open to a quick call to discuss your career aspirations and how I can help you achieve them? Book Your Complimentary Leadership and Career Development Session on My Calendar Here. Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC

How did a woman of color who grew up in poverty in Tanzania overcome leadership self-doubt and go on to become a tech leader and Vice President at IBM, even though she was a single mother and battled imposter syndrome? A Women's Leadership Success Podcast interview with Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC.

Are you ready to embark on a journey of personal and professional growth? Welcome to "ROAD TO Leadership SUCCESS," a transformative podcast series curated by Women's Leadership Success and presented by the seasoned coach and mentor, Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC. In this special episode, we're diving deep into the essence of executive leadership confidence development, delivering bite-sized episodes packed with actionable tips and insights to propel your career and life forward. What to Expect: In each power-packed episode, Sabrina draws upon over 30 years of executive coaching, research, and psychology expertise. With a commitment to lifelong learning and a wealth of knowledge gleaned from fifteen years of podcast interviews with thought leaders, Sabrina distills key leadership principles into digestible nuggets of wisdom. Whether you're a junior manager or a seasoned CEO, these episodes are tailored to empower leaders at every stage of their journey. Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC Why Tune In:Are you yearning to overcome self-doubt and unlock your full potential? "ROAD TO Leadership SUCCESS" is dedicated to helping you shatter limiting beliefs and adopt proven strategies that have propelled countless leaders to success. With Sabrina as your guide, you'll discover how to navigate the challenges of leadership with confidence, resilience, and clarity. When to Listen:Twice a month, carve out 10-15 minutes from your schedule to tune in to our bite-sized episodes. These episodes complement our regular in-depth interviews with top thought leaders and authors, providing a holistic approach to executive leadership confidence development. In This Episode:In our inaugural episode, Sabrina shares three transformative tips to cultivate and advance your confidence as a leader. But before we delve into those, let's meet Melinda, a director at a Fortune 500 company who grappled with self-doubt despite her professional success. Melinda's Story:Melinda was well-liked by her team and management, but beneath her poised exterior, she battled a relentless lack of confidence. Despite her accomplishments, she felt she wasn't living up to her potential, both personally and professionally. Sleepless nights and a sense of overwhelm plagued her as she struggled to balance work and family life. It wasn't until she sought guidance from Sabrina that she realized the root cause of her self-doubt: an internal critic echoing the voice of her past. Through Sabrina's coaching, Melinda learned to distinguish between her inner critic and her inner coach, paving the way for newfound confidence and clarity. 3 Key Takeaways from Melinda's Journey: Recognize and silence your inner critic. Quiet the critical voice in your head and take control of the narrative you tell yourself. Replace self-doubt with self-confidence by visualizing yourself succeeding and thriving in various scenarios. Explore how adopting a confident mindset changes your actions and interactions with others. Embrace a growth mindset to navigate setbacks with resilience. Adopt a growth mindset, recognizing that failure is not personal or terminal. Instead, view setbacks as opportunities for learning and improvement. Challenge the fixed mindset narrative of "I am a loser" or "I am a failure" with the belief that you can grow, adapt, and continuously improve. Practice emotional control to project confidence in every interaction. Develop the ability to regulate your emotions and mood. Experiment with techniques to shift from a negative to a positive mindset, even in challenging situations. Remember that you have the power to master your emotions and cultivate a sense of inner calm and confidence. Incorporate Kaizen Philosophy: Embrace the Japanese philosophy of Kaizen, which emphasizes continuous improvement through minor adjustments and consistent effort. Remember that even small, incremental changes can lead to significant growth over time. Conclusion: By implementing these three tips and embracing the philosophy of Kaizen, you can actively develop and advance your confidence starting today. Remember, confidence is not a fixed trait but a skill that can be cultivated through practice and perseverance. Begin your journey to greater self-assurance and leadership success now. What YOU as a listener can do Thanks for listening today. We sincerely hope it gets you thinking and helps. Let me know what you think. Do you like this new additional format?  What topics do YOU want? Please comment on the show notes in WLS Connect with me on LinkedIn, and send me a private message Share our podcast with friends and associates who would benefit from these targeted leadership topics Please Subscribe and Let me and your peers know what you did to take action on this topic via your comments and accolades in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podchaser, Castbox, and Amazon Audible.

Leadership career negotiation skills are essential for a thriving leadership career. Welcome to the Women's Leadership Success podcast #128, your go-to resource for learning crucial negotiation skills. In part one of this special two-part series, we explored the foundational tools of a master negotiator. In part two, we will guide you on applying these skills to navigate negotiations between departments, advance your career, a salary raise, or even land a better job in a new company. Mark Rafffan: Leadership Career Negotiation Skills Women's Leadership Success Podcast 128 Key Points Negotiation Skills for Leadership & Career Development Negotiating Between Departments for a Successful Leadership Career: Mark emphasizes that negotiation isn't just external; it's equally crucial internally. Learn how to strategically position your department strategically, showcasing the unique value it brings compared to others. Gain insights into preparing for internal negotiations and gaining a competitive edge, laying the foundation for a successful leadership career. Building Influence and Credibility in Leadership Career Negotiations: Uncover the secrets to enhancing your influence within the organization. Mark delves into the difference between positional power and absolute power, emphasizing the importance of understanding who holds influence and how to leverage it effectively for a thriving leadership career. Persuasion vs. Manipulation in Leadership Career Negotiations: Mark distinguishes between persuasion and manipulation, underlining the importance of positive intent in negotiation. Gain insights into how influence plays a crucial role in projecting persuasion publicly, ensuring authenticity in your leadership career negotiations. Steps to Persuade a Counterparty in Leadership Career Negotiations: Explore the three essential steps to persuade a counterparty successfully. Mark highlights the significance of emotional appeal, credibility, and ethical considerations in negotiation, crucial elements for a successful leadership career. Negotiating Salary for Leadership Career Advancement: For those navigating salary negotiations, Mark provides valuable advice. Understand the importance of clarity in your asks, realistic expectations relative to the market, and the art of asking for more while remaining grounded—a crucial aspect of advancing your leadership career. The Power of Taking Time in Leadership Career Negotiations: Learn the effectiveness of saying, "Can I get back to you?" in negotiations. Mark highlights how taking time to think through decisions can lead to more favorable outcomes, a powerful strategy for advancing your leadership career. Leadership & Career Negotiation Skills - Action for Traction Be sure to listen to part I on Executive Leadership Negotiation Skills with Mark Raffan and me for a better foundation for these negotiation strategies. Elevate your negotiation skills and empower your leadership and career impact today! Book Your Complimentary Leadership & Career Advancement Session with Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC Executive Leadership Coach If you’re ready to elevate your leadership and negotiation skills, supercharge your career, and boost your income beyond your expectations, it’s time to schedule your complimentary Leadership & Career Development Session with me. I’ve worked with over 250 managers, directors, VPs, and C-Suite leaders, and their success stories speak for themselves (see my 41 LinkedIn client recommendations here). As a seasoned executive coach specializing in leadership and career development, I understand women leaders’ unique challenges, including confidence, compelling storytelling, and navigating the complexities of corporate politics. My mission is to empower professionals like you to master the art of successful leadership, unlock your full capability, and achieve career advancement at a pace you never thought possible. With my guidance, many clients have seen their promotions happen three times faster, accompanied by a significant increase in their income ranging from 20% to 50% or more. During our complimentary session, I’ll share three proven strategies to bolster your impact, boost your confidence, and set you apart from the competition. These strategies will advance your career and accelerate your income growth. Let’s explore how I can tailor my expertise to your unique needs. Even if we determine it’s not the perfect fit, you’ll leave our session with actionable ideas to position yourself as the obvious choice for your next promotion. Are you open to a quick call to discuss your career aspirations and how I can help you achieve them? Book Your Complimentary Leadership and Career Development Session on My Calendar Here. Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC

Executive Leadership Negotiation Skills - Part I of II There are many situations in life where you need to negotiate. It could be asking for a raise, a job offer, selling or buying property, or a sales contract. If you want to be successful in those endeavors you need to learn the art of negotiating. In this podcast episode, you will discover the art of negotiation mindset, strategic planning, and practical tips for enhancing your influence. In part two of the show coming soon, we delve into leveraging these negotiation skills so you know how to negotiate between departments, increase your influence and persuasion, and negotiate your salary for a new, better job.  The Negotiation Mindset  Unlock the power of negotiation by adopting a mindset of curiosity and active listening. Join us as Mark Raffan, a negotiation teacher, emphasizes the importance of viewing negotiation as an exploration rather than a confrontation. Learn why introverts often make the best negotiators and discover the transformative impact of asking compelling questions.   Executive Leadership Negotiation Skills Expert  Mark Rafffan is an award-winning negotiation trainer, renowned speaker, and the author of "9 Secrets to Win Deals and Influence Stakeholders." Mark's journey into negotiation expertise began in a family of entrepreneurs, where he discovered his passion for selling, negotiating, and managing conflict. With a corporate sales and procurement background across diverse industries, Mark's entrepreneurial spirit led him to establish the Negotiations Ninja blog, podcast, and training company. Born out of a desire to evangelize effective negotiation practices, the platform quickly gained global recognition, drawing readers and listeners worldwide. In part I and part II of this leadership podcast interview, Mark and Sabrina will help you confidently elevate your executive leadership negotiation skills.    Avoiding Common Leadership Negotiation Mistakes  Navigate the pitfalls of negotiation by addressing the single biggest mistake – lack of planning. Mark Raffan dismantles the myth perpetuated by the media that negotiation is an innate trait rather than a learned skill. Gain valuable insights into the counterintuitive concept of planning concessions and understanding what you're willing to give up for a successful negotiation.   Negotiation Strategic Planning and Concessions  In this episode, we delve into the complexities of strategic planning in negotiations. Understand a deal's economic and emotional drivers and learn how to unravel the other party's motivations. Mark Raffan and Sabrina Braham, MA MFT PCC, share practical advice on breaking aspirational goals into success drivers, paving the way for a mutually beneficial deal. How to Influence Decision-Makers  Learn the art of influencing decision-makers by identifying major and minor influencers. Discover the significance of understanding industry intricacies and the emotional drivers behind decisions. Gain practical insights into asking the right questions to unveil key influencers and shape successful negotiation strategies.   Debunking Win-Win Negotiation and Practical Insights  Mark challenges Sabrina on the traditional notion of "win-win" in negotiations. Find out why Mark Raffan sheds light on the fallacy of expecting equal value distribution and advocates for a more realistic approach. Tune in for controversial yet eye-opening perspectives on negotiation dynamics and discover actionable insights to elevate your executive leadership negotiation skills.   Your Leadership Negotiation Success Key Takeaways    Embrace Curiosity: Cultivate a negotiation mindset centered around curiosity and active listening to uncover hidden opportunities and build meaningful connections.   Strategic Planning: Break down aspirational goals into actionable success drivers, understanding a deal's economic and emotional drivers.   Plan Your Concessions: Counterintuitively, plan what you're willing to concede in advance, acknowledging that concessions are crucial to successful negotiations.   Identify Decision-Makers and Influencers: Understand the decision-makers and significant and minor influencers, asking strategic questions to reveal key players and motivations.   Industry and Emotional Intelligence: Develop a comprehensive understanding of industry intricacies and emotional drivers behind decisions to tailor your negotiation approach effectively.   Debunk Win-Win Myths: Challenge the traditional notion of "win-win," recognizing the complexity of negotiations and the impossibility of equal value distribution.   Transparent Communication: Strive for transparent communication within reasonable bounds, realizing that complete transparency is often impractical.   Permission-Based Influence: Seek permission-based influence by involving decision-makers and influencers in the conversation, fostering a sense of authority and collaboration.   Continuous Learning: Approach negotiations as a learned skill, consistently refining your approach based on experiences, insights, and feedback from each negotiation scenario. Executive Leadership Negotiation Skills - Action for Traction: Listening to a podcast or reading a book is a good start. But the way you will change and grow yourself is to take a small action every time you have an aha from what you have heard or read. Here are three possible actions you might consider: Prepare: Research the company. Who has the power to say yes, in the negotiations? Know in advance your bottom line:  What are you willing to concede? Improve your negotiation skills: Research, rehearse and prepare Book Your Complimentary Leadership & Career Advancement Session with Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC If you’re ready to elevate your leadership and negotiation skills, supercharge your career, and boost your income beyond your expectations, it’s time to schedule your complimentary Leadership & Career Development Session with me. I’ve worked with over 250 managers, directors, VPs, and C-Suite leaders, and their success stories speak for themselves (see my 41 LinkedIn client recommendations here). As a seasoned executive coach specializing in leadership and career development, I understand women leaders’ unique challenges, including confidence, compelling storytelling, and navigating the complexities of corporate politics. My mission is to empower professionals like you to master the art of successful leadership, unlock your full capability, and achieve career advancement at a pace you never thought possible. With my guidance, many clients have seen their promotions happen three times faster, accompanied by a significant increase in their income ranging from 20% to 50% or more. During our complimentary session, I’ll share three proven strategies to bolster your impact, boost your confidence, and set you apart from the competition. These strategies will advance your career and accelerate your income growth. Let’s explore how I can tailor my expertise to your unique needs. Even if we determine it’s not the perfect fit, you’ll leave our session with actionable ideas to position yourself as the obvious choice for your next promotion. Are you open to a quick call to discuss your career aspirations and how I can help you achieve them? Book Your Complimentary Leadership and Career Development Session on My Calendar Here. Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC

Unleashing the Power of Leadership Soft Skills Development and Career Advancement In the dynamic world of professional growth and personal fulfillment, mastering the art of leadership soft skills development is the key to unlocking your full potential. In a recent insightful conversation, renowned executive coach, speaker, and author Peggy Klaus and executive leadership and career advancement coach Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC explored the profound impact of these skills on your career. The Leadership Soft Skills Revolution Peggy Klaus, a leading expert in soft skills leadership brand development and author of "The Hard Truth about Soft Skills" and "Brag! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It.” highlighted the evolving recognition of the importance of soft skills in today's professional landscape. This shift has made it clear that mastering these skills is crucial to personal and brand development. These skills encompass a wide range of personal, social, communication, and self-management behaviors, including self-awareness, adaptability, resilience, confidence, risk-taking, and critical thinking. The Foundation of Your Leadership Success: Self-Awareness The conversation started with a deep dive into self-awareness, the cornerstone of leadership brand development. Understanding what drives you, how you think, and how you feel is essential to excel in your career and align your work with your true passions and interests. Your brand development journey begins with self-awareness, ensuring you are talented and passionate about your work. Debunking the "Luck" Myth Peggy Klaus further emphasized the role of soft skills in your leadership brand development to dispel the myth of luck in career success. She asserted that success isn't merely a result of luck or wishing for it. Instead, it's about hard work, self-awareness, resilience, and the ability to learn and adapt. Those who focus on leadership soft skills and brand development are better equipped to open themselves up to new opportunities, transforming those "lucky breaks" into calculated achievements. Handling Criticism and Seeking Feedback: Keys to Effective Brand Development The conversation also delved into strategies for handling criticism and seeking feedback, integral aspects of leadership soft skills and brand development. Active listening, staying curious, and not taking criticism personally are pivotal. Peggy advised individuals to embrace criticism as an opportunity for growth. Adopting this approach enables you to address and incorporate feedback into your brand development journey effectively. Shaping Your Leadership Brand with Effective Communication Executive brand development is an ongoing process. Peggy Klaus recommended creating a "brag bag" to collect achievements, compliments, and positive feedback. This resource is invaluable for promoting yourself and building a solid leadership brand. Please don’t assume your work speaks for itself; actively communicate your achievements and impact to enhance your brand. Your Leadership Brand: Staying Visible in a Remote World As remote work becomes more prevalent, staying visible is challenging to develop your leadership brand. Sending brief updates to colleagues and bosses about your projects and achievements is essential. Initiating a "brag round" is another technique to foster connection and awareness in remote work environments, a strategy aligned with Leadership soft skills development. Personal and Professional Growth: The Ultimate Brand Development The conversation focused on personal and professional growth, a significant aspect of leadership soft skills development. Peggy Klaus emphasized the importance of self-reflection and seeking feedback to shape your brand. She encouraged individuals to take ownership of their strengths and actively manage their time. Additionally, she recommended a book titled "Nine Lies About Work" by Marcus Buckingham, which explores the power of focusing on individual strengths for personal and professional growth. In summary, mastering leadership soft skills and brand development is the path to success in your career and personal fulfillment. By embracing these principles, you can navigate the evolving professional world with confidence and impact, ensuring a bright future for your brand development. What is your #1 question or comment about how to develop your Leadership Brand and Soft Skills to advance your career and job satisfaction? Please post in the comments section below.   Book Your Complimentary Leadership & Career Advancement Session with Sabrina Braham If you’re ready to elevate your leadership skills, supercharge your career, and boost your income beyond your expectations, it’s time to schedule your complimentary Leadership & Career Development Session with me. I’ve worked with over 250 managers, directors, VPs, and C-Suite leaders, and their success stories speak for themselves (see my 41 LinkedIn client recommendations here). As a seasoned executive coach specializing in leadership and career development, I understand women leaders’ unique challenges, including confidence, compelling storytelling, and navigating the complexities of corporate politics. My mission is to empower professionals like you to master the art of successful leadership, unlock your full capability, and achieve career advancement at a pace you never thought possible. With my guidance, many clients have seen their promotions happen three times faster, accompanied by a significant increase in their income ranging from 20% to 50% or more. During our complimentary session, I’ll share three proven strategies to bolster your impact, boost your confidence, and set you apart from the competition. These strategies will advance your career and accelerate your income growth. Let’s explore how I can tailor my expertise to your unique needs. Even if we determine it’s not the perfect fit, you’ll leave our session with actionable ideas to position yourself as the obvious choice for your next promotion. Are you open to a quick call to discuss your career aspirations and how I can help you achieve them? Book Your Complimentary Leadership and Career Development Session on My Calendar Here. Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC

Are you looking to excel in job interviews and sell your innovative ideas with finesse, then dive into the world of job interview persuasion skills. This is part II of a podcast interview featuring David Garfinkel, renowned author of "The Persuasion Story Code." In this enlightening discussion on the Women's Leadership Success podcast, you'll gain valuable insights into leveraging the art of persuasion stories to apply for a better job, confidently sell your ideas to stakeholders, and achieve your personal and professional goals.

Influencing, inspiring, and persuading are vital in leadership and executive communication. One of the most effective tools at a leader's disposal is the art of storytelling. In part I of this 2-part Women's Leadership Success podcast, Sabrina interviews David Garfinkel, author of The Persuasion Story Code, about how leaders use persuasion stories to achieve their objectives, whether it's inspiring their teams, selling ideas, or establishing credibility. Understanding the Power of Persuasion Stories Leaders often find themselves in situations where they need to convey ideas, build trust, and foster engagement. Persuasion stories offer a unique approach to achieving these goals:   1:  Establishing Credibility: Leaders can use stories to humanize themselves, making them more relatable and trustworthy, particularly when dealing with new clients or stakeholders.   2: Creating Emotional Connections: Persuasion stories tap into emotions, enabling leaders to connect with their audience on a deeper level, making it easier for them to understand and embrace ideas.   3: Simplifying Complex Concepts: Leaders often grapple with intricate strategies and concepts. Stories can simplify these ideas, making them more accessible to a broader audience, especially in cross-functional discussions.   4: Enhancing Engagement: Stories capture attention and engage the audience, ensuring the message resonates and sticks with them.   David Garfinkel, a Renowned Author and Persuasive Communication Expert With his bestselling book, "The Persuasion Story Code," David has earned acclaim from prestigious publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Forbes.com, Entrepreneur Magazine, Fast Company, and The Los Angeles Times. David's expertise has left an indelible mark on various businesses, including industry giants like IBM and United Airlines, medium-sized enterprises, and even solo entrepreneurs. His strategic guidance has consistently led to substantial revenue increases, totaling tens of millions of dollars, all achieved through persuasive messaging. In addition to his groundbreaking work in persuasion, David is the author of another bestseller, "Breakthrough Copywriting." Furthermore, he brings a wealth of experience as the former San Francisco Bureau Chief for McGraw-Hill World News. Join David Garfinkel and Sabrina Braham, MA MFT PCC, and learn how leaders use persuasion stories that can transform your career and leadership success. "People often receive bad advice when it comes to using stories for persuasion. In reality, stories can be simple and powerful tools, just like the ones we use in everyday conversations." David Garfinkel Crafting Persuasion Stories for Leadership Success: How Leaders Use Persuasion Stories     1: Personal Origin Stories: Leaders can share their personal journeys, highlighting pivotal moments and their commitment to the organization's mission. This type of story showcases dedication and inspires loyalty among team members.    2: Unexpected Future Benefits Stories: Leaders can paint a vivid picture of the positive outcomes their ideas can bring, focusing on how these proposals benefit both the organization and individual team members. This approach fosters a sense of shared success and alignment with the leader's vision. The Importance of Audience Awareness: Leaders must thoroughly understand their audience's needs, frustrations, and concerns. Identifying universal themes and addressing common issues can make the stories more relatable. Planning the Steps to Persuasion: Leaders should consider the steps required for persuasion, as only some stories need to lead directly to a final decision. Steps may include building rapport, establishing trust, opening minds to new ideas, and demonstrating expertise.   Incorporating Persuasion Stories into Leadership Communication The key to success lies in integrating persuasion stories naturally into leadership communication. These stories may not always follow a traditional beginning, middle, and end structure. Instead, they often resemble intentional conversation points focused on specific objectives. Leaders who embrace persuasion stories unlock a powerful tool for influencing, inspiring, and persuading their teams and stakeholders. By connecting with audiences emotionally, leaders can lead with authority and gain the support necessary to drive their initiatives forward. Stay tuned for part two of the Women's Leadership Success podcast, where Sabrina and David delve deeper into how leaders use persuasion stories, the psychology behind persuasion stories, and how to select the right story for the right audience.   Action for Traction - How Leaders Use Persuasion Stories Start by listening differently. Notice when other people tell persuasion stories, how they tell them, and how effective they are in persuading you. Most people don’t realize they’re telling persuasion stories, but that doesn’t matter. Some very good persuasion stories happen organically when people are just talking. Inspire or persuade people. Consider situations where you need to inspire or persuade people as a leader or a future leader. Set up two columns on paper or in a chart on your computer. Make the title of the left-hand column “What they believe now.” For the right-hand column, use the title “What I want them to believe.” Your persuasion stories. Put together persuasion stories you can tell that will move them from what they believe now to what you want them to believe. If you’d like some guidance and examples, get David’s book on Amazon, The Persuasion Story Code.   Book Your Complimentary Leadership & Promotion Advantage Coaching Call with Sabrina Braham If you are ready to truly take your leadership, career, and income to substantial new levels – MUCH faster than you thought possible, Book Your Complimentary Promotion & Leadership Advantage Call with Me on My Calendar Here: After helping over 250+ managers and directors at your level, (see client recommendations here), it’s evident that many women leaders struggle with confidence, how leaders use persuasion stories, and political savvy. And that’s why I help people like you master the skills of successful female leaders, realize their potential, and get promoted 3x faster or land their next-level role with a 20% – 50%+ increase in pay. And so If relevant, I would love to connect over a complimentary leadership and career advancement coaching session to help you become an influential and “promotion-ready” candidate, internally or externally. On this call, I will give you three proven strategies that will help you have an impact and confidence and stand out from the competition to advance your career and income much faster than you thought possible. We can discuss how I can help if there is a good fit. If not, you will walk away with some actionable ideas to become the obvious choice for promotion. Are you open to a quick call to explore? Book Your Complimentary Promotion & Leadership Advantage Call with Me on My Calendar here.   Sabrina PS Thanks for giving us a 5-star rating and short review in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast platform

Female leadership equality is more than a conversation, it’s a practice. As more and more leaders come to the forefront to address strategic challenges to equality and diversity in workplace, predominantly female leadership equality and female inclusive leadership, how do organizations adapt their policies to this shift in mindset and culture? Listen to this episode to learn what women AND men can do to support the ongoing diversity conversation.   Find out in this episode of the Women's Leadership Success podcast.   How can allyship and intersectionality create a more inclusive workplace?   What actions can organizations take to challenge traditional masculine workplace cultures and promote gender equality?   How can work-life balance and flexibility be recognized as universal human issues rather than solely women's issues?   What steps can be taken to increase the representation of women in leadership roles?   What strategies empower women to embrace their strength and bravery and overcome societal norms?   How can dysfunctional meeting behaviors and microaggressions be addressed to create a more inclusive meeting culture?   In this Women's Leadership Success episode on female leadership equality in the workplace, Sabrina Braham talks to Julie Kratz, an inclusive leadership trainer, and author, about the importance of allyship, intersectionality, and rewriting workplace rules to promote gender equality and diversity. She encourages organizations to create inclusive environments and advocates for increased representation of women in leadership positions. Kratz challenges traditional masculine workplace cultures, highlights the need to recognize flexibility and work-life balance as human issues, and urges women to be brave and speak up, promoting a shift in mindset and workplace culture. Today’s conversation also addresses dysfunctional meeting behaviors such as mansplaining, interruptions, and microaggressions, suggesting strategies to create a more inclusive meeting culture. It also highlights the importance of celebrating LGBTQ+ diversity year-round.   Julie Kratz’s WLS Interview on How Allyship Builds Female Inclusive Leadership  Julie Kratz is a renowned TEDx speaker and inclusive leadership trainer who led teams and produced results in corporate America. Promoting diversity, inclusion, and allyship in the workplace, Julie helps organizations foster more inclusive environments. She is a frequent keynote speaker, podcast host, and executive coach who holds an MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, is a Certified Master Coach, and is a certified unconscious bias trainer.   Entrepreneur, CNBC, TEDx, Women's Leadership Success Podcast, The Forum On Workplace Inclusion, and more have published and featured Julie. She is the author of 6 books, including Allyship in Action: 10 Strategies for Living Inclusively, Lead Like an Ally:  A Journey Through Corporate America with Strategies to Facilitate Inclusion, a children’s book Little Allies, ONE: How Male Allies Support Women for Gender Equality, and more.   How Allyship Builds Female Inclusive Leadership: Show Notes Meet Julie Kratz, a keynote speaker, and inclusive leadership trainer. [4:47-10:13]   Why do women need more allies to keep moving forward, and why is pay equity a competitive advantage? [10:14-15:45]   What is an ally, and how do you become one? [15:46-18:59]   Why consistency and intentionality are the two most important things an ally does [19:00-23:49]   How do you establish an ally network? What are the two forms of microaggressions? [23:50-29:09]   The five different roles of an ally [29:10-34:54]   The importance of being a good ally. [34:55-40:22]   Learn more about Julie and her TEDx talk [40:23]   Allyship and Female Leadership Equality • Equity Strategies   Women’s Leadership Success #123 Summary: Allyship Builds Inclusive Female leadership equality Episode notes to leave with: Recognize the importance of allyship in supporting individuals from diverse backgrounds and experiences: Actively support and uplift underrepresented individuals in the workplace. Show understanding and empathy towards their unique challenges and perspectives.   Embrace intersectionality by understanding that women's experiences vary based on factors like race, abilities, and LGBTQ+ identities: Recognize that gender equality efforts should consider the intersectional experiences of women. Acknowledge the different barriers and biases faced by women with diverse backgrounds.   Foster an inclusive environment by actively seeking to understand and uplift the voices of underrepresented individuals.   Challenge traditional masculine workplace cultures and norms that hinder gender equality.   Encourage organizations to redefine and rewrite workplace rules to create a more inclusive future: Advocate for policies and practices that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. Support initiatives that challenge and reform outdated norms and structures.   Prioritize inclusivity in decision-making processes and promote diverse perspectives: Ensure representation of diverse voices in decision-making roles. Seek out and value input from individuals with different backgrounds and experiences.   Shift the perception of flexibility and work-life balance as solely female leadership equality issues to recognize them as universal human issues: Advocate for work-life balance policies and practices that benefit all employees. Promote a culture that values personal well-being and respects boundaries between work and personal life.   Acknowledge the underrepresentation of women in top leadership positions and commit to change: Recognize the need for increased representation of women in leadership roles. Take proactive steps to address barriers and create pathways for women's career advancement.   Empower women to be leaders of the future by fostering their leadership skills and potential: Provide mentorship, sponsorship, and opportunities for growth and development. Encourage women to step into leadership roles and embrace their leadership qualities.   Foster a mindset of self-confidence and resilience, empowering women to overcome barriers and pursue their goals: Encourage women and girls to embrace their strength and bravery. Challenge societal norms that discourage assertiveness and self-expression. Promote self-care, stress management, and seeking support when needed.   Book Your Complimentary Leadership & Promotion Advantage Coaching Call with Sabrina Braham If you are ready to truly take your leadership, career, and income to substantial new levels – 3 times faster than you thought possible, Book Your Complimentary Promotion & Leadership Advantage Call with Me on My Calendar Here: After helping over 250+ managers and directors at your level, (see client recommendations here), it’s evident that many women leaders struggle with confidence, communication, and political savvy. And that’s why I help people like you master the skills of successful female leaders (and their teams), realize their potential, and get promoted 3x faster or land their next-level role with a 20% – 50%+ increase in pay. And so If relevant, I would love to connect over a complimentary leadership and career advancement coaching session to help you become an influential and “promotion-ready” candidate, internally or externally. On this call, I will give you three proven strategies that will help you have an impact and confidence and stand out from the competition to advance your career and income much faster than you thought possible. We can discuss how I can help if there is a good fit. If not, you will walk away with some actionable ideas to become the obvious choice for promotion. Are you open to a quick call to explore? Book Your Complimentary Promotion & Leadership Advantage Call with Me on My Calendar here.   Sabrina PS Thanks for giving us a 5-star rating and short review in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast platform

When hiring for top positions, the challenge is complex: how do you vet someone with years of experience while analyzing the same about others? How do you find the right fit for top organizational roles? Conversely, how do executives, especially females, have more control of their careers and get hired for top leadership positions? Here are some of the top headhunter hiring secrets to help you succeed.   Women's Leadership Success Podcast #122 on Headhunter Hiring Secrets You’ll Find Out: How can executive women have more control of their careers?   How to use visualization techniques to feel better when you’re stressed   How do executives find recruiters to get hired?   Why do 40% of C-suite hires don't make it past their first year?   Why do companies have a higher candidate retention rate when hired through recruiters?   Top headhunter hiring secrets and job search tips   How do recruiters assess if hiring candidates for top executive roles can create a followership?   In this Women’s Leadership Success episode, Sabrina Braham interviews Laura Raynak about top headhunter hiring secrets and recruiter job search tips to help women become more in-control leaders. With all these executive recruiter hiring secrets, executives can clearly understand how to reach out to, interact with, and demonstrate experience to get hired for top executive roles. Executive Recruiter Laura Ryanak Interview on Headhunter Hiring Secrets Laura Raynak has been serving the San Francisco Bay Area to Los Angeles for over 18 years as an executive talent scout for companies in the life science industry. Her broad industry relationships and skill in identifying the best fit for leadership talent are valued. She incorporates a personal board of insider connections in her practice and is active with centers of influence. This strategy gives her invaluable industry knowledge before it becomes public to all her client’s advantage.   Executive Recruiter Hiring Secrets: Show Notes   Meet Laura, a leader with 18 years of experience as an executive talent scout. [11:58-13:14]   How to overcome self-limiting beliefs with visualization techniques and EFT tapping. [13:15-18:50]   How did Laura become an executive recruiter? [18:51-24:52]   How do recruiters select the right people for a job or company? [24:53-27:05]   The two top recruiter job search tips for an initial interview. [27:06-32:56]   How to get taken seriously as a high-performing diversity candidate. [32:55-39:01]   How to build a story around your capabilities. [39:02-42:42]   Laura, on her book coming out soon. [41:31-42:05]   Women’s Leadership Success #122 Summary: Headhunter Hiring Secrets   Episode notes to leave with:   Women may face external barriers (glass ceiling) and internal limitations (sticky floors) that affect their career advancement. Taking control of aspects such as executive presence, communication skills, and self-promotion can help overcome these barriers.   Recognizing and challenging feelings of inadequacy or imposter syndrome is essential for personal and professional growth. Taking risks, experimenting, and building confidence can lead to overcoming self-limiting beliefs.   Visualization and meditation can be practical tools for managing self-doubt and envisioning desired outcomes. EFT tapping, a technique for reprogramming the subconscious mind, has shown promise in breaking through barriers.   Sometimes, unexpected opportunities or career transitions can lead to discovering a fulfilling path. Being open to new experiences and taking time to reset and explore different avenues can yield surprising outcomes.   While not explicitly defined in the conversation, there is a distinction between recruiters and headhunters. Understanding this difference can help individuals navigate the job search process effectively and target the right professionals for their needs.   It's essential to recognize that reaching out to recruiters or headhunters can be challenging. Exploring various networking strategies, utilizing online platforms, and leveraging personal connections can increase the chances of attracting their attention.   Companies value leaders who can develop and execute strategies to achieve organizational goals. Strategic thinking, effective execution, team-building skills, embodying organizational values, and collaboration across the leadership team are highly valued qualities. Assessing a candidate's caliber can be challenging, but certain clues can indicate potential issues. These include showing up late for interviews and needing more alignment between references' feedback and the candidate's self-perception. Evaluating a candidate's ability to manage both upward and downward is also essential.   For individuals who have yet to be in the job market and need more experience crafting resumes, seeking professional assistance can be beneficial.   Resumes should communicate essential information such as the size and nature of the organizations where the candidate has worked and their specific role. Emphasize problem-solving experience and make it easy for potential employers to understand your relevant skills and knowledge. The length of the resume may vary based on the role, with two pages being suitable for executive positions.   High-performing diversity candidates should know their worth and the impact they can bring to the business. Develop an elevator pitch highlighting your accomplishments and capabilities, and be comfortable with self-promotion.   Women and minorities often struggle with self-promotion due to cultural expectations. Recognize that self-promotion is not bragging but instead sharing your capabilities and achievements. Embrace the business climate, market yourself consistently, and prove your results and abilities.   Like any habit, self-promotion may feel uncomfortable at first. However, with practice, it becomes easier. Build stories around your capabilities and experiences, as storytelling can effectively communicate your skills.   Many individuals fear their power and the impact they can have. Embrace your abilities and make career decisions confidently. Feel free to make quick decisions and pivot if needed. Getting comfortable with decision-making and adaptability is crucial for long-term career success.   Don’t hesitate to ask challenging questions when working with recruiters or during interviews. Inquire about the working environment, team dynamics, and the biggest challenges faced by the business and the team. Asking these questions helps you gather crucial information to make informed career decisions.   Headhunter Hiring Secrets - Action For Traction   A well-crafted resume should highlight your significant accomplishments and their impact on the business, focusing on your problem-solving abilities.   If you feel out of practice or uncomfortable with interviews, seeking coaching can be helpful.   Approach interviews as opportunities to showcase your strengths and engage in meaningful conversations.   Prepare questions and focus on building relationships and demonstrating your capabilities.   Book Your Complimentary Leadership & Promotion Advantage Coaching Call with Sabrina Braham If you are ready to truly take your leadership, career, and income to substantial new levels – 3 times faster than you thought possible, Book Your Complimentary Promotion & Leadership Advantage Call with Me on My Calendar Here: After helping over 250+ managers and directors at your level, (see some client recommendations here), it’s evident that many women leaders struggle with confidence, communication, and political savvy. And that’s why I help people like you master the skills of successful leaders (and their teams), realize their potential, and get promoted 3x faster or land their next-level role with a 20% – 50%+ increase in pay. And so If relevant, I would love to connect over a complimentary leadership and career advancement coaching session to help you become an influential and “promotion-ready” candidate, internally or externally. On this call, I will give you three proven strategies that will help you have an impact and confidence and stand out from the competition to advance your career and income much faster than you thought possible. We can discuss how I can help if there is a good fit. If not, you will walk away with some actionable ideas to become the obvious choice for promotion. Are you open to a quick call to explore? Book Your Complimentary Promotion & Leadership Advantage Call with Me on My Calendar here.   Sabrina     

Every growth journey involves facing and overcoming risks. Hence, business leadership risk management isn’t a regular career conversation. It is a crucial business development skill, especially for women leaders, since they face more significant consequences for taking risks. If you believe women leaders are risk-averse, this episode is for you. Or if you think they do not make risky decisions because they can't, this episode is definitely for you. Tune into this installment of the Women's Leadership Success podcast to find out: What are the kinds of risks women leaders should learn to take? What is meant by a risk fingerprint? Are workplace-related things more difficult or risky for women than men? What will make women leaders more comfortable taking risks? What is a positive risk? How can we improve our risk tolerance? How can our environment help us deal with risk? What is the risk umbrella? In this episode of Women's Leadership Success, Sabrina Braham interviews Michele Wucker about women leaders navigating risks and why they face more significant consequences for facing risks than men. She explains how to rehearse and prepare to reduce anxiety associated with risky events. She also explains positive risks and how to use choices and exit strategies to navigate risks better. Business Leadership Risk Management - Michele Wucker author Michele Wucker’s Interview on Business Leadership Risk Management Michele Wucker is a strategic advisor, author, and global economic policy analyst who coined the term "gray rhino" as a challenge to take a fresh look at prominent, impactful, probable events and to help decision-makers respond more effectively. Her latest book is YOU ARE WHAT YOU RISK: The New Art and Science of Navigating an Uncertain World, in which she offers an excellent framework for understanding and re-shaping our relationship with risk and uncertainty to live more productive and successful lives. Business Leadership Risk Management for Women Entrepreneurs: Show Notes Meet Michele and learn what The Gray Rhino is about [00:32-01:30] How to assess risks and learn to modulate our response to them? [01:31-05:11] Michele’s risk fingerprint and how it teaches you to see the things that affect the risk choices you make [05:12-09:20] Is there a thing such as an ideal risk personality? [09:21-10:55Business Leadership Risk Management for Women's Leadership Success Podcast- You Are What You Risk How does it help to be more objective about risks instead of being scared about them? [10:56-13:23] How do you improve your odds at something and make good decisions? [13:24-16:24] Rehearsing or practicing the consequences of a risky situation to make them less anxiety-provoking [16:25-19:00] Why risk is a muscle you have to get comfortable building [19:01-22:33] The importance of having choices and exit strategies [22:34-25:33] Success changes the way you think about yourself [25:34-26:14] Specific things that women find more challenging to navigate in their workplaces [26:15-31:31] Rethinking how women take risks [31:32-34:29] Tips to help women get promoted [34:30-35:00] Women’s Leadership Success #122 Summary: Developing The Risk Mindset Episode notes to leave with: The concept of the "great rhino" warns that people often overlook obvious challenges and that this can leave them vulnerable. Personal risk attitudes and psychology are closely related to the decisions that lead to success or failure in business. Understanding oneself is crucial for making the best risk decisions. Risk is not fixed and varies depending on an individual's personality and experiences. Understanding oneself and one's risk fingerprint is crucial for making the best Business Leadership Risk Management Self Confidence Tips Leadership development coaching with executive coach Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCCdecisions. Having a diverse group of people with different risk preferences can be beneficial for making well-informed decisions. Self-awareness is the key to making better decisions. Balancing objective reasoning with emotions is essential when making risky decisions. Being more objective about risks can help reduce the chance of something going wrong. Practicing and rehearsing can help reduce anxiety and make the risk-taking process easier. Risk agency is the sense of control people have over the risks they take. It's essential for people to feel like they have agency to reduce risk and feel more comfortable. It's essential to have choices and exit strategies when facing risks and to be confident in succeeding or being right alone. Research shows a 95% overlap in risk choices between genders. Women should retell their own risk stories and embrace the times they have taken risks to combat gender-based misconceptions about risk. Understanding oneself and being deliberate in decision-making is crucial to risk management. Embrace risk-taking and avoid negative stereotypes. Business Leadership Risk Management – Actions for Traction Listening to a podcast or reading a book is a good start. But the way you will change and grow yourself is to take a small action every time you have an aha from what you have heard or read. Here are three possible actions you might consider to develop your business leadership risk management : Think about and retell at least three of your own risk stories. Embrace the times you have taken risks to combat gender-based misconceptions about risk. Be proud of the risks you have taken.

Is gender equality, especially in the workplace, better than before? Absolutely. Does that mean we can move over to general workplace issues? Absolutely not. Especially now that COVID has brought problems like women’s energy management and career development to the forefront. Executive women are tired of being tired, but unsure how to get out of the loop. What exactly lies underneath the struggle?  Time mismanagement?  No. It’s energy mismanagement.   Learn more about women’s energy management in this Women’s Leadership Success podcast episode. Specifically:   How do you know if you’re physically tired or energy-wise depleted?   How do you get out of the endless loop of exhaustion from work?   How do you communicate your need for more flexible working conditions with your manager/leader?   How do you set priorities straight without over-exerting your flexibility needs with your colleagues/leaders?   What is sticky floor syndrome? How does it contribute to the gender equity problem for executive women?   Dr. Arin N. Reeves’s Interview on Prioritizing Women’s Energy Management In this episode of Women's Leadership Success, Sabrina Braham interviews Dr. Arin N. Reeves, author of the best-selling books on leadership and life, The Next IQ, One Size Never Fits All and Smarter Than A Lie. Her most recent book, In Charge: The Energy Management Guide for Badass Women Who Are Tired of Being Tired, is an extensively researched effort at helping women regain control of their energy and, ultimately, their life.   In today’s conversation with Sabrina Braham, she fills you in on the most pressing issues around women’s energy management, the factors contributing to it, and the ways to systematically improve your energy using effective boundary-setting, strategic communication, and task management.   Women’s Energy Management: How Can Executive Women Work Stress-Free? Women’s Leadership Success Podcast #120 Show Notes: The people and situations post-COVID that encouraged Arin to write her book In Charge: The Energy Management Guide for Badass Women Who are Tired of Being Tired [06:28-07:33]   What are we experiencing in our workplaces that leaves us drained of energy? [07:34-09:30]   The difference between feeling tired vs. being drained of energy [09:38-10:55]   How to break the cycle of all-consuming work [10:55-14:18]   How to deal with bosses and managers that demand more work be done in a day [14:19-16:10]   Flexibility as a productivity enhancer [16:10-18:05]   Setting your employment boundaries straight before taking up a job [18:05-19:29]   Why do women struggle with setting boundaries at work? [20:39-23:27]   How do you change your habits to have a better sense of control over life, work, and personal energy? [23:29-29:43]   Archaic and professionally draining stereotypes that no longer serve women [29:43-32:49]   The sticky floor syndrome and how it causes the gender equality problem for executive women [32:49-35:30]   Advice for immigrant women to excel in their jobs [35:30-40:10]   Becoming a more badass woman leader [42:00-46:22]   Women’s Leadership Success #120 Summary: Developing the Innovation Mindset Episode notes to leave with: The difference between being tired and being energy drained. When you’re energy-drained, You’re exhausted when you wake up in the morning. You can’t go to sleep because your brain won't stop thinking. You probably also have insomnia. Even after a vacation, you feel just as exhausted as before.   If you know you’re over-exhausting yourself, start asking yourself what you should stop doing. Most women tend to fix themselves to get better at time management when the truth is that they need to stop doing something.   Remember, you don’t have to get an A for everything you do. It’s okay to be average at some things when you have so much on your plate already.   One good way to manage an over-exerting senior or manager is to pay attention to the output, not the input. Ask your supervisor what they want you to accomplish by the end of the day, what their idea of your success looks like, and focus on delivering that. When you do that, ask them for the flexibility to get things like that done on any particular day. It always helps to deliver the work first and then negotiate on doing it in your way, flexibly.   It’s difficult for people to honor women's boundaries despite them saying no enough times. Take care not to let anyone invade your boundary because no one would care for it as much as you do.   One of the best ways to get some energy back as soon as you think of something hard is to do it.   Understand that it’s not your job to make everyone feel okay. If you’re working 14 hours a day and feeling constrained by all of it, it’ll drain your energy more.   Some leaders expect women to be good in a supportive role alone. They don’t want to promote you because they think you’re good at your work. It’s called sticky floor syndrome. Take notice of it if you’d like to grow as a leader. Don’t let people exploit your loyalty to compromise your career development.   If you’re an immigrant woman, prepare to build a broad network within any organization, no matter what industry you’re in, because chances are, people are going to try and isolate you. Inoculate yourself from being isolated.   Remember, sometimes people are addicted to depending on you for help, so wean them off slowly. Take your time to offer help instead of saying no directly.   If you feel energetic from a task, do more of it. Else, don’t do it again. Women’s Energy Management  – Actions for Traction Listening to a podcast or reading a book is a good start. But the way you will change and grow yourself is to take a small action every time you have an aha from what you have heard or read. Here are three possible actions you might consider: Identify what makes you happy. Identify what pisses you off, then do more of what makes you happy. What is one activity that gives you peace? Take 5-minute peace breaks throughout the day. What energy-draining activity can you stop doing?   Bonus gifts: How to Receive and Give Feedback   Book Your Complimentary Leadership & Promotion Advantage Coaching Call with Sabrina Braham If you are ready to truly take your leadership, career, and income to substantial new levels – 3 times faster than you thought possible, Book Your Complimentary Promotion & Leadership Advantage Call with Me on My Calendar Here: After helping over 200+ managers and directors at your level, (see some client recommendations here) it’s evident that many leaders struggle with these things. And that’s why I help people like you master the skills of successful leaders to get promoted 3x faster or land their next-level role with a 20% - 50%+ increase in pay. And so If relevant, I would love to connect over a complimentary leadership and career advancement coaching session to help you become an influential and “promotion-ready” candidate, internally or externally. On this call, I will give you three proven strategies that will help you have an impact and confidence and stand out from the competition to advance your career and income much faster than you thought possible. If there is a good fit, we can discuss how I can help. If not, you will walk away with some actionable ideas to become the obvious choice for promotion. Are you open to a quick call to explore? Book Your Complimentary Promotion & Leadership Advantage Call with Me on My Calendar Here.   Sabrina    

Subject: women leaders navigating menopause.Menopausal challenges are what the majority of females would call an open secret: we all seem to know it, but no one talks about it. There are plenty of challenges to vocally addressing them in organizations, starting with not being reasonably considered for promotions and senior roles. Along with it comes the fear of being called "too old" for new responsibilities. So, how do women leaders navigating menopause maintain (and prove) their efficiency at work despite the rushing hormonal changes? And with the conversation on women's mental and physical anguish during menopause getting louder by the day, what can companies do to become more welcoming towards them?Tune in to this episode of the Women's Leadership Success podcast to find out.Women Leaders Navigating Menopause:  WLS 118 Episode Highlights:What is Menopause? Why should men and women (even those not in menopause) care about this topic?Why do senior women have unique workplace requirements as they move through menopause? How can organizations address them?Why is it important for senior women and female founders to redefine their networks as they move through menopause?Why are senior women in menopause dropping out of the workforce?Why does every woman need a career plan in menopause?How can women increase their career health and wealth and maintain career momentum through menopause?And more! On today’s Women’s Leadership Success Podcast, Sabrina Braham and her guest Fiona McKay lead conversations on embracing menopause to create more equitable workplaces for women. They discuss leadership development, career growth, and personal development for senior executive women and female founders. Having undergone a severe abdominal hysterectomy, Fiona explains the extreme physical, mental, and emotional struggles senior women can experience during that period. She also shares how they could use that phase for positive self-reflection, goal-setting, and planning, treating it as a new beginning in their lives, and how companies can create better work environments and devise work methodologies that allow women to speak about their health struggles openly. Women Leaders Navigating Menopause:  Fiona McKay’s Interview on Navigating The Menopause Maze in The WorkplaceFiona McKay is a world-renowned speaker, career and business coach for females, gender acceleration strategist, and the Founder of The Menopause Maze™, a method, and company that focuses exclusively on career acceleration for senior women. She is an award-winning entrepreneur and is recognized as one of the top 250 influencers in FemTech. Navigating The Menopause Maze in The Workplace: Show NotesFiona talks about undergoing an abdominal hysterectomy, the aftermath of the surgery (including hot flashes), the reasons for taking up hormone replacement therapy later on, and how all of it inspired her to research menopause at work to help senior women and female founders keep their careers growing amid the challenges due to menopause. [01:34-04:34]>>  What is menopause? What does it look like for Caucasian women and women of color? [04:35-05:39]>> The impact of menopause on men and why they must know its symptoms [05:41:06:35]>> What are the symptoms of menopause? How long do they keep showing? [06:38-08:09]>> How can female leaders succeed despite the challenges faced during menopause? [08:29-10:31]>> Dealing with the prejudice of being "old" after reaching menopause. [10:32-12:25]>> Rethinking your career goals and dreams during menopause: how to discover your goals, set new ones, and decide whether to move out from your current job and take up something new or continue to grow in it. [12:43-15:10]>> On women being encouraged to take lesser jobs after menopause. [15:11-17:03]>> What women should do to adjust to being in menopause. [17:04-19:47]>> Making yourself a priority during menopause. [19:48-20:55]>> Tackling the emotional challenges experienced during menopause. [21:55-23:03]>> Why women can benefit from formal career planning during menopause. [26:15-32:07]>> Why menopause is the perfect time for you to become a female founder. [29:28-31:39]>> Managing a hot flash during a meeting + why organizations must prioritize better workplace temperature control. [32:19-33:19]>> How to communicate your discomfort and seek help whenever necessary as a woman in menopause at work. [34:24-35:34]>> Introducing the sparkle and color over your identity that often goes lost during menopause. [35:47-36:50]>> The positives of menopause include being more intentional and choosing to choosing to opt-out of scenarios that don't bring you joy anymore. [38:04-40:18]>> The female leaders Fiona is inspired by. [40:44-43:14]>> Fiona's last piece of advice for you. [43:18-43:46] Women Leaders Navigating Menopause: Women’s Leadership Success Summary: Menopause and Women Executive LeadershipEpisode notes to leave with:Menopause is the time in a woman's life when her reproductive hormones start to deplete. An average woman's body starts phasing into that change at around 42, with the average age for entering menopause being 51. Caucasian women or women of color are seen to reach that period seven years earlier on average. Statistics show that by 2025, about a billion women in the workplace will be of menopausal age, making menopausal women the fastest-growing workplace demographic globally. Employers cannot overlook this fact with the ongoing talent crisis across industries. Women leaders navigating menopause need to understand that menopause is a phase in their lives, and they can navigate it using the right tools, inspiration, and resources without impacting their careers. Your career health is in your hands. Fiona shares, "If you don't craft and create a career plan that you want, as you move through menopause, you will end up with the career results that your employer thinks you should have on their terms and in their own timeframe."  Employers could support senior women in their workforce by devising policies that allow them the space to navigate the challenges during menopause. This could start with simple gestures such as reducing the working hours from 40 to 30 hours, giving time off of work, or mental support, among other things. Women leaders navigating menopause must simultaneously look after their physical, mental, and career health. All of it needs to go in balance to ensure well-being. Menopause often comes at the most inconvenient time in a woman's life. For instance, if you're a career-focused lady who started building a family only later in life, you'll still have the demands of a growing family, the needs of aging and elderly parents, and much more. Another thing to note is that the highest rate of suicide for women is in the menopausal age. There needs to be no better reason to prioritize self-care during this period. To begin with, a career plan is essential if you're considering your options as a menopausal woman. The next step is formalizing it: thinking about where you want to be in the next ten years and the impact other parts of your life will have because of your career plan. High-performing women tend not to share symptoms of menopause because they're used to powering through. But this could become their Achilles heel if not taken care of. Even if you don't want to disclose your state of mind and body publicly, it's essential to have a support system during this period. Action for Traction: Women Leaders Navigating MenopauseListening to this podcast is a good start. But the way you will change and grow yourself is to take a small action every time you have an aha from what you have heard or read.Lifestyle changes ease symptoms of Menopause:Keep your body weight at a healthy levelMediterranean Diet has been shown to reduce hot flashes by as much. As 40%Get enough calcium (1,200-1,500 milligrams) and vitamin D (400 IU) a dayAvoid consuming caffeine.Quit smoking, which can cause hot flashesAvoid drinking more than one alcoholic drink per day.Exercise most days of the week, including exercise that elevates your heart rate, and weight-bearing exercises such as weightlifting or walking.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Are you and your team ready to break through limitations in your career, leadership, and life? Would you like to achieve a higher level of Executive Confidence and Presence? Then there are 3 things you can start with right now:Book Your Complimentary Promotion & Leadership Advantage Call with Me on My Calendar Here: For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media. Thanks for listening and sharing this episode of WLS on women leaders navigating menopause.

Innovation, the cornerstone of lasting success, is as much about mindset as it is about creativity. Companies that have realized this have imprinted it on their methodologies and bloomed, like Amazon, now renowned for its try-fail-learn innovative culture. But with business strategies and company practices already in place, what business innovation mindset strategies can you use to make room for parallel innovation? We have answers in this episode of the Women's Leadership Success podcast focused on career and business innovation mindset strategies for women.Why is innovation an essential factor in organizational culture? How do you cultivate an innovative company culture? What must you know about the realities of innovating to develop products that help people? Why do we need more women in business? What can female entrepreneurs do to increase their odds of success? What are some business innovation mindset strategies? How do you cultivate a problem-solving mindset? How does it help in creating an innovative company culture? Lorrain Marchand: AuthorIn this episode of Women's Leadership Success, Sabrina Braham interviews Lorraine Marchand, author of The Innovation Mindset: Eight Essential Steps to Transform Any Industry, a powerful book condensing three decades of her experience in new product development. Her book explores the realities of the different stages of product development and the determining factors in developing a product that the customer needs. Today's conversation gets underneath the importance and power of innovation in business, developing business innovation mindset strategies, cultivating a problem-solving mindset, and increasing the odds of success for women entrepreneurs. Lorraine Marchand’s Interview on Developing The Innovation Mindset For Women Lorraine Marchand is a business leader, advisor and innovator in the life sciences and healthcare. Her teaching, consulting and business endeavors focus on developing new products and services and the business and marketing models that enable their successful adoption. Her ??goal is to enable innovation and entrepreneurship to help create an ecosystem where female leaders can get the resources they need to be successful.Developing The Innovation Mindset In Women Entrepreneurs:  Women’s Leadership #117 Show NotesBackground in corporate intrapreneurship and smaller company entrepreneurship + the enthusiasm to ideate and introduce new products and services [00:47-02:04] How Lorraine’s dad introduced an exercise to infuse a problem-solving and innovation mindset in her since 13 years old [02:19-05:21] Why do a lot of people lack an innovative mindset? How can they develop it? [05:31-08:09] The three things necessary to cultivate an innovative mindset [08:15-10:31] Leaving room for out-of-the-box thinking, problem-identification and solving, and exploring interests other than work [10:33-13:20] The process of generating ideas [13:31-17:00] The story of Sarah Apgar, who ideated and created a piece of fitness equipment from a thing she made at the fire station, and how she raised $250,000 on Shark Tank for it [17:14-19:12] Innovations and inventions during COVID [19:12-22:47] How do you know when to pivot in life? + Real-life examples of famous companies that birthed from business strategy pivots [22:59-24:44] How can female entrepreneurs increase their odds of success? [24:46-29:09] Women represent only around 7% of venture capitalists. Why is that a problem and what can be done to help women improve their financial competency? [29:20-32:07] Lorraine’s last piece of advice for you [32:12-32:54] Women’s Leadership Success #117 Summary: Developing The Innovation MindsetEpisode notes to leave with:Problem-solving lies at the heart of innovation. It is one of the three components that make up the innovation mindset; the other two are insatiable curiosity and the embracing of change. Corporations can balance their company culture and still make space for innovation by encouraging curiosity, a problem-solving mindset, and welcoming change. Innovation also demands a disconnect from the demanding everyday routine. Sparing time to reflect on the problems and situations and the solutions and steps taken towards them helps make room for new thoughts and ideas. The process of generating new ideas starts with defining a solid problem statement. This is made possible by being observant about the problems around us – in the workplace, school, neighborhood, home, and every sphere of life. Observation is the beginning of ideation in the innovation process. Journaling could help you generate new ideas. A lesson passed on by her father, Lorraine Marchand, writes down three problems she observes in her life every day in her journal. This helps her look back at them at different points, and something out of those occasionally floats into the work she needs to do. Identifying the problem also involves asking the right questions: What is the problem? Who is experiencing it? What is significant about it? What pain is it causing? When identifying the right solution to your problem, you often have to come to three different solutions to evaluate against each other. What follows is choosing the best solution. Clearly, you have to use a brainstorming methodology to land the different ideas and undergo a selection process to narrow down from many to one. Many renowned companies pivoted from their original idea to compound their success and growth over time. Some examples of companies that did the pivoting include Netflix, PayPal, and YouTube. Amazon is world-renowned for its innovative culture of work. They encourage people to try, fail, and learn from their mistakes. One secret to entrepreneurial success is moving fearlessly forward. Make a calculated bet, but if you know you have to do it, then do it. Seek help, get out there, and make a move. Business Innovation Mindset Strategies 101: Increase Your Odds Of Success As a Female EntrepreneurTo increase your odds of success:De-risk your technology to eliminate any technical errors. Have the right market intelligence, understand your competition, and do regular customer research because your solution has to be what the market needs at any particular time. De-risk financially. An entrepreneur needs to raise capital in a way that keeps their company running for a significant period. To de-risk financially, de-risk from an operational standpoint. Have a solid handle on your business operations, and bring in the right talent, processes, workflows, systems and management. Action for Traction: Business Innovation Mindset StrategiesListening to a podcast or reading Lorraine’s book is a good start. But the way you will change and grow yourself is to take a small action every time you have an aha from what you have heard or read.Here are three possible actions you might consider:1: Keep a journal of problems that you notice.2: Get a group together and brainstorm the problem.Defer judgmentGenerate ideas quicklyNo explanations. Keep the ideas coming3:  Brainstorm three solutions. Are you and your team ready to break through limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to achieve a higher level of Executive Presence? Then there are three things you can start with right now:Book Your Complimentary Promotion & Leadership Advantage Coaching CallIf you are ready to truly take your leadership, career, and income to substantial new levels - 3 times faster than you thought possible, Book Your Complimentary Promotion & Leadership Advantage Call with Me on My Calendar Here: For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.  Thanks for listening, commenting and sharing this episode of WLS on Business Innovation Mindset Strategies.

 Revolutionary changes lead to revolutionary solutions. While we stand at the juncture of evolved, evolving, and outdated leadership philosophies, we’re all determined to find out: what is the right way to go about in a leadership role currently? What does it take to express transformational female leadership in today’s times?Tune in to this important episode of Women’s Leadership Success podcast to find out.What is transformational female leadership and why is it so relevant today?What are some important things female leaders need to develop to become transformational leaders?The steps to becoming a transformational leaderWhat is meant by a disruption? How do you see the opportunities in disruptions?How are businesses changing in these ‘new normal’ times?In this episode of Women’s Leadership Success, Sabrina Braham interviews Faisal Hoque, author of Lift – Fostering the Leader in You Amid Revolutionary Global Change, a powerful book on individual and organizational leadership today. His book explores the intersection of transformational leadership, systemic thinking, and experiential learning?all required to survive the disruptions due to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, and misinformation trends. Today’s episode has Faisal get into the crux of it and explain how it all began.Faisal Hoque - #1 Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller of LIFT Faisal Hoque’s Interview on Empathy for Transformational Female Leadership ( and Men Too)Faisal Hoque is the founder of SHADOKA, NextChapter, and other companies focusing on enabling sustainable and transformational changes. Throughout his career, he has developed over 20 commercial business and technology platforms and worked with public and private sector giants such as the US Department of Defense, GE, MasterCard, American Express, Northrop Grumman, CACI, PepsiCo, IBM, Home Depot, Gartner, and JPMorgan Chase. He is a 3 times winning Founder and CEO of Deloitte Technology Fast 50 and Deloitte Technology Fast 500™ awards.He has authored several books on leadership, innovation, mindfulness, resilience, organizational transformation, and entrepreneurship, including the #1 Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller Lift – Fostering the Leader in You Amid Revolutionary Global Change, and Everything Connects – How to Transform and Lead in the Age of Creativity, Innovation and Sustainability. His work has appeared in Fast Company, Business Insider, The Wall Street Journal, Businessweek, Fox, CBS, Financial Times, Mergers & Acquisitions, Forbes, and Leadership Excellence, among others.  Transformational Female Leadership in Times of Disruption:  Show NotesReflecting on the events that happened during the pandemic, including his son’s rare blood cancer, and writing about it in his book, Lift [2:29-4:50]What does Faisal mean by ‘disruption’? [5:05-6:29]3 questions to help you get unstuck [10:53-13:12]Becoming a transformational leader [13:20-18:09]How can you be more empathetic? [18:15-19:54]What is the difference between mindfulness and meditation? [20:33-23:04]The importance of being present in the moment to be empathetic [23:33-24:28]Five questions you can ask yourself to assess your empathy levels [25:19-30:00]What is design thinking? What does empathy have to do with it? [30:07-31:25]How accessible are leadership coaches to an average human? How can experiential learning help in the same? [31:26-36:12]Why must you be your own coach to move to the top levels? [36:44-38:35]How can you become a futurist? How does that help? [39:16-44:06]Life yourself to lift others, express transformational female leadership, and practice experiential learning [44:27-50:08]We hope that you have learned something useful from our transformational female leadership episode of the podcast. Women’s Leadership Success #116 Summary: Transformational Female LeadershipHere are a few things you can take away from this episode as you leave:Empathy is one of the secrets to transformational leadership. It helps you make sense of what is going on around the world and within your own realm. It allows you to put yourself in others' shoes and find them a solution they need.You cannot practice empathy or conscious empathy if you're not mindful of the person in front of you. Shutting your mind from all other things other than the one you must focus on is what mindfulness is about.There is a deep connection between mindfulness and empathy.Tons of opportunities arise out of disruptions.There hasn't been a better time in the world to learn and grow yourself now that we're in the later stages of a pandemic.To be a futurist, you also must develop the fundamental substitutable techniques required to succeed in your industry, which takes a lot of improvisation to happen. There is no preaching without practice.Experiential learning is about learning on a constant basis. Systemic thinking and execution are about creating systems that allow you to do constant, repeatable tasks easily.Design thinking is about empathy; it allows you to create things people really benefit from.Knowing your domain in and out is a strong leadership skill. Action for Traction: How to Be a Transformational LeaderListening to a podcast or reading a book good is a start. But the way you will change and grow yourself is to take a small action every time you have an aha from what you have heard or read.Here are 3 possible actions you might consider:Be Mindful: “The real definition of mindfulness is being one with whatever you're doing.” Faisal HoquePractice empathy: Take time when interacting with a person, to stop yourself and look at that other person and try to understand what is going on with that person.Sign up for “Lift’ class. Use coupon code "WLS" for a 50% discount ( see below)  Are You a " High Potential Female" Who Wants More Impact, Influence & Income?Put Your Executive Career On The Fast Track to Be Promoted This is a Proven Career Executive Coaching Package for “High Potentials Women” to Help You Stand Out from the Crowd, Turbocharge Your Career & Your Radically Increase Your Income >> Do you feel stuck in your career? >> Have you been passed over for promotion? >> Working hard, but not getting recognized? >> Getting knocked out of the promotion after your interview? >> Difficult to ask for what you want? >> Aspire to C-Suite, Higher or Whole New Opportunity? >> Need a strategy to prepare for career advancement internally or externally?If you can relate to any of these questions, I can help you. For over 25 years, I have a proven track record of helping high potential current and future leaders -  ESPECIALLY in STEM & TECH:If you consider yourself a current or future, “high potential female executive” that wants to have more influence, impact, and double your income or MORE, then I invite you to reach out to me via my contact page on Womens Leadership Success.com so we can connect and see if we're a good match.  LIFT OTHERS BY LIFTING YOURSELFDigital Classes from Faisal Hoque -100% of Proceed to Fight Cancer If you can resonate with what Faisal and I shared today on transformational female leadership and want a simple, easy and low cost way to be a more tranformational leader, then check out Faisal's new digital class today based on his Wall Street Journal #1 Best Selling Book - LIFT.I’ve started the course and it looks really good.And to thank you for being one of my loyal listeners; Fiasal is offering you a gift of 50% off your order.  This is a $149 savings.Plus Faisal shared his commitment to cancer cures by donating all the proceed, from his new 5-part online class.Click here for More Information and To Start the Class.  Use the coupon code of:  W L S at checkout if you choose to save 50%.FYI. I do not make anything from your purchase. Just the good feeling knowing I that you are supporting cancer cures, saving money, and getting support and inspiration from a great thought leader and mentor like Faisal. Thanks for Social Sharing & Your Show ReviewsThanks for following me on Linkedin for more leadership tips. I really appreciate you sharing, liking, and giving me a review in iTunes or your favorite podcast platform.Thanks, SabrinaPS If you like this interview with Faisal, check out my first interview with Faisal on WLS #59Everything Connects, a Woman’s Career Guide to Personal Success | Faisal Hoque & Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC | Women’s Leadership Success # 59

Active Listening Leadership Skills Will Transform Your Results, Culture and Bottom LineDo you work in a remote hybrid workforce and want to feel more connected with your colleagues at work? Get more done? Be more profitable?Here’s a sad leadership fact. Many leaders don't know how their team or customers perceive their leadership. Are you one of them?If you're one of those executive leaders who might have issues engaging your team, career, or profits, especially in today's remote hybrid teams, …. then developing your active listening leadership skills covered in this podcast could be a life-changing episode."The art of effective listening is essential to clear communication, and clear communication is necessary to management success." – James Cash PennyWhen you are a leader at any level, the responsibility as a listener multiplies, both positively and negatively. Active listening is one of the fundamental factors of effective communication skills. Your entire workplace culture and results will improve as you improve your active listening skills. To help you improve your active listener leadership skills, we have Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC, on our episode today as a guest.Sabrina Braham: Executive Business Coach, Management Consultant, Author, and Media HostSabrina is a life-changing executive business coach and management consultant who is an expert in leadership excellence and business growth. She is also known for helping women leaders in STEM with career development, increasing influence, impact, and income. Sabrina is the co-founder of this incredible podcast, 'Women Leadership Success' which is ranked in the Top 2% in the world. Since 2007, she has successfully published 115 shows with influential thought leaders, all dedicated to empowering today's and tomorrow’s women leaders, and the men who promote gender equity.Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC - Master Business Executive Coach & Management ConsultantToday, Tim Warren, who is the co-founder of this podcast, and Sabrina’s husband is interviewing Sabrina on how to develop active listening leadership skills you will love. Sabrina shares some powerful real-life management consulting stories, tips, and suggestions regarding leaders. their active listening skills and how you can be a better leader too.Great Leaders Active Listening Talents: Show NotesWhy “George” thought he was doing a good job, but his team did not feel the same… [2:40-6:25]How did Sabrina help “George” change his behavior & his results? [6:46-9:26]Benefits of active listening [9:50-11:40]How group intelligence can change team outcomes [12:08-13:33]Use these simple steps to better listen! [15:03-17:46]What holds companies/ leaders back from developing active listening skills? [18:28-20:42]How can Sabrina help you implement active listening in your culture? [22:26-26:31]Where can you get more tips and help to develop your listening skills, a growth mindset, or improve your culture with Sabrina Braham? [28:14-32-30]What is Sabrina's vision for women's leadership? [[34:09-34:54]How can women (and men) participate in this shared vision of gender equity? [35:55-38:04]We hope that you have learned something useful from our active listener's leadership skills podcast. Remember that listening is a phenomenal form of giving someone huge respect.Sometimes all it takes is to listen to the other person for a while, and you will see you would be able to positively shift you and your teams’ results as well. It's a magical art you can master with a bit of training and coaching. Call Sabrina today to see how she can help you advance your leadership success.How to Receive & Give Feedback to Be a Better Leader: Leadership Tips for Women Action for Traction: Active Listening Leadership SkillsListening to a podcast or reading a book is a good start. But the way you will change and grow yourself is to take a small action every time you have an aha from what you have heard or read.Here are three possible actions you might consider:Listen to someone without thinking about your next task or what you will say. Give your full attention to themAsk questions that give you more information about the situation.Check for understanding throughout the conversations.  Use sentences like:“Let me make sure I understand….”“What I think you are saying is…” “It sounds like you are frustrated by…”If your understanding is not quite in line with what the person is trying to tell you, give them a chance to restate themselves. Are you and your team ready to break through your communication limitations in your career, leadership, and life?  Would you like to move to a more powerful and confident level? Then here are two things you can start with right now: Your leadership brand is your most powerful career accelerator.Download Sabrina’s FREE Leadership Branding Blueprint Accelerator and build the executive visibility that makes decision-makers notice you—before you even walk in the room.Define the leadership brand that makes you the obvious choiceBuild a LinkedIn presence that positions you for senior rolesStand out as a top candidate in a competitive AI-era marketStep into your next role with the confidence of someone already thereDownload the FREE Leadership Branding Blueprint Accelerator Now2.   Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.

 Do you know that confident girls become confident women leaders?Do you know bullying at a younger age impacts the way women treat each other in the workplace?Do you want to support confident empowered girls?Do you know that the technology-driven era has changed the stressors for young girls and women?The Issues that young women and girls have still show up in the workplace with women today...It doesn’t matter if you’re raising a girl or not because the Issues that young women and girls face at workplace are formed based on how they were nurtured. Helping girls succeed in both their academic and personal lives and become tomorrow’s leaders is only possible if you are helping support confident empowered girls. If you’re looking for ways to do that, you have come to the right place!How Confident Girls Become Confident Women LeadersWe believe that Confident Girls Become Confident Women Leaders but the path to raising such girls needs your undistracted attention, care, and respect. In this podcast, Sabrina’s special guest will walk you through a new perspective of nurturing young women leaders.The world has changed and so have the stressors for young girls. Our focus is on critical issues that young girls and teens face and provide solutions for those problems. To help you understand these stressors and their solutions, we have a wonderful guest, Lisa Hinkelman, to share insights and expert advice.Dr. Lisa Hinkelman, an Educator, Counselor, and Parenting Coach!Dr. Lisa Hinkelman is a highly sought-after educator, counselor, researcher, and author who has spent more than 15 years researching girls and educating adults. As a professor at The Ohio State University and the Founder/CEO of the national girl-serving non-profit, Ruling Our Experiences (ROX), she equips educators, parents, school counselors, mentors and coaches throughout the country. Her latest book, Girls Without Limits: Helping Girls Succeed in Relationships, Academics, Careers, and Life hit #1 on Amazon’s Hot New Releases list and provides a framework for helping girls thrive.How Confident Girls Become Confident Women Leaders: Show NotesWhat is” Ruling Our Experience”? What does it do? [0:51-2:18]How Girls Without Limits help you to explore and connect at a deeper level. [2:31-4:33]Why investing in preparing current leaders important for the future? [5:03-7:08]Develop healthy relationship with teens and preteens. [7:27-11:06]Learn how to show girls we care. [11:18-14:22]What should we be aware of as parents, educators, school counselors, mentors and coaches? [14:52 -21:13]How social media is encouraging bullying, emotional distress, and unconnected relationships? [22:18-27:20]Teach young girls to set boundaries for their protection. [27:41-31:40]Identifying bullying and relational aggression and its solutions! [32:55-37:31]Discover ways to normalize girls going through menstruation? [37:50 -41:21]How confidence and leadership are connected? [41:35-42:51]What kind of risk-taking should be encouraged? [43:02-44:00]What would Lisa Hinkelman advise to all parents/teachers? [45:05-46:10]To help Confident Girls Become Confident Women Leaders it is important to understand the deeper issues associated with girls growing up. You can only build future strong women leaders if you are raising young girls the right way. Click on the podcast above to get amazing insights on raising empowered future women leaders.Are you ready to break through your limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to move to a more powerful confident level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now:Are you or your team ready to breakthrough your limitations in your career, leadership, confidence and life, and move to a more powerful level, then here are 3 things you can start with now:Book Your Complimentary Promotion & Leadership Advantage Coaching CallIf you are ready to truly take your leadership, career, and income to substantial new levels - 3 times faster than you thought possible, Book Your Complimentary Promotion & Leadership Advantage Call with Me on My Calendar Here: For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.

This is part 2 of a special show on professional women LinkedIn profile optimization. If you haven’t listened to part 1, you can start here. But be sure to catch the great advice in part 1 on profile optimization for executive women as well.-------------------------------------Do you know how to present yourself as a warm person on LinkedIn?Do you know the benefits of using LinkedIn to help you get a promotion inside your company, or a better job in another company? How would you like to have a strong, eye-catching LinkedIn profile?I am so excited about this interview. There are so many secrets in this show that will help you get better jobs, promotions, and a network of like-minded people that will re-enforce your personal brand and expand your income.And be sure to listen for the free gift from me in the middle of the show that will advance your career and leadership and help women world-wide too.In Part-1, we learned about the importance of LinkedIn profile optimization, tips on creating a great LinkedIn profile, how to create connections, and expand our networking and SOAR methodology. All of this incredible information to help women leadership and career development.In Part-2, we are continuing with our guest, Donna Serdula, LinkedIn Guru, who will expand our knowledge on creating a strong, eye-catching, and credible LinkedIn profile. Donna Serdula is making people’s lives better by guiding them to get better jobs, promotions, and incredible job positions by building a better more authentic LinkedIn Profile that sets you apart.Professional Women LinkedIn Profile Optimization Part 2- Summary Show Notes:Free help for military women career development [38:05- 40:55]Learn how Sabrina improves her profile with Donna’s suggestions [40:56- 44:09]Powerful tips to write a great ‘About’ section that gets noticed. [44:12-45:59]How you can get your ideal recommendation from others on LinkedIn to increase your clients and advance your career [46:36- 48:38]Powerful networking tips inside your company to help you get a promotion. [49:16- 51:24]Why showcasing personal hobbies and interests on LinkedIn profile helps you be more authentic and desirable. [51:25- 53:29]How to expand networking on LinkedIn to get a better job in a different company. [54:16- 56:52]Donna’s simple secret on following big companies to help your career development. [57:12- 58:09]How much does your experience matter on LinkedIn? [58:46- 1:00:09]LinkedIn have a new feature of following profiles. How can it help you? [1:01:07- 1:02:16]Difference between being authentic and overly vulnerable on LinkedIn. [1:03:02-1:05:10]Best things to do for LinkedIn Profile Optimization! [1:05:29- 1:07:10] OR [How to beat LinkedIn Algorithm?]We hope that this episode helped you. Be sure to follow us @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/executivecoachsabrinabraham/ - or Search for: “executive coach Sabrina Braham” & Donna Serdula But be sure to catch the great advice in part 1 on profile optimization for executive women as well. Action for Traction: Professional Women LinkedIn Profile OptimizationListening to a podcast or reading a book good is a start. But the way you will change and grow yourself is to take a small action every time you have an aha from what you have heard or read.Here are 4 possible actions you might consider:Every week pick one aspect of your profile to update. Start with your headline. See free resource #3.Ask someone for a recommendation, give them an outline or write it for them.Go to LinkedIn makeover.com, free resources, see LinkedIn headline generation or LinkedIn headline generator to help you get the best headline for your profile.If you are military or former military go to LinkedInmakeover.com look at the drop-down services where it says giving back, click on military program to get her video course for free.  Are you ready to break through your limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to move to a more powerful level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now:Here are 3 things you can start with now:1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here)2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com 3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media. Here is part 1 of the podcast on Professional Women LinkedIn Profile Optimization podcast,  listen here.

Do you have any of these LinkedIn profile questions below? LinkedIn has become the talk of the town, but don't worry as we're here to help with executive women LinkedIn optimization for your profile. - Why should executive women use LinkedIn? - What does a powerful LinkedIn profile have in it? - Do you have a LinkedIn profile but you’re not getting recruited? - Did you know that your LinkedIn profile should be different from your resume? - Have you ever wondered why you should use LinkedIn to build your brand, grow your network and influence, get a promotion, increase your income or get a better job? “LinkedIn helps people connect with opportunity.” Donna Serdula In 2022, LinkedIn has reached 800 million users worldwide and 95% of recruiters hire individuals based on good profiles. It's time that we, especially women, should take up the charge and make strong LinkedIn profiles to get what we deserve. The need for practical tips and techniques is what you need at the moment and that is why we have Donna Serdula onboard to help us understand how we can build a strong LinkedIn profile recruiters can never reject and will increase your influence and help your career development. To optimize LinkedIn, you need more than a profile for a job, you need better and more useful connections and a strong network. In the first part of this incredible podcast, you will get to know the secrets to having an outstanding LinkedIn profile coming from our expert guest Donna Serdula. Donna Serdula, LinkedIn Specialist, Author: “LinkedIn Profile Optimization For Dummies" Executive Women LinkedIn Optimization with Donna Serdula Donna Serdula is a versatile marketer and LinkedIn specialist. After having 10 successful years in the sales and marketing industry, she weaved her own path in becoming a legendary LinkedIn expert. Her book “LinkedIn Profile Optimization For Dummies” is a breakthrough in helping small and big businesses to get hold of their LinkedIn profiles in a professional and beneficial manner. Donna has been working with her team of 20 incredible writers at her website LinkedIn-Makeover.com making people’s lives easier in getting better jobs, expanding their networks and personal branding with her power of creating successful LinkedIn profiles and their maintenance. Executive Women LinkedIn Optimization with Donna Serdula's New Book Executive Women LinkedIn Optimization Part I of II Show Notes: Reasons why executive women needs LinkedIn [03:07-04:31] “Your network is your net worth.” Is that so? How LinkedIn helps executive women connect with opportunities. [04:32- 08:20] Learn how and why your LinkedIn profile needs to be different from your resume. [10:32- 12:00] Discover the professional benefits of being active? [12:25 - 23:17] Learn about SOAR methodology: Strategize, Optimize, Amplify, and Regulate. Want a powerful profile? Here are the top 3 things executive women do to increase their income and impact? [23:19- 29:28] How a LinkedIn Premium Business account can help you prospect, grow your network and advance your career.[30:27- 33:41] Executive Women LinkedIn Optimization Part - II to Come In part two, we're going dive deeper into LinkedIn to help executive women get a promotion or a better job. Donna shares one of her top trade secrets that increases your chances of getting your ideal job, and answer some core questions that our listeners have asked. Also in part II Donna reviews Sabrina’s linkedIn profile, points out some flaws and make some great recommendations to improve, that will help you too. Action for Traction: LinkedIn Optimization for Executive Women Listening to a podcast or reading a book good is a start. But the way you will change and grow yourself is to take a small action every time you have an aha from what you have heard or read. Here are 4 possible actions you might consider: Are you ready to break though your limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to move to a more powerful level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Executive Women LinkedIn Optimization and Executive Coaching with Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCCAre you or your team ready to breakthrough your limitations in your career, leadership, confidence and life, and move to a more powerful level, then here are 3 things you can start with now: 1: Call or email me for executive coaching and consulting. (Use Contact Form Here) 2: Go to CareerDevelopmentQuiz.Com for a free career and leadership assessment and a opportunity to get a free coaching session from me if you qualify. 3: Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict & sharing this show in your favorite social media. Free Help For Current or Former Military - Executive Women LinkedIn Optimization If you are military or former military go to LinkedInmakeover.com look at the drop down services where it says giving back, click on military program to get her video course for free.

Do you know why women reputation management is important, especially in your career? It can have a profound impact on your getting promoted, getting new business, how much you earn, and even your impact and influence in your family and community. Women reputation management gives women a chance to counter negative feedback. Monitoring, identifying, and promptly neutralizing negative feedback is very important for women who want to put their best face forward. Your reputation may be defined by what people say about you, but it is also determined by what you say as well. It is important to take the necessary precautions and ensure that what you say is on brand. Here are some questions you need to ask yourself if you are interested in women reputation management Have you ever done something that negatively impacted your reputation? Do you know what your reputation at work is? Do you know how to repair your reputation or, better yet, do you know how to control and build your reputation? If you are a woman looking for reputation management strategies to help your career branding and income, you need to listen to this interview with one of the leading experts in reputation management for women. Reputation Management for Women in the Work Place “Everyone has a personal brand, by design or default. Your reputation is one of the most critical determinants of your career success.”             -Lida Citroën, Author of Control the Narrative: The Executive's Guide to Building, Pivoting and Repairing Your Reputation Reputation management is something that we do to protect our name. It is the process of influencing the public perception of an individual or a group. Your reputation is how you are known, how people perceive you. As such, it is important to ensure that you strategically drive your reputation instead of leaving your good name to the whim of popular opinion or popular consensus. Reputation management and reputation repair allows you to put systems into place that measure and monitor how effective your name is at driving opportunities to you. This allows you to be aware when your reputation deviates so that you can take control of the matter before it becomes a crisis. Reputation Management, Career Branding and Reputation Repair Expert Lida Citroën In this Women’s Leadership Success podcast with Lida Citroën, you will learn how to manage your reputation and influence how people remember you when you leave the room. Lida discusses some strategies with Sabrina Braham that you can use for career branding, reputation repair, and reputation management. This podcast is for anyone who understands the importance of their brand and influence on their career and leadership. Lida Citroën is an author and an award winning brand and reputation management expert. Her job is to design and enhance the reputation of executives, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders worldwide. Lida is the CEO and founder of LIDA360, a keynote speaker and presenter with a popular TEDx Talk. She has multiple courses on LinkedIn Learning that showcase her empowering delivery style and message. Women Reputation Management Show Summary: Women's Leadership Success 111 Define your legacy. Be strategic. Know your starting point and your goal. Know what you want people to think about you. Use performance evaluations and reviews to discover people’s perception of you. How to decide on the value of the feedback you get and what to do about it. Actively plan the changes you want to make on your reputation. Do women have more difficulty with reputation management compared to men? Learn about how your brand is all about emotions. How is a strategic network different from just networking? Is your reputation damaged? Learn some steps to reputation repair. How can women in the military build their brands and move their career forward? “Find your voice and use it however you want to use it. It’s there for a reason.”             -Lida Citroën Action for Traction - Women Reputation Management Ask people who you trust to give you an honest answer about how they would describe you and some of the words they would describe you by. Listen to what they say. Take active measures to develop a positive brand identity and improve what people say about you. The key is to handle negative comment delicately and build on the positive comments. Follow through with your reputation management plan and measure your progress.   Are you ready to break though your limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to move to a more powerful level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Contact me for executive coaching or management consulting today. For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  Tap into the insights you are getting from this show AND Help me spread the word to other women just like you, by giving me a review in one of these podcast players which are; Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Pod Chaser, Podcast Addict or by sharing this show with your friends in social media. And as an extra thank you gift for you., I am doing a Monthly drawing for a free book from one of my guest that will help you advance your success. You have 3 easy chances to win.  Just post a short comment and link to this show in the Women’s leadership success Facebook page or the Post about this show in Linkedin, or give me a podcast review.  

 Have you ever felt that gender equity at your workplace is a mere joke?Have you always been under continuous pressure to be ‘presentable’ just because you’re a woman?Have you ever felt that you are reluctant to build new healthy workplace relations for your career development?Have you experienced having an unappreciative male boss over you?Do you think that managers, especially men, should take active steps in supporting gender equality?We want to raise our voices regarding workplace issues, nobody wants to talk about, but we end up being quiet because we end up being complaisant.So, how can we overcome this?Gender Equity and Supporting Women at Work:As Aya Chebbi says, “Find your identity, your true self, and live your mission…Your power is your radical self. Find it.” If we think over it, this is what we, as women, need to do. If we want people to take us serious, noticed, and be respectful at the workplace, we need to be efficient in our true selves. We need to radiate the energy we want to get from our employers.In this Women’s Leadership Success Podcast with Kate Eberle Walker, you will learn how you can have more gender equality at work. Kate discusses with Sabrina Braham some life-changing tips that can help leaders to understand things how they can make the work easier and safer for women who are juggling multiple things. The podcast is an amazing game changer for not only women, but men as well who are working as managers and want to be the best boss for their employees. Kate Eberle Walker, Author:  “The Good Boss: 9 Ways Every Manager Can Support Women at Work”.Kate Eberle is a wonderful author of the book, “The Good Boss: 9 Ways Every Manager Can Support Women at Work”. Not only she is an author, but she has immense experience in leading, managing, advising, and investing in education companies and organizations. Her 20+ years of experience has proved out to be a useful asset for women career development. Kate is a keen observer and wonderful advocate of gender equity in the workplace.  Women’s Leadership Success 110 on Gender Equity Show Summary:Ideal work vs. the background struggles to get valued and seen.What are ways to learn how to be heard and seen How to be perfect can cause issues for womenWhy Bosses who know how to treat women are the best bosses!Learn why it is an awful thing to call a women’s name wrong when you’re at a managing them!How to respond to a situation where you have been called your wrong name?Building good workplace relationships when your boss is male.Discover how can you practice the equal opportunity in your work and life?Validation is everything! Why it is important for managers to let their employees know they have potential?Ways can bosses encourage women to speak up more.Secrets to finding a good boss.Engaging men to be our allies at work.Enrolling men to take an initiative to become a better boss for women.To really support women in the workplace, managers, especially men, need to step up.This episode of Women's Leadership Success podcast will shift your perspectives on gender equity, career development, and amazing ways to support women at work! You will discover important ways you need to speak up for yourself and others. And hopefully be inspired to educate the men in management positions on how to empower women to reach their full potential. Gender Equity and Gender Equality in Your WorkplaceWe want to know your questions, issues and opinionsThis  huge topic affecting your career, earnings, influence and happiness at work.  Please post your comments, and what you are doing in your workplace below for advice and to help fellow women leaders ( and men) create a workplace that is more equitable and fun. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------How to Get a Free Leadership and Career Development Assessment & Coaching Session with Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC Are you a manager, C- level executive or business owner who wants to advance your career, increase your earnings, or improve retention and team performance? As one of my loyal listeners, I have a gift for you that has helped countless women (and men) – that you will love. Download Leading Before You're Ready Playbook. This a practical workbook for emerging leaders stepping into bigger rolesFor almost 30 years I've been dedicated to helping women just like you, radically improve their careers and earnings with incredible results for individuals and teams. 

Is there a secret sauce that leads women into achieving career fulfillment? Do you wish to accelerate your career growth by finding a job you love? A job that gives you satisfaction and makes you eager to go to work every day? Make your way into your "juicy work" and see your career reach scalable heights! Career fulfillment can only happen if you know where, when and what you’re good at. Knowing this will help you discover your true potential and phenomenally aid in finding the job you love! You can find your sweet spot by tapping into your strengths, passion, and the right environment. You can create a rewarding career and this episode of Women's Leadership Success will help you do just that. What are the tips and tricks to achieving career development for women? How do you teach yourself to be open to feedback and clear your way to success? Is there a way you could "upskill" yourself during an unemployed phase of your life? In this episode of Women’s Leadership Success podcast, Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC interviews Sandy A. Mobley, author of Juicy Work. In Juicy Work, Sandy describes how you can bring all your energy, passion, and experience into finding your own "Juicy Work." The top advice shared in this podcast will help women in leadership roles open greater avenues for growth and career fulfillment. These also help women leverage their skills and expertise and increase job satisfaction to fit into roles that promise growth.   Women’s Leadership Success Highlights: How Women Can Find Career Fulfillment & The Job They Love Understanding juicy work and how it helps in career development for women. Defining Your Strengths: Learn why this is an essential step in finding a career you love. What is the Sweet Spot, and how it helps ensure job satisfaction for women. Understanding when you’re effective: Self-awareness can take you a long way in building relationships and understanding responsibilities. Opening up to feedback and asking for help can take you to greater heights in your career. You could achieve them by having curiosity and openness of mind. Reinvent yourself by changing your behavior for career fulfillment: Learn the 3 key steps to building positive behavior change. Shift your perspective and utilize your unemployed time to grow yourself or your strengths. Believe that there is juicy work for you and never give up on that goal.   About Sandy Mobley: Women’s Leadership Success Guest Author Sandy Mobley is a leading executive and coach with 30 years of experience taking leaders to their next level of performance. With an MBA from Harvard, she is an expert in experiential learning using simulations, case studies, role-plays, and on-the-job experiences. Sandy is actively involved in keynote speaking, workshops, and personalized strategic leadership coaching.   Free Assessment & Leadership Coaching with Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC Strengths Finder Assessments & Coaching Especially for Women Leaders  Ask Sabrina Anything to Advance Your Leadership   Are you ready to take the next step to maximize your Strengths, achieve career fulfillment and personal goals? Schedule a FREE @sk Sabrina Anything call to ask any questions about learning, loving and living your strengths! Sabrina has decades of on the job Fortune 1000 expertise in leadership and career development helping women (and men) be better leaders. It doesn’t matter whether you are already leading a company, managing a team or aspire to a leadership role, contact Sabrina today and ask your burning questions to help you get promoted, earn more money and have a greater impact.          

 Would you like to be sought out, as the go to person? Chosen over all others. The person who is relied on by people and organizations? Get ready to take back control of your career and grow your own talents in your area of expertise to stay sought after forever. Developing this mindset and commitment to your goal will insure work will always find you. Reduce your stress, build your community, monetize your talents, and become a Forever Employable Women Leader. If you want to step into a life where you new opportunities come to you, listen to this episode! Do you want to stand out from the crowd? Do you want to take back control of your career – leverage your expertise and reach your full potential? Are you ready to grow your talents in your area of expertise to choose your next job or career opportunity? In this episode of Women’s Leadership Success podcast, Sabrina Braham interviews Jeff Gothelf, author of Forever Employable. In Forever Employable, Jeff Gothelf describes how you can be a forever employable women leader in your area of expertise and how that will lead you to business opportunities. These suggestions will help entrepreneurs who want develop new ventures. And it will also magnify a woman’s career development by helping them to stay relevant in their current jobs, and prepare for the job of their dreams. Jeff Gothelf About Jeff Gothelf: Women's Leadership Success Guest Author Jeff work’s as a coach, speaker, author & consultant to help organizations build better products and executives build the cultures that build better products. Jeff started his career as a designer working with the first companies to use the internet as a new communication, sales and service channel. Over his 20-year career Jeff has worked as an information architect, product manager, design team leader, founder, trainer, coach and consultant. Women's Leadership Success 108 Highlights: How to Be Forever Employable Women Leader Planting Your Flag: Learn why this is by far one of the biggest obstacles to getting the process started. Motivation Speech: How to develop your own unique story that no one else can tell. What is 101-level content and how it will help you develop your talents Discover the Japanese Concept called “Ikigai” and the four questions to help you identify where to plant your flag. Change your thinking to Entrepreneurialism: If you are going to build this platform of your expertise, you need to have an entrepreneurial mindset because essentially you’re treating your career as a product. Reinvent yourself to build Self-confidence Use Continuous Learning for your strategic women’s career development. Take action for Continuous improvement: keep applying the new skills you learn.    What Are Your Top Questions and Comments on Forever Employable Women Leaders? Please post them in the comments window below.     Free Assessment & Leadership Coaching with Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC Strengths Finder Assessments & Coaching Especially for Women Leaders Ask Sabrina Anything to Advance Your Leadership Are you ready to take the next step to maximize your Strengths and achieve your professional and personal goals? Schedule a FREE @sk Sabrina Anything call to ask any questions about learning, loving and living your strengths! Sabrina has decades of on the job Fortune 1000 expertise in leadership and career development helping women (and men) be better leaders. It doesn’t matter whether you are already leading a company, managing a team or aspire to a leadership role, contact Sabrina today and ask your burning questions to help you get promoted, earn more money and have a greater impact.            

In this globally interconnected and changing world where the “alpha” or “hero” leadership often dominates, it is empowering to know that Quietly Powerful Women Leaders, who are often overlooked and taken advantage of, have immense value to contribute to organizations. But how do we encourage more quiet women professionals to shift their beliefs about leadership and view their quiet nature as a strength to be a great leader while staying authentic?  Listen today and find out. Do you want to know what a Quietly Powerful Woman Leader is like? Do you consider yourself as a quiet person and wonder how you can leverage your quiet nature for career development? Do you think men are as equally challenged as women are in terms of leadership while staying true to their nature? And now that most of us are working from home because of the pandemic, how can quietly powerful women leaders still thrive on virtual meetings and sessions? In this episode of Women’s Leadership Success, Sabrina Braham interviews Megumi Miki, author of Quietly Powerful, a fantastic book about Quietly Powerful leaders who view their quiet nature as a strength for career development and to succeed in their own way, rather than seeing it as a disadvantage. This podcast will empower women to embrace their quietly powerful nature to fulfill their own potential as incredible leaders which is an important tool to thrive during this current pandemic where most of us are working from our homes. This new episode also aims to encourage organizations to expand their beliefs about what effective leadership looks like. Megumi Miki Interview on Quietly Powerful Women – Unique Way to Promotion Megumi Miki is a Leadership Consultant bringing in her 20 years of experience and practical knowledge of business strategy, finance, leadership, organizational development and culture change. She is the author of the book called Quietly Powerful where she talks her own experience and that of Quietly Powerful Leaders who have achieved great success while staying authentic.   Women’s Leadership Success 107 Summary: Quietly Powerful Women Leaders What is a Quiet Powerful Leader look like? Quiet Powerful Leaders are not always in the public unless they have to. They are also very humble and purpose-driven leaders. As discussed in Quietly Powerful book, quietly powerful women leaders have three attributes: Comfortable with their own skins that they can share their strengths and weaknesses. They believe it’s a collective effort to get things done and they do not treat themselves as center of control or center of power. They’re present when interacting with others. They connect deeply with their people and not treat their relationship as a transactional kind. This kind of attribute really speaks how great listeners they are and how they really tap into understanding their people. Quietly Powerful Leaders are very purposeful. They don’t like the center of attention and some of them are reluctant to become leaders or get promoted. The only reason why they stepped us is because they developed a sense of purpose that was greater than themselves and felt like they can contribute to that. Quiet VS Quietly Powerful Quiet People most of the time just disempower themselves. They use their quiet nature as an excuse to not engage because they feel like they will not be heard. So they just hold back and that is disempowering. On the other hand, Quietly Powerful Leaders use their nature more deliberately. They stay quiet when it is useful and they speak when they need to. Shifting from Quiet to Quietly Powerful A process of awareness building. First, one must appreciate themselves fully, take good and the bad, appreciate the strengths and the weaknesses. Second, adapt purposefully on a situation or role that requires you to attend training and seminars to be much more effective in the job. By adapting purposefully, you add to what you already have rather than trying to fix what you think is a deficit. Quietly Powerful Leader on Virtual Meetings & Sessions during this time of Pandemic Virtual Meetings represent a different kind of challenge. We all know that when we talk on top of each other during virtual meetings, we can’t hear anything. So people tend to hold back to make sure that everybody is hear, and so that is a challenge. To thrive on virtual meetings, make sure to approach the facilitator of the meeting beforehand and help them facilitate because facilitation is the key especially on virtual meetings. To encourage engagement and discussion, agree on how you can let them know that you want to say something. Quietly Powerful Women Leaders View on Promotion Instead of self-promotion, Quiet Powerful Leaders view it as sharing their work and making it useful for people. It is high time for quiet powerful professionals to embrace their quiet nature to fulfill their potential as incredible leaders. It is time to reframe the story they tell themselves about their leadership potential. Because YOUR QUIET NATURE IS YOUR HIDDEN LEADERSHIP STRENGTH.   Short Video Tips From Megumi Miki for Quiet Professionals Here are a few video tips for quiet professionals to speak to contribute and be heard might be helpful and created a video - below is a short introduction. Strengths Finder Assessments & Coaching Especially for Women Leaders Free Assessment & Leadership Coaching with Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC Ask Sabrina Anything to Advance Your Leadership Are you ready to take the next step to maximize your Strengths and achieve your professional and personal goals? Schedule a FREE @sk Sabrina Anything call to ask any questions about learning, loving and living your strengths! Sabrina has decades of on the job Fortune 1000 expertise in leadership and career development helping women (and men) be better leaders.  It doesn’t matter whether you are already leading a company, managing a team or aspire to a leadership role, contact Sabrina today and ask your burning questions to help you get promoted, earn more money and have a greater impact.

Are you a woman looking to take your career to the next level? Have you been trying to get a job with no success? What is standing in the way between you and your dream job? This podcast might be the answer to all of your job seeking woes. Here, you will get an insight on how you can successfully apply for a job and learn a few tips on how you can increase your chances of landing that job of your dreams. This episode of Women’s Leadership Success is focused on getting hired and strategic job development for women. Knowledge is power. If you manage to have a chat with some of the big names out there, one thing remains certain; they knew something that the rest didn’t. A bit of information might be all you need for success in the career development for women.  Walk with us as we tackle the employment challenges women face and how you can successfully secure that job position you have always wanted to curve your way up in women’s leadership. About Jackie Ducci, Author of Almost Hired: Job Development for Women Jackie Ducci is the CEO and founder of the Ducci and Associates, an east coast talent acquisition agency servicing over 500 clients nationwide. With over 15 years in talent acquisition, Jackie has amassed vast experience in job employment, boasting an astounding 90 percent success rate placing candidates in long term working positions. Her first book - Almost Hired - provides job seekers with an insight on how hiring works in the employer’s perspective. Whether you are looking to find work in a large or small corporation, Jackie believes the employment hiring system still remains the same.   Women’s Leadership Success 106 Summary: Career Development for women  1. Why is your job seeking resumes going to waste? (00.00.10-00.05.00) Learn of a few dos and don’ts that play a major role in the success of your resumes and cv's. 2. Is that job right for you? (00.05.20-00.07.33) Are you applying for a job suits you? What makes a job bad for you?  3. Which are the best places to look for jobs? (00.10.04-00.12.11) Looking for employment at the wrong places might be the sole reason why you are failing in your job seeking adventures. Learn which places present better hiring chances. 4. What is networking and how can it be of help? (00.13.55-00.14.57) Which are the baby steps of forming a working network? How can networking help in job development for women?  5. What are employers looking for? (00.19.58-00.22.00) More often than not, resumes and cv’s get no reply at all since job seekers tend to portray the wrong impression to the employers. Learn a few tips on how you can write the most appealing resumes to get that job you need on your journey in the career development for women. 6. How do you prepare for an interview? (00.22.03-00.24.42) Get a few tips on how to present yourself on the interview day. 7. What should you do during an interview?? (00.24.43-00.25.00)   What are the right questions to ask during an interview? What makes up a good impression to the employer in an interview? Learn about this and many more. Are you ready to take your career to the next level? Take a few notes from this interview with Jackie Ducci and Sabrina Braham which is filled with priceless knowledge and tips that go a long way in effective job development for women. Strengths Finder Assessments & Coaching Especially for Women Leaders Free Assessment & Leadership Coaching with Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC   Are you ready to take the next step to maximize your Strengths and achieve your professional and personal goals? Schedule a FREE @sk Sabrina Anything call to ask any questions about learning, loving and living your strengths! Sabrina has decades of on the job Fortune 1000 expertise in leadership and career development helping women (and men) be better leaders.  It doesn’t matter whether you are already leading a company, managing a team or aspire to a leadership role, contact Sabrina today and ask your burning questions to help you get promoted, earn more money and have a greater impact.

It would be amazing to see yourself as an inspiring and influencing women’s leader. But how is that possible during Coronavirus? Do you want to learn the art of strengths based leadership for women? Do you want to polish your strengths rather than improving weaknesses? Do you want to know how you can mix your talents and strengths into one powerful tool? Do you wonder why your skilled employees are not taking your company to the next level? Listen to his episode of Women’s Leadership Success podcast podcast on strengths based Leadership For Women with Sabrina Braham and Erin Passons. This podcast will be a powerful tool for you to learn how you can utilize your strengths and apply them in your work, making you a remarkable women’s leader. The discussion is a revolutionary concept on the entire how’s and when’s on STRENGTH. Especially important  during these tough coronavirus times. How can you use your strengths to be a successful women's leader? Jennifer Lopez said, “Don’t push your weaknesses, play with your strengths."  Are you focusing on your weaknesses and trying to improve them?  Are you unsure if you have valuable talents or strengths that you can utilize effectively? Do you know about your strengths, but take them for granted?  Stop wasting your time trying to eliminate your weaknesses. Apply these tips for Strengths based Leadership for Women.  In this episode you will learn about your strengths, and how can you develop them to increase your impact and influence, and to effect change in organization. You will also discover how can you use your strengths to develop others. Erin Passon Interview on Strengths Based Leadership for Women   Erin Passon, a former Management Consultant at Gallup, is a certified Executive Coach and a certified MBTI practitioner and also the founder/President of Passon’s Consulting.  She’s also a member of the Association for Talent Development (ATD) and Organization Development Network (ODNet), and the founder of Strengths Network San Diego, an association for StrengthsFinder professionals in Southern California. She helps big and small companies and businesses stand out from the crowd.      Women’s Leadership Success 105 Summary: Strengths Based Leadership for Women Why is Strengths-based philosophy & culture so valuable? (4:35-7:18) Are you aware of the strengths and talents of the people in your organization? What are they? How can you maximize them in your culture? Strengths and Talents: Are they same? (7:20-8:26) Do you have a specific talent you are proud of? Do you have particular strengths? Have you ever considered if both of them are the same or if you can use both of them to become a successful women's leader? Strengths and its Impact! (12:18-14:39) How are our strength’s related to our relationships? Does it have anything to do with our performance or team effectiveness? How does it affect our communication or collaboration in business? Why it is so powerful when it comes to Strengths based leadership for women? Incorporating strengths-based leadership in your team approach will change your leadership outcomes. The impact of strength based leadership and workplace (14:40-16:11) By following strength based leadership for women you will become a more effective and inspiring leader. You will be amazed to know how certain leadership styles can make your organization stand out of the crowd. What are the common traits of great leaders? (14:40-17:53) They are different depending on their unique strengths. Find out some life-changing tips of following strength based leadership for women.  The 4 Domains of talent assessment.  What are they? (25:25-30:42) You can quickly assess yourself on how good or bad of a leader you are! Listen to the 4 Domains created by Gallup to assess your strengths to become a good woman leader. How to apply strengths based leadership without using an assessment (30:50-32-38) Get to know a simple hack to apply strength based approaches in your leadership style without any assessment.   Strengths Finder Assessments & Coaching Especially for Women Leaders Free Assessment & Leadership Coaching with Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC   Are you ready to take the next step to maximize your Strengths and achieve your professional and personal goals? Schedule a FREE @sk Sabrina Anything call to ask any questions about learning, loving and living your strengths! Sabrina has decades of on the job Fortune 1000 expertise in leadership and career development helping women (and men) be better leaders.  It doesn’t matter whether you are already leading a company, managing a team or aspire to a leadership role, contact Sabrina today and ask your burning questions to help you get promoted, earn more money and have a greater impact.

A Woman Leaders Guide to Grace to Advance Your Career & Leadership Do you want to learn the act of Grace? Do you want to inspire your colleagues by graciousness and kindness? Do you want to cultivate the Culture of Kindness and Grace In Your Company? Do you want to solve your problems in your work environment by practicing graciousness? You have got to listen to today’s podcast of Sabrina Braham and John Baldoni where they have enlightened some key points to understand what ‘Grace’ is and how you can work on a Woman Leaders Guide to Grace! This podcast will change your perspective towards your leadership practices and make you a better, kinder person.   Why grace and kindness an important leadership skill to learn? There’s a very wise saying, “Whenever life plants you, bloom with Grace”. Being gracious is an ability some people have it by default. The best thing about having grace is that it is contagious and it will spread like a beautiful fragrant blooming flower.  Learning how to practice grace in business culture will make you reach heights you have never imagined before. Not only you will feel energized, positive and determined towards your goals but you will have inner peace and mental satisfaction of your deeds. Isn’t it important to change our styles and thoughts towards others? Shouldn’t we make our acts contagious? Isn’t it easy to have a Woman Leaders Guide to Grace for a successful life?   John Baldani- Author of: Grace – a Leader’s Guide to a Better Us   John Baldoni- Author of: Grace - a Leader's Guide to a Better Us John Baldoni is an executive speaker (Inc.com Top 100 Speakers 2018), leadership educator and author of 14 inspiring books changing the perspectives of traditional leadership techniques and inspiring women leaders all around the globe.     Women’s Leadership 104 Highlights: Importance of Woman Leaders Guide to Grace Learn what GRACE actually is (1:25-3:19) Learn about the meaning of grace and how it can become a crucial thing to become a successful women leader! Relation of Grace to our businesses and work? (3:22-4:19) A game changer for your businesses and work! Know things you have never noticed before and how can they have a strong impact on your personality! The need of grace in our work and lives? (4:38-6:46) Do you want to live a happy, content and satisfied life? Do you want to know how can you breed grace in your lives and work? Amazing facts which will change your life are waiting for you!  How can you learn to reach out to one another (7:04-8:48) Understand how you can help others in a different way you have never worked on before! Do you want to inspire others by your charismatic leadership way? This is it!! Can you share a story of a leader that practiced Grace? (9:25-10:40) Inspiring story of a leader which will teach you how worthy you are when you practice grace! Want to know who is this famous leader? Learn what is Generosity? (12:57-14:11) Learn free tips on being generous and inspiring others to the extent that you can get things done from anyone in your company! Interesting, no? How to view problems as teachable moments?   (14:22-16:14) Do you rant or whine about your problems? Is it hard for you to solve issues at hand? How well do you tackle a situation in your business? Get to know about these questions now! What is respect as social currency? (18:16-19:13) What is the meaning of respect for you? Do you respect your colleagues? Do you deserve to be respected? How hard it is to pay respect to others? Talk about the habit of assuming “good intentions first” (20:49-22:03) Forget the traditional ways of being at good intentions! Modern world needs a different set of good intentions but how can you practically act on them? Know about this habit now! What are some actions we can take to bring Grace into our leadership? (20:50-22:03) How can you be a graceful leader especially if you are a women? What makes you gracious? What are the qualities of such leader? Learn about bringing grace to your leadership style and become a Women Leaders Guide to Grace! Summing up this life changing interview with John Baldoni we have learned that Woman Leaders Guide to Grace is simple if we start focusing on little acts of kindness. Especially in these turbulent times, you can become a great and successful woman leader in your business culture only if you practice grace enough. Not only it will nourish your soul but it will take your business to next level.    Want to Know Your Leadership Score? Free Assessment & Leadership Coaching with Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC Find out quick and easy how you currently rank in your leadership development.  It take less then 4 minutes to take this confidential assessment designed by Sabrina Braham. Sabrina has decades of on the job Fortune 1000 expertise in leadership and career development helping women (and men) be better leaders.  It doesn’t matter whether you are already leading a company, managing a team or aspire to a leadership role, take the quiz and find out your current score and get tips on best practices. This free quiz will help you get promoted, earn more money and have a greater impact.   Do You Qualify for a Free Coaching Session with Sabrina? Besides getting your personal score, and career and leadership tips right away, you may also qualify for a free leadership coaching session with Sabrina.  To qualify just fill out this confidential quiz here.  If your score shows you are a person who is open to making improvement and you are motivated to be a better leader, you may qualify for a free leadership coaching session with Sabrina. The very fact that you listen to Women’s Leadership Success podcast or are reading this post time management for women leaders with John Baldoni and Sabrina Braham, tells us you are a person who wants to grow your career and leadership skills.  So, you are already on the road to success.  

 Want to save valuable lost time? This is Email Management for Women Leaders   Email  Management for Women Leaders Top Email Hacks Are you tired of spending hours replying to countless emails? Would you like to manage your email and time better? Do You want to master email management the way successful women leaders do? Then listen in today as my guest, Dianna Booher and I discuss the importance of email management for women leaders and shed light on how women leaders can save time and increase efficiency on emails. Why Top Women Leaders Manage Their Emails and Save Valuable Time More than half the time, the few 6-8 hours we spend at work daily is not enough to accomplish certain tasks we have mapped out for that day. Email management skills become crucial to  woman leaders as it helps to reduce overall work stress and gets things done faster. As a woman in leadership, getting a grip on your time management by focusing on the important things and delegating or outsourcing the rest is important. Effective email management in the workplace even goes as far as improving one’s productivity and overall quality of life. It can be achieved in many ways. This is what Dianna Booher and I focus on in this podcast.   Dianna Booher – Time & Email Management Expert Dianna is a master communicator and author with 48 books. Her entire life work is centered around all forms of communication. She travels the globe with various organizations, teaching great skills and sensitizing corporate bodies on the value of effective communication in the workplace and how to achieve it. Based in Dallas Fort Worth, Dianna has a research institute that works with different organizations to help them expand their influence to build a strong executive presence via effective communication skills. Dianna and Sabrina Braham are passionate about  helping women move up the corporate ladder through insightful communication skills, leadership and career development. Dianna Booher; Time Management Expert Women’s Leadership Podcast: Email Management for Women Leaders Show Highlights Discover surprising ways that people handle their email time management (3:35-5:25) A lot of people in the workplace are spending a lot of time on emails. Studies show that 42% of the workforce is spending three hours or more replying to emails. This statistic is actually a clear insight on how many professionals and leaders in the workplace are very disorganized about communication. Spending that much time every day on email is a major distraction and poses a huge problem in the work environment. Learn how to declutter your email for great results and better work experience. (7:50- 10:20) One of the easiest decluttering strategies for emails is not treating your inbox as a to-do list. It is easy to look at an email that needs your attention and make a mental note to get back to it the following day. So, you leave the email opened and move on to the next one. You do this to four emails in a row and before you know it, you are already confused as to what you were supposed to do with each email. That set of emails remain unattended to and just keep piling up in your inbox. It helps to make an actual note on your calendar and then delete the email to enable you to move to the next. Learn the importance of “changing the subject line” on your emails for better email management and communication (10:29-13:00) It is easy to look at the subject line of an email and think you have already attended to that when in fact there is a thread of new information you are yet to see. Also, this wastes a lot of time as you will have to go through a thread of say 15 emails to find one detail when it is asked for. To avoid this, change the subject line of the email as the conversation progresses. This will help you know the exact mail to refer back to and also keep your information better organized for reference purposes. What you need to know about personal liability and how to protect yourself (18:39-23:30) When it comes to liability issues it helps to be consistent with the timing, distribution list, and responses of your emails. There are different kinds of liability issues that could surface especially as it has become surprisingly easy to spoof different emails. A lot of people know not to click on suspicious emails, but it has become quite hard to distinguish the real ones from the spoofs. It helps to know where the email is from by paying attention to the URL, address and even the spellings. Find out about the biggest mistakes a lot of people make when it comes to email communication and how to improve on this (23:54-28:00) A lot of people treat emails like basic chats and forget that there is a structure that governs email communication that needs to be adhered to. It is easy to lose sight of important information when emails aren’t structured properly, and this could even affect the quality of the responses you get to those emails. It always helps to ask specific, clear questions in your emails as this will help you get a concise response instead of the usual jargon.   Attention Women Leaders: Advance Your Career and Leadership with Email Management Email management for women leaders is a great way to refocus their communication strategies and get them hinged on the things that actually matter. It is a great way to save time and to communicate more effectively in the workplace. It may be difficult to get rid of our old email hoarding and communication habits.  A new habit of daily and consistent efforts will definitely make us better decisions for email time management. Listen to this great podcast on email management for women leaders to help you be a better leader, advance your career and save valuable time. Do You Know Your Leadership & Career Development Score? Free Assessment & Leadership Coaching with Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC Find out quick and easy how you currently rank in your career and leadership development.  Take less then 4 minutes right now and take this confidential assessment designed by Sabrina Braham. Sabrina has decades of on the job Fortune 1000 expertise in leadership and career development helping women (and men) be better leaders. It doesn’t matter whether you are already leading a company, managing a team or aspire to a leadership role. Take the quiz and find out your current score and get tips on best practices. This free quiz will help you get promoted, earn more money and have a greater impact. Do You Qualify for a Free Coaching Session with Sabrina? Besides getting your personal score, and career and leadership tips right away, you may also qualify for a free leadership coaching session with Sabrina.  To qualify just fill out this confidential quiz here.  If your score shows you are a person who is open to making improvement and you are motivated to be a better leader, you may qualify for a free leadership coaching session with Sabrina. The very fact that you listen to Women’s Leadership Success podcast or are reading this post time management for women leaders with Dianna Booher and Sabrina Braham, tells us you are a person who wants to grow your career and leadership skills.  So, you are already on the road to success.

Behavior Change for Women Leaders (and Men) Are you afraid of making mistakes in business?  Are you ready to change your behavior to generate more success?  Are you curious about a different mindset that will impact your career advancement? Then listen in today as Sabrina Braham and Barry O’ Reilly shed more light on how behavioral changes can effect the progress of women in business. This podcast will share secrets that can help you “unlearn” certain behaviors for more success and discover useful ways to advance your career. Why is this Important? Plato once said that “human behavior flows from three main sources; desire, emotion, and knowledge”. This means that our behavior is largely hinged on the things we desire, how we feel and the things we know. It, therefore, goes without saying that our behavior towards our jobs and life as a whole goes a long way to determine the kind of output we get. As women in business, having the right behavior  and actions can take you a few steps higher on the corporate ladder. In order to achieve this, certain past behaviors have to be “unlearned” and new ones learned. This podcast will show you how a timely behavior change in business can positively effect career development for women.   Get to Know Barry O’ Reilly, Author of Unlearn; Let Go of Past Success to Achieve Extraordinary Results Barry O’ Reilly is an entrepreneur, business advisor and author who focuses on sharing his knowledge of product development, innovation, culture transformation in the workplace and team design for better business relationships and environments. He works with thought leaders and teams from all over the globe to strategize on ways to keep businesses on the right path to consistent growth. He makes use of his knowledge of culture transformation to unlock the potentials of businesses. His book “Unlearn” focuses on shaping and reshaping the behavior of people in the workplace and helping them achieve great results without focusing on past successes.  WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP SHOW 102 HIGHLIGHTS: BEHAVIOR CHANGE FOR WOMEN LEADERS Find out what it means to “unlearn” (6:26-11:00) Holding on to old business models, behaviors, strategies, and even competencies that made you successful in the past doesn’t always work especially with the dynamic nature of the corporate world. Unlearning what does not work and then learning new things isn’t always easy, but it is the only way to move forward in business and is a crucial part of behavior change for women leaders. Learn about the different signals that indicate the need to unlearn (11:50- 14:30) Knowing and describing what success means to you or your project is the segue to determining what behavior or actions need to be unlearned. Avoiding challenges or exhausting strategies without getting results are usually indicators that a modus operandi or behavior towards your goal needs to be unlearned. What are the different steps for behavior change for women leaders? (14:46-27:33) It is important to know exactly the things you want to unlearn, identify all the challenges and also be focused on what you want to achieve. Taking note of past behaviors gives one a clear idea of what steps can be taken or behaviors learned for better outcomes. Then you implement tiny new behaviors for greater success. Learn the mindsets to change a behavior (29:35-31:10) Having a good idea of the behaviors that are not beneficial to your journey towards your goals and learning a system to take small but decisive steps to curb them, will disrupt toxic patterns and give a clearer and easier path to success. Learn why “small wins” are so important for leadership development (32:00-33:30) Setting easy and small goals, achieving and celebrating them regardless of how minute they might be is a great way to reflect on behaviors and know what works and what doesn’t. Small wins are a proven way to remain motivated and eager to unlearn and relearn new behaviors. Find out why $36 billion is spent on learning yearly and only 30% is effective (35:00-39:30) The way people are being taught needs to be unlearned. Having people experience things instead of pushing information on them in a classroom is more effective and will yield better results. Old models of teaching and learning need to be unlearned for better working environments. Think big, start small and then take action! The need for a better workplace for women is a pressing one and is governed by so many internal and external factors. A behavior change for women leaders is a great way for them to get ahead in their careers and for personal development as well. Listen to this amazing podcast with Barry O’ Reilly and learn to unlearn ineffective behavior, while focusing your energy on new and effective ones to help you lead and succeed. Do You Know Your Leadership & Career Development Score? Free Assessment & Leadership Coaching with Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC Find out quick and easy how you currently rank in your career and leadership development.  Take less then 4 minutes right now and take this confidential assessment designed by Sabrina Braham. Sabrina has decades of on the job Fortune 1000 expertise in leadership and career development helping women (and men) be better leaders. It doesn't matter whether you are already leading a company, managing a team or aspire to a leadership roll. Take the quiz and find out you current score, and get tips today to "Unlearn" and relearn best practices. This free quiz followed by behavior change for women leaders (and men) tips, will help you get promoted, earn more money and have a greater impact. Do You Qualify for a Free Coaching Session with Sabrina? Besides getting your personal score, and career and leadership tips right away, you may also qualify for a free leadership coaching session with Sabrina.  To qualify just fill out this confidential quiz here.  If your score shows you are a person who is open to making improvement and you are motivated to be a better leader, you may qualify for a free leadership coaching session with Sabrina. The very fact that you listen to Women's Leadership Success podcast or are reading this post on behavior change for women leaders with Barry O'Reilly and Sabrina Braham, tells us you are a person who wants to grow your career and leadership skills.  So you are already on the road to success.

Do you want to learn better communication skills for women? Are you keen on improving your general communication skills? Do you want to learn how to communicate like the leader you are? Then listen in today as Sabrina Braham discusses the importance of effective communication in the workplace and gives deep insight into building strong communication skills for women. This is the final part of a 3-part series on “Communicating like a leader for women”  Why are Communication Skills for Women Important? Great communication skills is one of the major keys to a successful working relationship with your colleagues and employees. A study by leaders in partnership revealed that in the workplace, men tend to control the conversation 75% of the time. This shows that effective communication in business is something a lot of women employees or even those in leadership positions seem to struggle with. Sometimes, women unknowingly exhibit certain behaviors that may undermine their position and expertise in the work environment while communicating. Sabrina aims to show women how to pass the right message at all times through the communication skills training shared in this podcast.   Get to Know Sabrina Braham M.A  MFT PCC Sabrina is a certified mentor, and founder of Braham and Associates, a firm which focuses on consultation, training, assessment, and executive coaching for leadership development. She also helps women attain their career goals through team building, performance management and improvement, conflict resolution and change management. She is certified by the ICF and has over three decade’s worth of experience in leadership development, management consulting, mentor coaching and a host of other skills. She is passionate about seeing women succeed in their different career fields and dedicates her talent, skills, time and resources to ensure they have all the tools they need to succeed.   Women’s Leadership 101 Highlights: Communication Skills for Women Leaders Why do Women Not Speak Up as much as Men? (3:44-5:00) Women have been trained or conditioned to be quiet or to listen more than they talk and this is strongly evident in social and religious gatherings and even in the workplace. Also, many times, women tend to remain quiet for fear of being misunderstood or just plain disregarded by their colleagues.  Learn How an Inability to Communicate like a Leader Can Negatively Impact Women in the Workplace (5:27-7:40) This silence or inability for women to speak up leads to stagnation in most of their careers. Being unable to get ideas out to the right people and just feeling afraid of how people might react to suggestions and contributions have kept many brilliant women quiet in corporate environments. This harms their career growth as they are ultimately seen as incompetent which could minimize their leadership development.  Find Out the Different Ways This Can Have an Impact on their Career (7:50-11:39) Not speaking up can affect women in leadership in various ways as discussed above. Developing a mindset that is ready to deal with criticism and learn from mistakes is one that will really help strengthen communication skills for women. Being too focused on perfection can stifle functional growth in the corporate world and also affect confidence for women. Having a clear idea of objectives and goals goes a long way to keep women on the right path regarding their contributions and ideas.  Learn about a Great System that can Help Women Overcome these Communication Blocks (11:40-25:00) Communication skills for women can be strengthened through a three-point strategy comprising of research, rehearsing and participating. These three pointers will give women great insight into the kinds of ideas and contributions your boss or colleagues would be interested in. It keeps them prepared and puts their minds at ease while communicating with their peers or leaders. It is a powerful strategy that will help build confidence for women and change the kind of impact they have in meeting environments. It also helps women to direct and lead the conversation for a change and takes them a step closer to actualizing their career goals.  Get Insight on the Core Fears that Tend to Hold Women back from Speaking up in the Workplace (25:10-27:00) Fear of saying the wrong things and an inability to articulate ideas perfectly are some of the major fears that plague women in leadership and affect their overall ability to communicate like a leader. Like every other skill, practice really comes in handy and is a great tip to help better communication skills for women.  When a woman speaks up in the workplace, it’s like she walks a thin tightrope; striving to assert her views without coming across as too loud or aggressive and ensuring she makes a point can be quite the conundrum. Effective communication skills for women in the workplace is not easy to master but it is achievable. Listen to this special series to help you master all these skills and advance your career in no time.   Special “Communicate Like a Leader” 3-Part Series with Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC & “Tourism Tim” Warren   Part 1: Leadership Listening Skills | Women's Leadership Success 99 Part 2: Leadership Relationships for Women Leaders | WLS 100      

Have You been wondering how you can create better leadership relationships? Want to learn how deepening relationships can make for better career development? Need new and insightful management skills that can boost your career? Want to know how deepening relationships can affect and favor women’s leadership in the workplace? Then listen in today as Sabrina Braham sheds light on the importance of deepening leadership relationships and how this can affect career development and leadership success for women.  This is part 2 of a 3-part series on “Communicating Like a Leader for Women” (WLS 99 – 101) Why Are Leadership Relationships Important?   The value of deep and strong relationships in the workplace cannot be over stressed. While it exposes you to a variety of business opportunities, it also makes you the go-to option on everyone’s list for top corporate opportunities. While skill is important, it is also crucial for the success of your career that you learn how to create deeper leadership relationships to help take you to the next level. This and more is why this podcast is very important. Get to Know Sabrina Braham M.A M.F.T PCC Sabrina is a certified mentor, and founder of Braham and Associates, a firm which focuses on consultation, training, assessment, and executive coaching for leadership development. She also helps women attain their career goals through team building, performance management and improvement, conflict resolution and change management. She is certified by the ICF and has decade’s worth of experience in leadership development, management consulting, mentor coaching and a host of other skills. She is passionate about seeing women succeed in their different career fields and dedicates her talent, skills, time and resources to ensure they have all the tools they need to succeed. Sabrina Braham M.A. MFT. PCC   In Women’s Leadership Success Podcast episodes 99 – 101, Sabrina is interviewed by her husband and executive producer “Tourism Tim” Warren so Sabrina can share her “Communication, Career and Leadership Development Tips” WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP SUCCESS SHOW 100 HIGHLIGHTS - leadership relationships Learn Why Deepening Relationships is Important in Order to Communicate like a Leader (6:40-9:15) Deepening leadership relationships goes beyond mere networking strategies. It is easy to network with 100 people at conferences; however, most times this usually leads to no progress to your career. On the other hand, a deeper working relationship with 5 people can bring a lot of business and career development opportunities to your doorstep. Deepening relationships takes more time but the results are always worth it.   Learn Key Steps You Can Take to Deepen Leadership Relationships (9:16-12:56) Self-awareness is really the first step to deepen relationships and this covers a good knowledge of your strengths and weaknesses. This can help you understand what others bring to the table, what is unique about them and how this information can help you deepen your relationship with them towards better leadership and faster career development.   How You Can Deepen Leadership Relationships with Your Superiors at Work (13:00-15:56) It is easy to ask your superiors or people you look up to for advice or tips on what to do to improve your skills or fill your gaps. By just giving them reports and updates on what you did with their advice goes a long way to tell them that you are proactive about your career development and will help deepen your leadership relationship with them.   Get Insight on How to Continually Deepen these Leadership Relationships with Ease (15:60-20:16) Asking your superiors for assignments or tasks that can test your new knowledge is a great way to maintain these new relationships. It shows your level of commitment and definitely gives you a great look. Also, making regular contact with these people will increase your influence and impact in your niche and even beyond. With the right management skills, you will be able to maintain these relationships with ease. Learn The Different Steps Women Can Take Advantage of Deepening Leadership Relationships for Career Development (20:43-23:00) The first step is just to start and get a lot more efficient with your time. This skill helps take a lot of time off your career years and will help you make major advancements a lot earlier than envisioned. Using old fashioned modes of appreciation like simple notes, cards, books, etc. To show appreciation to these superiors for their advised will definitely keep them invested in your professional journey.   Help Us Celebrate Women Worldwide - Communicate Like a Leader We are excited to be doing a special three-part series to mark our 100th show. Learning to communicate like a leader, leverage relationships for more impact, influence, and income, and to deepen leadership relationships can be quite the task. Listen to this special series to help you master all these skills and advance your career in no time.  

Are you less confident about your leadership listening skills? Ever thought about how effective communication skills can impact your career or business? Do you want to learn how to communicate like a true leader? Then listen in today as Sabrina Braham shares the tenets of effective leadership communication skills and how these skills can create a huge impact on your career and business in no time. Why is this Important? As a leader, you definitely want to ensure that you and your entire team are on the same page at all times regarding all business decisions. Effective leadership listening skills is the way to ensure that this goal is always achieved. Also, great listening skills on your part is a sure way to improve employee engagement in the workplace and get things done a lot faster. If you have been struggling with listening and communicating like a leader, then, this podcast will definitely come in handy. Let’s Get to Know Sabrina Braham Sabrina Braham, MA, MFC, PCC, is an author, founder of the Women’s Leadership Success Radio Podcast and the Women’s Leadership Success Academy, and also a Professional Certified Executive Coach. For over 28 years, she has worked with CEOs, business owners, and thought leaders, developing strategies to help maximize their business potential. She specializes in women’s leadership development, management consulting, executive coaching, assessments and training, team building and conflict resolution in teams or between employees through emotional intelligence training. WLS99 LEADERSHIP LISTENING SKILLS PODCAST SHOW HIGHLIGHTS Learn Why There is So Much Focus on Leadership Listening Skills Training for Women Leadership listening skills are very foundational to all leadership positions, and not having it can cause such a strain on women in business. It can impede growth and promotions and doesn’t help your professional relationships in the workplace. Get insight on the True Impact of Leadership Listening Skills for Women Through a Real Life Story About a Client (6:25 -13:00) This real-life story offers in-depth insight into how leadership listening skills can impact your career and take you to the next level. It sheds light on the importance of deepening professional relationships through effective listening for career development. Find Out the Best Way to Deepen Professional Relationships Through Great Listening Skills (15:00-16:20) Great listening skills are a good way to deepen relationships in the workplace. It helps one feel felt while communicating with colleagues and superiors and also sets a great foundation for better communications in the future and trust. Find Out Great Tips on How One Can Develop Deeper Listening Skills For Career Development (18:00- 22:00) Practicing tips like listening without interrupting, deeper listening, and asking questions will definitely help solidify one’s listening skills and create positive results. Get first-hand insight into Sabrina’s Listening Tips Sabrina shares amazing leadership power tips to help all women in leadership positions listen and communicate more effectively. Leadership listening skills are a very important tool for women to yield in the workplace. For the purposes of women’s leadership and career development, it is important that you take the time to listen to this podcast on communication skills training for women and use the nuggets shared to your own advantage.

Are You Curious about the Impact of Leadership Communication skills in the workplace? Do you want to learn how to communicate better with your colleagues and superiors? Would you want to learn how great communication skills can take you to the top of your career? Then listen in today as my guest, David Hiatt, an author with over 27 years of sales and leadership training experience shares some insight on leadership communication skills and how women in business can use it to their advantage. Leadership Communication Skills Expert, David Hiatt Why It’s So Important Leadership communication skills is one of the bedrocks of any thriving business. As a woman at the top of her career or working towards career advancement, your communication skills are one of the things that determine whether or not you will get and maintain leadership roles. Effective communication skills for women goes beyond the usual back and forth between colleagues at work, it focuses on the ability to pass information and express ideas with clarity among customers, stakeholders, partners and the general public. Leadership communication skills is one of the hardest business skills to master as it is really easy to say but hard to execute. This podcast takes you right into the value of leadership communication skills and how it can boost women’s leadership in the workplace and also help in pushing their various career advancement strategies. Let’s Get to Know David Haitt David Hiatt is an author with a BA and Masters in communications studies. He owned and successfully operated a Sandler Training Center for about ten years before he was recruited to handle trainings on a national and international level. He is extremely passionate about leadership communication skills and dedicates his time to helping others on their career advancement journey via effective communication skills. He is a recent author of a great book called “From the Board Room to the Living Room” 1. Find out the characteristics and example of a poor interaction and learn great insight on how to improve your leadership communication skills Bad communication is usually due to poor listening skills coupled with everything else. If you learn to listen intentionally, there’s a high chance you will communicate a lot better. 2. Learn about Empathy and its significance in Leadership Communication Skills It is easy to downplay the importance of empathy in everyday communication. However, it is the key to being a great listener as it gives insight on the person’s situation and helps you communicate a lot better. 3. Learn how strategies such as awareness and engagement questions help in everyday business communications Everyone has a different style of communication and this goes a long way to affect our daily interactions with people and in the workplace. Communicating the wrong way might give others a wrong impression of your character and this is why it is crucial that these strategies are learned and mastered. 4. Find out why it is always great to take time to think and get a clear perspective of a response before offering it in a conversation When it comes to women’s leadership, it is always important for us to take a minute and figure out the right response in conversations. This way, we are able to make use of our logic in business communications rather than our emotions 5. Learn why a mutual agreement is important 6. Find out what the most significant leadership communication skills is 7. Learn what it means for outcomes of all communications to be down to choice 8. Get access to great tips on leadership communication skills and how to use them in everyday women management and career advancement For us women, effective leadership communication skills are very important to the success of our careers. It is crucial that we learn these skills and utilize them in the right way to move us to the top of the corporate ladder. To get more great information from David, Listen Now!

Ever wondered there are so many challenges getting women on boards in the corporate world? How do companies benefit with having women on boards? Do you want to know how being on a board can radically enhance your career and connections? Then take some time to listen as my guest, Mr. Ralph Ward shares great insight on the concept of women’s leadership and how to get women on boards. This is a great opportunity to learn new strategies that can help put more women on more leadership boards and help them make giant strides in their careers. How to get women on boards expert Ralph Ward Why is Getting Women on Boards a Necessary Conversation? Even though boardroom diversity is gradually increasing, women still remain grossly underrepresented on leadership boards in the workplace. Delloite carried out an assessment of about 6000 companies in 49 countries and found out that the percentage of board seats held by women is only 12%. This number is quite measly considering the fact that women are becoming more qualified and accomplished in the corporate world. So one would wonder why there are so few women on boards today. This episode of Women in Leadership podcast will focus on the challenges women face in trying to get leadership roles in the workplace and how to ensure more women get on boards.   HOW TO GET WOMEN ON BOARDS SHOW HIGHLIGHTS: WLS #97 Sometimes, women do not feel the need for a leadership role in the workplace. They just don’t see any reasons why they should be on a board. Learn some great reasons why you should be on a board today and how it can impact the women in your environment positively. Get good insight on what makes a person “boardable” today Learn about an outreach portfolio, what it is and how it helps put women on boards What are the great ways to gain allies and partners that can help get you on a board? Reasons why it is crucial that your boss is onboard Learn how to decide which non-profit board is the best for you to be on Be exposed to the different professional and interpersonal characteristics boards want their members to exhibit Learn about the different challenges that come with getting women on boards Get to know who a board mentor is and how you can get a great one Learn great networking tips to get you on that board! Why today more than ever getting more women are boards is actually better. For women to make a real impact in the corporate world, they have to be in the right positions to do so. The time for women to be on more boards is now! To get more insight on how you can get started, listen now. What Questions or Comments do You Have About Getting Women on Boards? Please post them below in the comments box and me or Ralph will get back to you.

This is the women's achievers guide to success! Hello current and future women leaders: Do you ever feel afraid - or hesitant to be yourself at work? Would you like a special “achievers guide” to help change that? Great! Then you need to listen to this show. What my special guest and I share with this achievers guide is going to help you use your greatest gifts, strengths and talents to do the work that energizes you and makes an impact on those around you.   Although many people may be dissatisfied with important aspects of their lives – careers, relationships, financial circumstances, and health – they are often unclear over what changes they need to or want to make in order to be more effective or change direction.  Attempts at self-help are frequently stymied by limiting beliefs carried over from early life experiences. The good news is you can change these "limiting "false Beliefs" and we are going to show you today.   About the Guest Author Elizabeth B. Crook the author of Live Large:  The Achiever's Guide To What's Next. She is also been the CEO of Orchard Advisors for the past twenty-plus years, Elizabeth Crook has helped CEOs and entrepreneurs think and act strategically to grow their companies and find greater personal satisfaction.  Crook knows how to inspire people to gain a fresh sense of what they can accomplish in their lives, think about themselves with compassion, develop a sense of humor about their challenges, and ultimately take action.  Women’s Leadership Success # 96 | Achievers Guide Highlights How to stop being afraid or hesitant to show your talents Discover your know-hows Learn the importance of the right questions Find out when is the best time to have a new beginning What to do if you are afraid of making a mistake? What do Mister Rogers, and RBG Ruth Bader Ginsberg have in common? How does reflective time help your career? How does the achievers guide uncover your limiting beliefs Why waiting is the wrong move “Live Large is an invitation, a challenge, an imperative, even a dare to embrace the entirety of who we are, and to create a life of potency and inspiration.  It captures the celebratory feeling of affirmation that we are using our greatest gifts and talents to do work that energizes us and makes an impact.  When we are living large, we get to throw our arms in the air and feel excited and inspired about what we do.”  Elizabeth B Crook   What are Your Next Steps to Improve Your Leadership? I appreciate you listing today and I want to ask you 2 quick questions:       Sabrina Has 2 Important Leadership Questions for You The first question is: Do you have false beliefs or resistances that may be holding you back in your career or business? You are not alone. Join me in my next free webinar Nov. 8 where you will learn how to “Activate Your Leadership Building Super Powers© We’ll address 5 top false belief’s many women have and what you can do to change them. Just sign up on the right hand side bar on WomensLeadershipSuccess.com My 2nd question is:  Are you highly motivated? Do you want to accelerate your career & leadership now? Then one on one coaching with me is your best choice. I will help you explore the possibilities of who you can become and how to determine your Path To A new Exciting and profitable Future. Contact me at  [email protected]

Are you curious about the challenges that women leaders in tech face and how they overcome them? Have you been wondering how to rise above the crippling stereotypes that exist in the industry and showcase yourself as a highly talented woman who is an expert in her field? Do you want to learn about the different steps you can take to assert yourself as a professional in your career? Would you like to learn how to overcome the crippling gender bias that exists in the industry? Then take some time to listen today as Pratima Gluckman, an engineer, author of Nevertheless, She Persisted and a woman leader in tech talks to us about her newly published book and how she overcame the crippling stereotypes in the tech industry to rise to the top of her technology career. Here’s Some Interesting Facts About Women Leaders in Tech Positions for females in the tech workforce are growing at a large rate of 238% faster than those for males. However, only about 7% of capital funding offered by the United States goes to companies with female CEOs. There’s Definitely a Career Development for Women Problem For women leaders in tech, there are certain challenges with getting ahead in their chosen field. It is not always easy to get rid of the barriers and gender bias that exist in this field especially as the number of women leaders in tech are not as high as that of men. However, there is certainly a light at the end of this tunnel as a lot of women leaders in tech are rising up to occupy leadership roles and cement their positions as experts in the industry. This and more is what my guest and I tackle on today’s podcast. Why is Women's Leadership in Business So Important? This podcast takes you right into the highly relatable struggles of women in the high tech industry and how they can turn it into a success story. It gives clear insight and a tested game plan which highlights the importance of women leaders in tech and how we can assert ourselves as thought leaders and experts in our different companies. Women in the tech industry are constantly faced with trying to prove their credibility to their male counterparts and this sort of makes us riddled with the imposter syndrome and the feeling that we don’t belong here. Also there is the fact that a lot of women have more mentors than sponsors and this makes it harder for us to break through these barriers.   Nevertheless, She Persisted, Women’s Leadership Success Radio #95 Highlights Often, women are not paid equally to men, are not treated as fairly in the workplace, and are overlooked for promotion and leadership roles. How can women overcome these stereotypes? Learn how to work and thrive in a male-dominated industry. What are some other obstacles that women in the tech industry face? What is imposter syndrome and how can women overcome it? Why is it important for women to have sponsors in the work place? How can women get more of these sponsors? Learn how to build your credibility and align yourself with the right forces in the industry Gender bias has eaten deep into the very fabric of the tech work place. What insights can be used to tackle this issue? Why women in the work place are viewed as aggressive while men are viewed as strong? Top advice to women leaders in tech to set them apart from the crowd   Are you committed to expanding and deepening your leadership and career talent? Would you like to know how to leverage yourself for greater success? For quite a while I have been putting together a unique program based on my over 25 years of helping women succeed and the over 100 women and men leaders I have interviewed that will absolutely help you enhance your career and leadership. I will be offering this one of a kind six week program to the public in the late Fall. (2020 group to come. Send me an email to be notified of next women's leadership and career development group details) What’s exciting is, before I take this special program to the public, I’ve decided to invite a small group of motivated women and female clients to be a part of my Inner Circle and take then through this program. If you are committed to taking your career and leadership to the next level, and you need a clear picture of you as a transformational leader, My program; “Activate Your Career Building Super Powers!” can help you get there. If any of this sounds intriguing, I’d like to invite you to hop on a quick call with me to explore if you qualify to be a part of this exclusive group and my upcoming program. Simply shoot me an email or on the top of this page on www.womensleadershipsuccess.com submit the form on the top on the right hand sidebar. Many thanks, Sabrina PS Thanks for subscribing and sharing this podcast and website with your women (AND men) family, friends and associates to help women lead and succeed .

Do you ever wonder why is there such a large gender divide of women in senior management positions? Are you curious about the underlying reasons that women aren’t making it up to the higher levels? Do you want to know the two most important attributes to help you advance your career? Would you like to know the career development strategies successful women use to overcome self-imposed limitations? Then join me today with women's leadership, emotional intelligence and the gender divide expert and Author Dr. Shawn Andrews to learn how you can break the glass ceiling to advance your career, leadership and life. Here’s some important facts on women in the workforce: Women make up about 52% US labor force. We also know that women make up most professional occupations, such as attorneys and physicians. When you look at education, 60% of bachelor’s degrees in both the US and in Europe are obtained by women.  But here is the problem.  There are more women than men in the workforce and women have the professional degrees. Women are getting the experience and have the education to back them up.  So it would be a natural assumption to think that would translate into leadership and women climbing the corporate ladder. Unfortunately that is simply not the case. If you look at the number of female CEOs at our S&P 500 companies, it equals 5.2%. That translates into 26 female CEOs.   This is an unacceptable gender divide that my guest expert and I want to help change. Gender Divide & Women Leadership Expert Dr. Shawn Andrews Dr. Shawn Andrews is and expert on how to overcome the gender divide.  She’s a keynote speaker, an organizational consultant and the founder and CEO of Andrews Research International.  She serves as an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio Business School where she teaches courses on organizational behavior, women in leadership, diversity in organizations, leadership and ethics.  She was a 2017 diversity and inclusion columnist for Training Industry Magazine and is the author of the new book, The Power of Perception:  Leadership, Emotional Intelligence and the Gender Divide.   Leadership and the Gender Divide: Women’s Leadership # 94 Highlights What are the top informal network barriers that most women do not have access to that hold women back? Why is gender bias and gender stereotypes such a big gender divide, and still pervasive across all industries globally? What is “agentic leader behavior,” and what that means is that we tend to associate leader traits with male traits.  When you think of a leader, what comes to mind?  You don’t hear empathetic, great team player, great communicator, or great at relationships. Why don’t we associate female characteristics with leader characteristics? Learn about “role congruity theory,” and how we make assumptions that people have to act in certain ways to be successful in a certain role. Top advice to women in a profession that’s male dominated to overcome gender divides, barriers and misperceptions. What to do if you are stuck doing office housework. Work-life balance, family choices and breadwinner/caregiver issues.  The dangers and pitfalls of being superwoman The candid conversations couples are not having with each other that ruin careers The hidden benefits of a male sponsor. Difference between transactional and transformational leadership?  How can women navigate through assumptions and unconscious gender bias to get promoted?  Secrets to key relationship building   How to Activate Your Career Building Super Powers! Are you committed to expanding and deepening your leadership and career talent? Would you like to know how to leverage yourself for greater success? For quite a while I have been putting together a unique program based on my over 25 years of helping women succeed and the over 120 women and men leaders I have interviewed that will absolutely help you enhance your career and leadership. I will be offering this one of a kind six week program to the public in the late Fall 2020. What’s exciting is, before I take this special program to the public, I’ve decided to invite a small group of motivated women and female clients to be a part of my Inner Circle and take then through this program. If you are committed to taking your career and leadership to the next level, and you need a clear picture of you as a transformational leader, My program;  “Activate Your Career Building Super Powers!” can help you get there. If any of this sounds intriguing, I’d like to invite you to hop on a quick call with me to explore if you qualify to be a part of this exclusive group and my upcoming program. Simply shoot me an email or on the top of this page on www.womensleadershipsuccess.com submit the form on the top on the right hand sidebar.        

How Business Women Leaders Can Gain Advantage and Build Sustainable Success? We all know change is one thing that’s constant in life, but how much effect does change really have? How important is it? How can you evolve to change and use change to keep business sustainable? Today we are going talk about how small changes can make a big difference and establish a sustainable business with entrepreneur Susan Solovic. Susan is a business woman herself, a business contributor to ABC News and other leading networks, and an award-winning serial entrepreneur. Susan is here with us to explore and help us understand how change gives that 1% edge to business women, help them move ahead in business, and how to make small changes for sustainable success. Being a serial entrepreneur, who else can better explain how to sustain as a business and coach on women's leadership? Right? “You don’t want to stay in the status quo.  You want to be in the status grow,” Susan Solovic Why Become Outdated and Extinct? Susan says many companies want to stick with what has worked for them in the past and follow them. This means, they’re looking back, instead of forward and that’s one of the key reasons they’re failing. Basically, they’re too engrossed with their operations and afraid to make changes. As a result, they’re following old styles and methods, failing to see how things are changing around them. Don’t Stay in “Status Quo” Instead be in “Status Grow” In her words, “You don’t want to stay in the status quo.  You want to be in the status grow,” We’ve all see numerous companies, even fortune 500 companies closing down their operations recently. It is not that they don’t have products that are in demand anymore; the truth is they have stopped being innovative. So, the first thing she addresses is the edge business women need for sustainability. How Business Women Leaders Can Gain Advantage and Build Sustainable Success? Business Women Innovation = Sustainability We all think innovation is a drastic change and a completely new concept or product. The truth is, it doesn’t have to be. Innovation is the edge that brings sustainability. Being on the lookout for changing trends and keeping oneself updated is the key to sustain in business. Does that mean the change is about how we look at things? It is. She’s quick to add that innovation doesn’t have to be destructive or something big, rather, even small and simple changes that will let us stay current. In her book for business women (and men), she says even with best products or concept, without the right people, management and infrastructure it will not  succeed. She says it is important to understand that there’s no need to make an impact to sustain as a business women, just adapt to stay ahead of competitors. When you want to evaluate and determine if the business is going in the right direction, ask yourself how do you do it? She says, everything should be questioned. She says the entrepreneur should feel proud about the achievement, but it is important to leave ego or other feelings at the doorstep and critically evaluate if everything is right. She says it is important to ask questions, small or big, absolutely everything should be evaluated and questioned: Do I have the right people? Do I have the right people? Are my products / services current? These are just a few suggestions to give you an idea. No Room for Ego She says it is equally important to ask tough questions. Examples include: Is the technology I am using current or outdated? Who is my competition? I have thought that myself when I started coaching in corporations and business women. I have always wondered how they would find time to strategize and think if they’re always busy! Use Technology to Your Advantage She points out in her book how technology has made a lot of things easy, for example Social Media. Earlier, getting customers’ feedback or finding market requirements was a one-way track. But with social media, it is possible to get the customers involved like the latest campaign run by crocs. Listen, Accept & Adapt She says, many think “it my way, or the highway”. If only entrepreneurs are willing to listen and adapt or change, they might get useful insights from unexpected sources. She recommends having people from distinctly different backgrounds and experience to get out of the box ideas and views. She further adds that today's customers know more than what the entrepreneurs or business women know about their own company. Listening to customers can give valuable insight and at the end of the day, that high touch is just what’s missing in customer service today. Everyone likes to feel they’re special and when customers get due attention from their brands, they absolutely love it. Re-evaluate, Re-evaluate & Re-evaluate It is easy for us to get married to your product, and ignore key signs giving reasons for dropping sales, but it is important to reevaluate - to find out what went wrong and why, and continue reevaluating till profits increase. Go Agile If there’s a problem, reevaluating and making changes right away is important. It is important to determine if changes are needed, or if the current strategy should be abandoned and new strategy brought in! In other words, she says being agile is important to turn around things real quick – everyone is going at a fast pace and if we lag, we’ll be left behind. Hire for Life She says, “hire for life” in her book and her statement on agility, sounds contradictory. She is quick to explain that hiring right is the key to succeed as business women. When hiring, we hire the whole person, someone with ambitions and entrepreneurial spirit and offer them room for career development. With the right platform, they will grow with you and want to stay with you, just like you want then to stay! So, if hiring is done right and retention efforts are taken, they’re going to stick. Make Room for Mistakes, Build Trust Also, there’s a lack of trust in today’s business world. She says, when a leader is ready to open doors and give safe harbor to their employees and let them speak their mind without the fear of repercussions or hampering their career development, trust will improve. Last but not the least, she says it is important that the organization is streamlining things, instead worrying about getting things right. This means, they’re constantly reevaluating. Instead of worry about redundant things, giving the opportunity for people to do things and streamlining will keep them current. In her words, not just business women, women entrepreneurs and even women leaders should be ready for change, innovative, embrace technology, go agile and understand there’s room for mistakes. As long as you’re reevaluating and staying current, you will have sustainability.   Are you ready to break through your limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to move to a more powerful level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.  

What is Brave Leadership? Are you a manager or leader? Do you believe that how you think limits the results you get in your organization? Here’s the shocking truth. Over 90% of leaders have no self-awareness of how they “think about things”, (beliefs, assumptions, cultural, etc.)  radically impacts the results they get from themselves – and their team. If managers want engaged, excited and loyal employees, they must care enough to walk in their shoes and experience the work they do and their personal challenges, and see leadership through their eyes.  When you have empathetic concern (covered in this Brave Leadership interview) it breaks down barriers, facilitates change, creates trust, and makes relationships work. Are you ready to challenge outdated assumptions and offer yourself a fresh new perspective to be confident, powerful and your authentic self? This is brave leadership shared by our guest Kimberly Davis. Kimberly Davis, Author of Brave Leadership Kimberly Davis’ is the author of BRAVE LEADERSHIP which provides tools to help leaders get out of their own way so they can bring their true selves to whatever situation arises. Her life has taken many forms, forging a circuitous path that has given her more than 25 years’ experience in front of groups and audiences of all sizes.  Her rich career includes work as a professional actress; designing and leading cross-cultural workshops throughout Japan; “Customer Experience Programs” in the US, UK, France, Germany, and Hong Kong; and employee engagement/leadership development workshops for a multitude of Fortune 500’s throughout the US. including companies such as GE, Merck, and Pepsico. Listen to this interview on now to find out how you can increase your brave leadership impact.   “If you want to be a brave leader, it is critical to get clear about your Super Objective and take consistent, mindful action to achieve it in every situation you face – especially when the stakes feel high,” Kimberly Davis   Brave Leadership Highlights; Women's Leadership Success #92: Ten top traits of brave leadership Why ‘respect’ comes before ‘trust’ Learn the power of empathy in action A different way of thinking about brave leadership and influence Discover what confined thinking is and how to change it Find out what “your barriers to grace,” are. How to increase your impact as a woman Discover super objectives and how to you put them into action Easy tips to increase your confidence for career development Be seen as genuine, worthy of trust, reliable, and believable “Confidence is knowing that we can count on ourselves because we’ve experienced ourselves succeeding.” Kimberly Davis.   Are you ready to break through your limitations in your career, leadership and life? Want more Brave Leadership in Your Life? Would you like to move to a more powerful level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.    

What if every time you asked your mother for something or had to figure out a problem growing up, she taught you as if she was training you to be a CEO? And in the process you received excellent career development advice, that you used later on as an adult. Needless to say you would have saved years of struggle and wrong turns in your career if you had had a mom like that. Career Development Advice from a CEO Mom Now here’s the good news. Our guest is that CEO mom and she is here to give you great career development advice. She will share lessons on everything from effective first impressions and workplace politics to relationship development, skill building and other skills that will propel your career faster and further than you thought possible. This will help you if you are a newbie or a seasoned professional. Karyn Schoenbart who is the chief executive officer of The NPD Group, a global provider of information and advisory services to many of the world’s leading brands.  The CEO Connection named Karen one of the top 25 most influential women of the Mid-Market.     Karyn is the author of Mom B.A. and an expert on career development advice.   Women's Leadership Success 91: Career Development Advice Show Highlights Your #1 career development advice; how to earn your competitive advantage Why the first impression is so critical. How to prepare for a meeting or job interview if you are a newbie Networking as a stepping stone to deeper relationships Taking the time to connect How do you navigate working with a bad boss How to make the most of a good boss Maximize your brand by speaking up When should you speak up at a meeting? Career development advice on the difference between a manager and a leader Learning to delegate ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sabrina 14 Masterful Communication Tips to be a Great Leader - Free Guide Here are 14 top communication tips from over 100 top leaders guaranteed to help you be a better leader, increase your confidence, advance your career and increase your income.    

Do you or your teams feel powerless? Are your customers satisfied? The sad truth is many teams and customers do not and suffer – even in medical leadership organizations… Here’s the good news. You can advocate and influence change for both your teams and customer service to improve your company and bottom line from this sage advice below. Join me today with a best selling author and CEO of a large medical leadership management group on how they grapple with these challenges and the solutions they have developed, that you can use too. You think you have organizational problems? The medical field is one of the business systems that is most seriously wounded and rigid.  82 % of physician’s feel they have little ability to change the system. Learning how and why this is changing is valuable information for ANY leader. New York Times Best Selling Author Leadership Tips We have the pleasure of talking to Dr. Halee Fischer-Wright who is a nationally recognized healthcare executive, physician leader and former business consultant whose work focuses on innovation and creating cultures of excellence in the medical field.  Dr. Fisher-Wright is president and CEO of Medical Group Management Associates and is the co-author of Tribal Leadership, which was a New York Time bestseller, and she’s just written a great book called Back to Balance: The Art, Science, and Business of Medicine Dr. Halee Fischer-Wright Join us today to learn how to improve your management skills and customer service, even if you are not in medical leadership. Best Practices Learned from Medical Leadership - WLS 90 How does Medical leadership improve patient customer service? Is your leadership so focused on making a better product you forget about your customers? What is the driving force in medical Leadership and customer service today? And how does that impact you? How can you as a patient get better health care from the medical field? Is there a silver bullet to solve the medical leadership and customer service problem? Medical leadership’s new role as customer service advocate. How can someone working in medical leadership change the system? Shocking reasons why 70% of people go bankrupt from medical care. Why you need health insurance, for the best health care, even if you are young and healthy. Want to be more confident? Do you want to be able to: Speak up in meetings? Influence others more easily? Overcome obstacles? Have courage to take risks? Check out Sabrina's 11 Free Confidence tips top leaders use that will help you get promoted, increase your income, and influence your peers.     I Want to Hear From You on Your Top Women Leadership & Career Development Questions Please comment below your most pressing questions on: How to promoted? Managing people? Leadership? Career development? How to get hired? Also be sure to subscribe to my Women's Leadership Success podcast. You'll get new episode automatically delivered to you via iTunes or Stitcher direct. You will get tips, advice and insights from expert women (and men) on leadership, career development, communications, management and much more. Also thanks for sharing my show and your 5-star review of Women's Leadership Success Podcast in Stitcher & iTunes. I am working on building my tribe of like minded souls dedicated to helping each other lead and succeed in your business or career.        

Here is the problem. Many leaders lack effective leadership skills and communication that inspires their strategic vision and engages their team to implement their most important goals. This causes the leaders to micromanage which blocks progress and profits. Can you relate? Is this a problem for you or your company? Join Sabrina and best selling author Dianna Booher as they share practical guidelines to effective leadership skills and communication that inspires and advances your top goals with less effort and time.  Also see the bottom of this page to get the full interview transcripts and other free bonus tools.   “Great leaders are great communicators, as Dianna Booher points out in this smart, useful book. If you want to become a top-notch strategic communicator, you'd do well to heed the advice in its pages.” —Marshall Goldsmith, executive coach, business educator, New York Times bestselling author, and Thinkers50 #1 leadership thinker in the world.   About Our Best Selling Author & Guest on Effective Leadership Skills and Communication Dianna Booher is the author of this easy to read new book Communicate like a Leader and the founder and CEO of Booher Research Institute, and she works with organizations to help them communicate clearly and with leaders to expand their influence by a strong executive presence. She provides communication programs and coaching to some of the largest Fortune 500 companies and governmental agencies such as IBM, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and many more, and she’s been on many, many national television programs. Due the importance of the insights she shares, this is Dianna’s 2nd time as guest on Women’s Leadership Success Radio Podcast.   Effective Leadership Skills – Actionable Insights from WLS 89 How her personal challenge lead to becoming a prolific writer Learn the root cause of failure for a leader Solutions to ‘having too much work’ Develop effective leadership skills Discover how to communicate like a leader Improving the different aspects of a good leader Why speaking is the most effective leadership skill to develop How to hold your own when interrupted in a business meeting Secrets to increasing your influence in a meeting  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Are you ready to break through your limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to move to a more powerful level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.   If you liked this interview with Dianna, be sure to listen to her other interview on Women's Leadership Success on how women can have improve their executive presence with effective leadership skills   Expert Reviews About My Guest Dianna Booher: “Dianna Booher's brilliant new book, Communicate like a Leader, is the single-best communication guide I have ever read. In it are thirty-six clear, concise, relevant, and practical bits of strategic advice on how to connect with others. No fluff. No wasted words. All substance. I guarantee you that there is something in this book that you can use immediately—and more that you can apply tomorrow and the next day and the next. Buy this right now, read it as soon as you get it, and then put Dianna's expert advice to work for you. You will be very glad that you did.” —Jim Kouzes, coauthor of the bestselling The Leadership Challenge and Dean's Executive Fellow of Leadership, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University  “If you're a micromanager, you need to know it's not just ineffective—it's also the most labor-intensive leadership style. When you read Communicate like a Leader, you'll learn strategic communication skills that will improve your relationship with your people and actually make leading easier. Dianna Booher is the communication guru of the 21st century!” —Ken Blanchard, coauthor of The New One Minute Manager and One Minute Mentoring

Is your leadership style attracting, engaging, and retaining the current & future women leaders you want and need in your company? In order for women to lead and succeed, now and into the future -- especially in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) -- you must integrate many of the specific leadership style elements that helped our special guest Karmyn Norwood become a VP of a multi-Billion dollar company, in her early 40’s. In part 2 Karmyn talks about how to build a collaborative environment where relationships are built and people feel comfortable expressing themselves, and how this will help you grow your career. This interview and part I is one of the most comprehensive, step by step strategies on how to advance your career that I have ever published. Summary of Women's Leadership Success Radio Podcast Part I (#87) : What are detours in your career journey and how to benefit from them. What would it take to start building up your leadership style. Why collaboration is critical and how it can help your career. The role of a mentor in developing your career development plan and much more. Be sure to listen to part I if you have not heard it. Karmyn Norwood Profile: Successful Leadership Style for Women Karmyn is the vice president for the Air Mobility & Maritime Missions (AMMM) International Programs Line of Business for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company in Marietta, Georgia. Prior to this role, she served as director of operations in the Technical Operations branch at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, responsible for more than 7,000 engineers accountable for the design, development, integration, production and sustainment of military aircraft for the United States and countries around the world. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Jackson State University (Jackson, Mississippi), a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from George Mason University (Fairfax, Virginia), and an Executive MBA from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Karmyn is also a recipient of the 2015 Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) Special Recognition.   Women’s Leadership Success #88 Leadership Style –  Part II How to develop your direct reports and the importance of encouraging and developing young ­­­girls Secrets to better Communication & employee engagement What is participative Leadership style? Creating safety for contrarian opinions. Discover how to build an environment of trust, Increasing engagement with walk-abouts Senior managements impact on employee engagement Developing your vision of success How to get your employees connected to your vision   Women’s Leadership Success # 87: Part 1 of a 2-Part Interview Remember if you missed part I with Karmyn Norwood, a black women leaders’ great rise from entry-level engineer to Vice President of Lockheed Martin, listen to it here Building self-confidence for women is key to your career and leadership success. Thanks for sharing this show with friends and associates. Everybody wins. Are you ready to break through your limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to move to a more powerful level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.

Does the path to your career advancement seem unclear? Have you ever wondered how some people advance, in spite of the odds? In part I of this interview Karmyn Norwood, a black woman leader shares her journey from entry-level engineer to becoming a vice-president at Lockheed Martin while still in her early 40’s. In this great interview you will get one of the most comprehensive, step by step strategies on how to advance your career that I have ever published. Also at the end of the show check out the free webinar and tip sheet to help you advance your career & leadership success. Quotes from our Special Guest Karmyn Norwood “Yes, we have to deliver our products, but really the people who I’m leading; they are the most valuable asset and not necessarily the products. In a business environment, you quickly learn that you’re not the smartest person in the room, and to get to the end state, it takes the entire team, and there are strengths and weaknesses on every team. We leverage those strengths and we develop and build the weaknesses, and so as a leader, a first time leader, I had to learn that very quickly.”   Karmyn Norwood: Profile of a Successful Black Woman Leader Karmyn is the vice president for the Air Mobility & Maritime Missions (AMMM) International Programs Line of Business for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company in Marietta, Georgia. Prior to this role, she served as director of operations in the Technical Operations branch at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, responsible for more than 7,000 engineers accountable for the design, development, integration, production and sustainment of military aircraft for the United States and countries around the world. She holds a bachelor's degree in Mathematics from Jackson State University (Jackson, Mississippi), a master's degree in Electrical Engineering from George Mason University (Fairfax, Virginia), and an Executive MBA from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Karmyn is also a recipient of the 2015 Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) Special Recognition. Women’s Leadership Success Celebrates Black Women Leaders -  Part I Highlights: What are detours in your career journey and how to benefit from them. What would it take to start building up your leadership skills. Why collaboration is critical and how it can help your career. The role of a mentor in developing your career development plan. Strategies to find a good mentor. How to measure progress in your career development.  What is targeted networking? Steps to build your network. Learn the difference between a sponsor and a mentor and their respective roles. Here is part II of black woman leader Karmyn Norwood’s great rise from entry-level engineer to Vice President of Lockheed Martin. Click Here   "Building self-confidence for women is key to your career and leadership success." Sabrina Braham MA PCC Are you ready to break through your limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to move to a more powerful level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media. Thanks for sharing this show and webinar with friends and associates. Everybody wins.      

Here is How You Can Be a Self-Confident Woman Leader Do you know how lack of self-confidence is impacting your career,  employees or direct reports? When you fail, do you know how to recover? What keeps you from feeling confident? Have you noticed that you may be very self-confident in many areas, and yet still have fear and self-doubt in other ways? This is not unusual. But there is good news. What keeps you from feeling confident and what can you do about it? In a important study on women’s leadership with the major accounting firm KMPG showed a high correlation between high self-confidence, higher wages, getting promoted and even being listened to.  Lack of self-confidence and fears can be overcome so that you can be even more successful in your career. In this part II of this audio podcast interview below with Sabrina Braham MA PCC we will be discussing: Some of the reasons even successful self-confident woman leaders can struggle with confidence in certain areas.  New brain research that begins to rewire the brain and increase confidence. Failing, getting demoted and how to turn these experiences into wins.   About Sabrina Braham MA PCC Sabrina is an author and executive coach with 30 years experience helping develop leaders, high self-confidence and career advancement. She has studied with top experts in the fields of Positive psychology including Martin Seligman and Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, and has personal experience overcoming her own lack of confidence. She is in the process of designing a six-week interactive program; “The Master Keys to Confidence: How to Stop Sabotaging Yourself and Get Promoted©.” She is also a great gardener. :-) Self-Confident Woman Leader Highlights Influence of naysayers on your advancement Tips to be more fully engaged and take action What to do when being in the minority keeps you from speaking up Changing your early negative programing How to succeed when you did not get the promotion Building resilience after a mistake Using self-awareness to increase your confidence When self-care changes the game A simple exercise to you be a more self-confident woman leader If you missed Part I of this interview with Sabrina on How to Build Self Confidence, listen to it here. Being a self-confident woman leader is so important. Sabrina has helped countless women like you build self-confidence, advance your career and RADICALLY increase their income.   Would you like to move to a more powerful self confident woman? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.       Related Shows to Help You Be a More Self-Confident Woman Leader Episode # 76: Carrie Kish; How to Navigate Career Development: Work Life Balance for Women  https://www.womensleadershipsuccess.com/how-to-navigate-career-development-work-life-balance-for-women/   Episode # 83: Susan Combs; What Motivates Women to Seize Opportunities? Texas Tenacity https://www.womensleadershipsuccess.com/motivate-women/     Episode #38: Dianna Booher; Creating Personal Presence:  Look, Talk, Think and Act Like a Woman Leader. She’s an incredible person and has some wonderful tips and things that will definitely improve your confidence. https://www.womensleadershipsuccess.com/communication-skills-and-career-advancement-for-woman-dianna-booher-and-executive-coach-sabrina-braham/   Episode # 49: Terry Pearce Leading Out Loud https://www.womensleadershipsuccess.com/communication-skills/    

Do You Want to Build Self Confidence? Ask Yourself These Important Questions Below: Have you ever refused an opportunity or promotion? Have you doubted your skills, knowledge or expertise even though others praise you? Do you compare yourself against others and many times come up short? Do you have difficulty recovering from failure? You may one of the 67% of women who say they need more support building confidence to feel like they can be leaders according to the KPMG Women’s Leadership Survey 2016 According to this Women’s Leadership Survey, Lack of confidence affects many activities that are needed to get into management. courtesy Dr. Nick Lazaris Here’s some shocking statistics on why lack of confidence is a career killer:  9 out of 10 women are not confident asking for a sponsor (a executive advocate to help you get promoted). 78% lack confidence to ask for a mentor 76% do not ask for access to senior leadership 73% afraid to ask for a career path plan 69% do not request a promotion 65% do not ask for a raise 56% do not request a new role or position How to build self confidence that helps Your Career, Influence & Income Most of these problems above relate to not speaking up.  This is something that most women were trained to do culturally.  It is not your fault you may have some of these confidence challenges that hurt your career above. The good news is that you can build self confidence that helps your career, is a skill set you can develop. When you do you will outshine your own expectations. Read on. I am going to show the way.   Sabrina Braham helps women leaders build self confidence, get promoted & Increase Income. I Grew up Feeling I Was Stupid… Growing up I felt that not only was I was stupid, & ugly, but I couldn’t do anything right. My family agreed with me, which supported that I really couldn’t do anything. All through grade school and high school I struggled… Then one day I met a great teacher that believed I was more capable then I did. He insisted I take risks, encouraged and guided me. Much to my surprise I excelled! I went on to graduate from college with a Master’s degree in psychology. I created a successful psychotherapy practice and then moved into the field of management consulting and executive coaching. I have spent over twenty-five years struggling and mastering self-confidence for others and myself. Over these past twenty-five years + I have developed an expertise in leadership mastery and changing limiting behaviors’ to help people get promoted, enhance their careers and increase income.  That is why I am being interviewed in this 2-part podcast Building Self-Confidence and announcing my free career and leadership quiz to help you build self-confidence and advance your career.   Access Part II on Building Self-Confidence Here: Women's Leadership Success Radio Interview #86 .   Build Self Confidence Interview Highlights With Sabrina Braham MA PCC How to overcome lack of self-confidence Why being self-confident is so important to your career success. Why the basis for getting promoted & excelling in any career is self-confidence Learn the secret to being fully engaged and taking action What it looks and feels like when you are self-confident A simple tip to quiet your inner critic and build self-confidence --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Are you ready to break through your self limitating beliefs in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to move to a more powerful confident level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.     Related Shows to Help You Build Self-Confidence: Episode #38: Dianna Booher; Creating Personal Presence:  Look, Talk, Think and Act Like a Woman Leader. She’s an incredible person and has some wonderful tips and things that will definitely improve your confidence. https://www.womensleadershipsuccess.com/communication-skills-and-career-advancement-for-woman-dianna-booher-and-executive-coach-sabrina-braham/   Episode # 83: Susan Combs; What Motivates Women to Seize Opportunities? Texas Tenacity https://www.womensleadershipsuccess.com/motivate-women/     Episode # 49: Terry Pearce Leading Out Loud https://www.womensleadershipsuccess.com/communication-skills/     Episode # 76: Carrie Kish; How to Navigate Career Development: Work Life Balance for Women  https://www.womensleadershipsuccess.com/how-to-navigate-career-development-work-life-balance-for-women/    

Have you heard about the Malcolm Baldrige Leadership Award? It is a business quality improvement standard and famous award that top women leaders use to enhance their staff engagement, leadership skills and profits developed by the former secretary of commerce, under Ronald Regan How are these standards creating world-class leaders that increase team engagement and deliver exceptional results? Join me today to learn about the Malcolm Baldrige Leadership award, & how you can use this proven system to advance your career, and your company, whether it is large or small. What is The Malcolm Baldrige Leadership Award? In the 1980’s United States industries had lost their competitive edge with other countries. Foreign manufacturers understood the importance of delivering high quality products. The United States was falling behind. Malcolm Baldrige who was the Secretary of Commerce under Ronald Reagan was very concerned. America’s was less competitive in manufacturing, particularly in the automotive and electronics industries, while Japanese attention to quality was taking the market share. So in 1987 the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Improvement Act was signed into law. Why do Top Companies Use Malcolm Baldrige Leadership Standards? Our guest today Kay Kendall stated; “one study in the manufacturing sector showed remarkable financial growth in the few years leading up to the award and in the years after winning the award.” The Malcolm Baldrige leadership standards are highly adaptable, highly flexible, and there aren’t many other models out there that have that kind of power.  There are so many things that you and your organization can learn from the remarkable results of these winners. Listen to learn how Malcolm Baldrige Leadership methods will give you tools to engage yourself and your employees. You will hear some of the best practices of the award winning leaders in business today.   Kay Kendall, One of the Nation’s Top Experts on the Malcolm Baldrige Leadership Practices Kay is the co-author of Leading the Malcolm Baldrige Way and spent more than 20 years as a quality executive leading challenge initiatives across diverse industries—aerospace, semiconductor automation equipment, computers and storage devices, and pharmaceuticals. She was introduced to the Baldrige Framework in the early 1990’s and became an examiner, served as a judge for a 3-year term limit, and is still engaged in the program as an alumnus. This great interview with Kay will give you surefire suggestions you can put into action immediately to improve your leadership and bottom line. Malcolm Baldrige Leadership Interview Key Points: Learn exciting research proving that companies using Malcolm Baldrige Leadership criteria, performed significantly better than their peers. Why employee engagement is so important to an organization’s success. Discover the relationship between employee engagement, customer loyalty, profitability, marketplace success that the Malcolm Baldrige Leadership developed. Shocking information on why more members of senior management don’t work harder to try and engage their employees. Check out the different mindset leaders need to utilize Malcolm Baldrige Leadership. How important is that leader’s vision?  How vital is it to the company’s success? Maintaining momentum when there’s a downturn. Are you ready to break through your limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to increase your influence, confidence & income? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.

How to Motivate Women?  Listen to this podcast and find out. Are there circumstances or choices you have made that have you stuck? Do you need some encouragement to take more risks?  Maybe you want more control of your life and career? Or do you want to help motivate women to never give up? Our special guest Susan Combs says, "Every day, every age, is the right day, and the right age, to direct your destiny.” Susan has been through lots of ups and downs in life and has come through her experiences with grace and a sense of humor. Her mission now is to motivate women and girls and encourage them to “seize opportunities wherever they find them and to hold on to their identities with every thing they have got.” Author Susan Combs Motivates Women Susan Combs served as the Texas State Comptroller from 2007 to 2015 where she pushed through reforms in state government spending.  Previously, she served as Texas agricultural commissioner in the Texas State Legislature.  She also served as an assistant district attorney in Dallas, Texas.  She’s written Texas Tenacity:  A Call for Women to Direct Their Own Destiny. And has founded a non-profit http://www Herdacity.org which is committed to building a community where women can find others who share their interests, encourage their growth and dare to follow their passions.   Texas Tenacity with Susan Combs Interview Summary: How to Motivate Women to Seize Opportunities Learn the most important qualities to have when it comes to being yourself How to develop the courage to stand up for yourself Why optimism is crucial to your success. Tips to getting things done when doors are shut. Discover the difference between a goal and a core mission The surprising reason you have got to take action now! How to motivate women to take risks Discovering your secret strengths How to reach for the opportunity Take your fear out and put it on the table Where to go if you are in trouble Are you ready to break through your limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to move to a more powerful level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.

How to Dramatically Increase Your Profits with Gender Balanced Leadership Learn The Steps That Leading Companies Take To Retain And Attract Top Female Talentand Increase Income     We all know that women are 50% of the population. And you may know that women hold 46% of the entry-level jobs… But why does this figure dropped down, to ONLY 14% when we get to senior management?  Do you think losing 84 % of the most talented women, is hurting companies bottom line? Hell yes! Melissa Greenwell   My guest Melissa Greenwell, COO of The Finish Line, and author of the book, “Money On The Table, contends that most women’s initiate programs fail to help women get top jobs in corporate America. She explains what types of actions actually do have an impact on the number of women in leadership roles. And what businesses and women themselves can do to help drive this change. She will show that having more women leaders has a direct and positive impact on a company’s bottom line.   Melissa Greenwell Quote on Gender Balanced Leadership “I think an interesting one to watch on this subject is Procter & Gamble, so they have definitely received some very fantastic recognitions relative to diversity, relative to promoting women, and they’re one of the very large companies that is doing a lot of work and has been actually for a very long time around having a flexible workforce.  So I don’t know that they have any data published, but they definitely have inferred that taking this approach has yielded better productivity.”   Women’s Leadership Success #82 Summary on Gender Balanced Leadership Learn the physical differences between men and women’s brains and how that predispositions us to think differently Why more businesses are started every year in the United States by women versus men? What you need to do differently to make an impact? How organizations have implemented flexible work arrangements to increase productivity. How gender balanced leadership and diversity helps get the best solution that develops the best products and services. What do we as women leaders, as women that want to be successful in businesses and companies, how do we need to show up? Why taking a mentor is really important. Which behaviors as a female have you been conditioned to have socially, that interfere with your career advancement?   Attention Women and Men - Find Out How You Can Work Together There is no question women are underrepresented at the top level of management. So join me today to learn the steps that leading companies take to retain and attract female talent, AND at the same time, dramatically increase profits.  Find out what the problem is and how you can help change this. So it is not different than the concept of the value of diversity, which has been talked about a lot, but it is the understanding that these different qualities or behavioral tendencies exist in the different genders and that if we only have largely one gender in a room, we’re really missing out on our full capability of problem solving. Are you ready to break through your limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to move to a more powerful level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.  

Do you sometimes question your leadership behavior? Do you think only women like: Marilyn Hewson, president Lockheed - Martin, Christine Lagarde, Managing director of the International Monetary Fund or Sheryl Sandberg COO of Facebook, can be great leaders? It’s just simply not true. Listen today and learn how you can take small steps that will change your Leadership behavior and move you toward your goals. My guest today, Shawn Hunter believes that top leaders development is “… a series of small, incremental choices, made over time – starting with our own personal attitudes and daily behaviors”.  “Those personal methods and mindsets then ripple out and affect each relationship with those around us.” This interview will demonstrate that great leadership behavior is, in fact, accessible to all of us, in our work, in our community; in our life and through these small intentional behaviors that anyone can take. Bestselling author Shawn Hunter distills organizational theory and his own research into 12 critical competencies that all successful leaders exhibit, and provides techniques for putting each small act into action.   Small Acts of Leadership Behavior Improvements: Shawn Hunter For us to thrive—not simply survive—in this accelerating economy, we need to adopt small, intentional behaviors and practice them each day. From simply taking care of our rest and exercise to building our self-confidence and embracing challenges, author Shawn Hunter’s latest book Small Acts of Leadership will guide you through a series of incremental steps you can take to build a stronger version of yourself and make a broader impact in the world. Shawn Hunter reminds us that the most lasting way to build competence and confidence, is easy if we take small purposeful steps. They snowball into habits and new Leadership behavior. In this interview Hunter provides simple techniques for putting small steps into action.   Key Points of Great Leadership Behavior, Women’s Leadership Success # 81 Hidden benefits of taking action Build Belief in Yourself How to develop confidence in yourself and others Be Fully Present, why this is a big deal Defy Convention Using influence, not coercion Focusing on collaboration Instilling continuous habits of learning Assuming accountability, but also providing autonomy Why take a Break? Are you ready to break through your behavior limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to move to a more powerful level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.    

What are the Habits of a Happy Brain for a Woman Leader? Listen and find out why this is critical to your success. Today we are going to talk about something different… Something that you would probably never hear - in a leadership program or course. This vital information on how to retrain your brain, will change your ability to control your emotions - and impact how you lead. Welcome to habits of a happy brain and how this can enhance your leadership. Loretta Breuining, PhD You want to feel good and you want to be a better leader right?  Well that is the quest of your brain. And our guest today Loretta Breuning, PhD is here to teach you some methods to make that happen. In this fascinating interview you will learn about the chemicals in the brain that can help you retrain your brain to be happy. Plus, find out about how to build new habits by developing new pathways to help you increase satisfaction and well-being. This will make it even easier to trigger happy chemicals when you want. Habits of a Happy Brain: When You Feel Better – You Lead Better Loretta Breuning, PhD, is Professor Emerita of Management at California State University, and author of Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain your brain to boost your serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphin. She’s Founder of the Inner Mammal Institute, which offers free resources to help train your mammal brain for more happy chemicals ().  Women Leadership Success With Loretta Breuning Interview Summary How do I enhance my happiness level? Learn the secret to successfully building new habits What to do when you feel like giving up Conscious choice of the response you want How to stay with the odd feeling to learn new things Rewiring your brain 10 minutes a day. Why unhappiness might feel more normal. Learn the four happy chemicals that make us feel good. How do we trigger the on switch for our happy chemicals? Ways to manage the ‘bad feeling’ that interferes with our goals. Finding alternative ways of making yourself feel good. Are you ready to break through your limitations in your career, leadership and life? Be Healthier? Would you like to move to a more powerful level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.    

In spite of all the attention, and “lip service” promoting diversity and women in leadership in fortune 500 companies - AND an increase in highly qualified, educated and motivated women in the workforce, --- women still remain, greatly under utilized in corporate leadership... Here are the facts: Only about 15% of women are in senior executive positions, 17 percent on boards and 3 - 4 % are CEO’s…. Now here’s the good news. Our guest Joelle K. Jay, Ph.D. is an expert in women in leadership development and has researched the long Joelle K. Jay Ph.D. standing hurdles that women experience in corporate culture. In this interview she shares specific strategies and approaches to guide you beyond blocks – and into positions of top Leadership. New Advantage: How Women in Leadership Create Win-Wins Dr. Joelle Jay is the principal with the Leadership Research Institute and an executive coach and keynote speaker. Joelle specializes in the advancement of executive women and she is proud to support the development of top talent in positions of leadership for many successful companies including MetLife, Adobe and Microsoft. She’s also the co-author with Howard Morgan of the New Advantage: How Women in Leadership Create Win-Wins For Their Companies and Themselves, and I want to say this is one of the best books I’ve read this year The New Advantage for Women in Leadership Interview Points The challenges that help to perpetuate the pattern in which women advance with certain level of the company and then they find themselves stopped. New perspective to break past those barriers. Why companies with more women in leadership are more profitable. How women are learning to empower themselves to know how valuable they really are. Learn how to identify the stopping points in your career advancement. Turning a challenge into one of the greatest advantages for you. Why practice in communicating your opinion and formulating your thoughts clearly and efficiently is very good training for “executive presence”. Owning your success by being able to articulate the value that you bring. Use feedback to develop a strong vision of what success will mean for you. What is “election”, and how might it affect you getting promoted? What Are Your Women in Leadership Questions? I want to know. Ask your questions on this important topic in the “Leave a reply” window below or using the survey form at the top of the page. Are you ready to break through your limitations in your career, life and truly be one of the women in leadership? Would you like to move to a more powerful profitable level for yourself and/or your team? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.

Tim Warren & Sabrina Braham This episode of Women’s Leadership Success Radio is a little experiment. Most the time, I interview world-class women (and men), and I ask them many, many questions to try and figure out what makes them succeed at what they do. Over the years, many of you have asked me great questions. So I flipped the script and am answering some of your questions. In this episode, I am being interviewed by my husband Tim Warren on one of your most common questions: what are some top career development strategies for women? Do you have career development concerns or questions that block your opportunities and impact your income? For instance: What if you are bored in your existing job? Or not sure if you need more education? Maybe lack a mentor? Or feel stuck in a large corporate environment. Do you wonder how do you manage your career and have a great relationship at the same time? And you are not alone. You know you are capable of doing better right? Join me as I share some of my career development strategies for women success tips while being interviewed by my husband “Tourism Tim” Warren. This is a new periodic segment, I call “Sabrina’s Secrets”® where I answers your top career development, leadership, communications and more top questions. See below on how to potentially get your questions answered on Women’s Leadership Success Radio Podcast too. Sabrina Braham: Career Development Strategies for Women I have over 25 year management, leadership and career development expertise as a consultant, coach and trainer to many fortune 1000 firms and in the private, public and academic fields. Just in the past year I have coached 4 CEO’s and 5 people have been promoted to VP’s.One of the most rewarding things I love is helping women just like you get promoted, especially to C-level positions. Career Development Strategies for Women Leadership Success #78 Show Summary How you can stay motivated and excited about your career. When should you move on to advance your career or when you should be patient and grow where you are? What to do if you are pigeonholed in your present job Are you too old to get a degree? And it is worth the time and expense to get advanced education or skills What are some effective ways to career advancement without mentorship? What are the some of the secrets to managing dual-career situation where both partners/spouses work full-time and want interesting, rewarding careers? Are you looking for career development strategies for women from an executive coach with many many success helping women just like you?   Would you like to move to a more powerful level of confidence and earnings? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training for yourself or your team. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.  

How to Get Peoples Hearts and Minds Into Strategic Change Management For Improved Culture and Increased Productivity & Profits   Do you want to know one of the biggest challenges to good leadership? It is managing change effectively.   And YET, the research shows that 70% of all change initiatives - FAIL. Why is that? One of the top reasons is because, it is not addressed head on, with the very people who need to implement the change. Have you experienced this? If not, at some point this will happen in your department - or your company at large. Join us today learn how to implement successful strategic change management with author Ellen R. Auster, who has more than 25 years experience specializing in strategic transitions, transformations and turnarounds. She’s also professor of strategic change management and the founding director of the Schulich Center for Teaching Excellence at the Schulich School of Business, York University. She has recently written the book, Stragility: Excelling at Strategic Changes. Women's leadership Success Podcast #77: Strategic Change Management: How engage and enroll your people Resisting the temptation to use the first viable strategy that emerges Dealing with disruptive external forces, constant global competition and demanding customers Solutions for failed strategic change management and change fatigue Developing the people-powered dimension of change How to systematically inspire and engage people Learn the difference between the rational and relational sides of change Bringing the magic of mantras to the change initiative   Attention Leaders and Managers – Listen & Share This Today Wow! This interview is so great. I hope that you hear it more than once. Ellen has shared so many profound things on strategic change management. So listen to it more than once to really get the incredible suggestions she is making.  --------------------------------------------------------------- Are you ready to break through your limitations and profitably implement strategic change management in your career, leadership and business? Would you like to move to more powerful profitable levels? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training for yourseldf and team. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media. adership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.    

Have you ever been stuck? Have you ever felt like your career development is at a dead end, or that maybe you got the wrong degree in college? Let me tell you a secret. You CAN overcome your roadblocks. You are capable of being and achieving more than you are doing now. Join Carrie Kish CPCC and me to learn how a serial entrepreneur, mother of 4 and CEO of Culturesync (The Champions of Tribal Leadership) navigates work life balance. This great interview will encourage and inspire you that you can remove career development blocks and amplify your success too. Work Life Balance with Carrie Kish Carrie started out as a chemist and worked in research as a chemist for a few years and then went into teaching, and then I found that she is very entrepreneurial and started multiple businesses. She and her husband just recently started their eighth business, which have been in many different and diverse fields from software consulting to a health spa to leadership development, and although they don’t seem like they go together, and it’s an interesting path that we follow. She became CEO of CultureSync in a kind of an unusual way. Essentially she sold her lab coaching and leadership development business into CultureSync in exchange for partnership, so she is a partner and the CEO of CultureSync. CultureSync helps people navigate culture and leadership in organizations, from anything from a startup up to Fortune 100. Answers to Career Development Roadblocks: Work Life Balance for Women How to make a change from one profession to another When to trust your instincts and follow the opportunity What it means to follow the resonance How to handle negative feedback Tips for meeting and feeling confident with well-known people Learn to inherently lead at different levels Tribal Leadership explained How the language you and your team use creates meaning Dealing with the work life balance when you are sick or injured Using your disability or failure for great growth and career development Asking for help: how vulnerability impacts your success Quotes from Carrie Kish for Women’s Leadership Success Interview “For a quick tip … allowing people to help you is probably a leadership secret that people aren’t good at. Especially of the women, I think we are so good at giving help and offering help and we’re pretty terrible at receiving, and if you can let people help you, that is sometimes more inspiring of followership and support than helping others, allowing people and empowering them and surrendering to allow them to help you.” “I think I just followed the steps that were in front of me, like follow the resonance, follow the fulfillment and follow the opportunity.” “It’s kind of like following the path that lights up, following what makes your heart sing, following what feels right, and I think I’m very intuitive so I feel more than I think… “So you can just palpably feel the difference when you walk into an organization that is led by values. You have a different customer experience or a different experience interacting with them, and they’re doing better in the marketplace. They have a much higher customer loyalty and much more success.” “Something that I did was I was radically committed to my healing and I’m also better than my physical therapist’s idea at this point because of how committed I was to my health and healing.”   Are you ready to break through your limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to move to a more powerful level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.     PS Thanks for reviewing, sharing and subscribing to Women's Leadership Success Radio Podcast in Apple Podcasts.  

If you have ever worked, or considered the “Lean Process”, 2 Second Lean will help you make it simple and accessible. Join me and my guest Paul Akers, author of the best Selling book, “2 Second Lean”. Listen and learn a simple way to eliminate waste with the "2 Second Lean Process" to increase productivity and enjoy your life more. It is has been adopted by corporations like Coca-Cola, Boeing, Amazon, Mercedes Benz, Boeing and many others worldwide. Paul Akers is the author of 2 Second Lean and the founder and president of FastCap based in Bellingham, Washington, an international product development company that he founded in 1997. He has over 2,000 distributors worldwide and he is a prolific inventor. He has launched approximately twenty new innovative products a year since 1999.   Attention Leaders & Managers: Listen & Share This is one of the best most practical interviews I have ever done. It will help you be a better leader, manager, more profitable, happier team and most important, more freedom and fun. Listen and share this 2 Second lean interview with Paul Akers and Sabrina Braham today. You will be glad you did.   2 Second Lean Interview for Women’s Leadership Success Ideas that you could put into use immediately How 2 Second Lean gets implemented so that it’s actually an enjoyable process Discover the “eight wastes” and practical ways to eliminate them daily Four simple points for continuous improvement How 2 Second Lean improves customer service Learn to build culture and engage employees Take what bugs you and learn how to make it better Easy changes to put into action Shocking solution to those who refuse to improve Makes 2 Second Lean simple and accessible How to operationally and practically implement this approach Easy tips to unravel the complication of lean and makes it simple How to make something better than it was.   2 Second Lean Quotes “Lean is the ability to see waste in everything you do, so this is how it works. Everything you do in life is a process. So most of what we do all day long is non-value added activity.” “So all we’re trying to do is eliminate the waste from the starting point of every process to the ending point and eliminate that and make it smaller, more efficient and recapture all the waste of resources that are involved in any process. That’s all Lean is.” “We’re wasting our potential as human beings because we were made to do fantastic things, to develop, invent and create all kinds of wonderful things, but the preponderance of our life is caught up in doing incredibly, stupid work because we overproduced everything we do in life, and so we’re caught up into this waste vortex and we’re not using our potential.” “Fix what bugs you and do it in a disciplined way every day for the rest of your life. Guess what happens? Every day you get up, your life is better than the day before. That is the critical component. Every day you get up, it’s better than the day before if you do this. “Continuous improvement never stops or pauses...” Read 2 Second Lean Interview with Paul Akers Transcripts Here    

Power in Leadership. Part II. Join us with part 2 of the new way of thinking about the world that has impacted Nelson Mandela and Peter Block. This transformative thinking is called “narrative work”. It opens a new window to see that there are lots of other possibilities than that “story” that you’ve already been told and sold.   Click on Audio Player Below to Listen to or Download Women’s Leadership Success Radio Interview #74   Sabrina Braham & Chené Swart at Conversations Among Masters Conference Listen and find out how top men and women leaders have transformed their lives, and businesses, simply by changing their story. Sabrina Braham and her guest Chené Swart show you how every conversation you enter creates with it the possibility of transformation and better outcomes. Chené Swart, is the author of the book, Re-authoring the World: The Narrative Lens and Practices for organisations, communities and individuals. She is a contributing author on Coaching from a Dialogic OD paradigm in the ground breaking organizational handbook published by Berrett-Koehler in San Francisco in 2015 called Dialogic Organization Development and Change: Theory and Practice. She lives in South Africa where she writes and works as an executive coach, consultant and trainer specializing in re-authoring practices. “ Each of us has a free will at our core, so like it or not, others will choose to change more readily from the example set by our own transformation than by any demand we make of them.” — Peter Block Power in Leadership Highlights: The Narrative Story Part II What the Taken for granted story is and how to change it How important human connection is and how important it is to pause and so that we can surface all of the multiplicity of the narratives Valuing the whole work community stories The shocking truth: Even if you don’t like the story you are in you are part of the story and contributing to how it unfolds Discover how to Separate out the people from the problems Questioning out of curiosity instead of catch out mode How to create more space for human connection What generous listening is and how it can change your communication Why Curiosity with no judgment changes the outcome Noticing when your assumptions are not true   If you Missed Part I of this Interview on Power in Leadership with Chene & Sabrina, Access it Here   What are your questions and comments on the Narrative Story and Power in Leadership for women’s Leadership Radio? I want to know. Ask your questions on this important topic below in the comments window and I will get back to you. Thanks for listening and sharing.   Are you ready for more power in leadership and to break through your limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to move to a more powerful level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.  

Power leadership secrets.... How many of the limitations in your life and work do you assume you can’t change? This may be a “story” that you tell yourself, or you have been told, that is just not true… Many people don’t know that they can change their story, whether it’s individually, in their community or company. There is an exciting new way of thinking about the world and leadership that has impacted greats like Nelson Mandela and Peter Block called “narrative work”. This power leadership way of thinking opens a window to see that there are lots of other possibilities than that story that you’ve already been told and sold. This is narrative work and power leadership. Join us today in part I of this exciting interview to learn how you can apply power leadership and narrative work and transform your career, business and life too, simply by changing your story. Our guest today is Chené Swart, is the author of the book, Re-authoring the World: The Narrative Lens and Practices for organisations, communities and individuals. She is a contributing author on Coaching from a Dialogic OD paradigm in the ground breaking organizational handbook published by Berrett-Koehler in San Francisco in 2015 called Dialogic Organization Development and Change: Theory and Practice She lives in South Africa where she writes and works as an executive coach, consultant and trainer specializing in re-authoring practices. Each of us has a free will at our core, so like it or not, others will choose to change more readily from the example set by our own transformation than by any demand we make of them. — Peter Block, The Answer to How Is Yes: Acting on What Matters Highlights of Power Leadership: The Narrative Story How the narrative lens can change your perspective on power and leadership Why Change your story? How to use the narrative story to change work and communities Are you open to seeing the world differently? What is the “taken-for-granted story” and how does it influence and affects our lives. Have you accepted a "problem story" about yourself and others? Power leadership: Change the story to change the world Discover the lie in: “This happens all the time or this is always the truth.” Inspiring examples of how we can live into an alternative stories   What are your questions and comments on Power Leadership and the Narrative Story for women’s Leadership Radio? I want to know. Ask your questions on this important topic below in the comments window and I will get back to you. Thanks for listening and sharing. Are you ready for more power leadership and to break through your limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to move to a more powerful level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.  

This is customer service the Sandler way. Read, listen, prosper. What has been the secret of LL Bean, Starbucks, Samsung, Lowes, and many others that have earned them top market share and profits? It’s customer service that empowers top companies to outshine competitors. To find out how you can join these top businesses, join my guest, Anne Mackeigan & me and learn about Customer Service the Sandler Way Anne is the customer care program specialist for the Sandler Way and the author of “Customer Service The Sandler Way: 48 Rules For Strategic Customer Care.” Listen to this interview and learn how you can help your business elevate customer care to lead and succeed. Customer Service The Sandler Way Interview Summary Tips to learning good customer service Discovering the connection between helping and selling Hiring the right people and asking the right questions when you hire. Knowing the secret to resolving issues. How to help solve customer problems What to do to handle a difficult situation or a difficult person The proven process for taking a person to a successful solution What you do after you make the mistake in customer service Not everybody is suited to customer service. Learning what behaviors and outcomes are coaching opportunities for women leaders. No matter what you position in your company from CEO to line worker. This interview will be a valuable tool to help you and your company learn the magic of the upserve, and how to implement it. What are your questions and comments on Customer Service for women’s Leadership Radio? I want to know. Ask your questions on this important topic below in the comments window and I will get back to you. Thanks for listening and sharing.   Are you ready to break through your limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to move to a more powerful level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.    

Tips on board governance for women leaders. What are the two things that consistently help global businesses operate more efficiently improve profits and mitigate risks and is the best bridge between management and boards? Join me today with a leading authority and find out why women leaders and good corporate board governance is the proven answer to profitable businesses. Board Governance for Women Leaders Awareness of board governance is important for women leadership, and here?s why. It will help your career advancement and help you get appointed to a board of directors. It?s easy for someone to get the great players on a board and in a company, but the real magic is how you teach them to work together. In this tip filled interview you will learn how the people in the company, the C-level and the board of directors can all come together to produce to amazing results. Nancy has an incredible vision for progressive leadership among companies, board and people. So join me and my guest expert Nancy Falls to see why leadership and good board governance are really the defining traits of high-performing companies Expert on Board Governance & Leadership Author Nancy Falls who is the founder and CEO of The Concinnity Company, a firm that helps companies transform the way their boards and leadership teams work together. With more than 30 years of experience in and around C-Suite and the boardroom, Falls is a leadership and board governance expert who understands what it takes to drive authentic success. Board Governance for Women Leaders #71 Highlights Find out why good governance and good business goes hand and hand. How do leaders handicap their board of directors? What is information asymmetry and why is it the lifeblood between the boardroom and the management team? What to you need to do and what needs to happen to improve communication between the boards, the president, the C-level? Find out the advantage of recognizing the differences in people and working well together and what?s going to change in the company. How would a woman leader help prepare herself to be on a board? Why is “wisdom” the final frontier in people working well together?   What are your questions and comments on Board Governance for women's Leadership? I want to know. Ask your questions on this important topic below in the comments window and I will get back to you. Thanks for listening and sharing. Are you ready to break through your limitations in your career, leadership and life ? Would you like to move to a more powerful level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.  

Is there politics in promotion? Do you think office politics is a four-letter word? Are you a star at your job but still getting by-passed for promotions? Do you know why competently fulfilling your job description, may not get you a promotion? Do you ever wonder what high-achieving women know that most women don’t know? Did you know you could learn to excel at office politics ethically, and develop a strategy that is fun and invigorating?   In this insightful interview, the complex rules of the politics of promotion are revealed to help you build connections that will increase your influence, impact and advance your career. Join us today to get great advice from Bonnie Marcus who is an author and former CEO, on how to navigate the politics of promotion. Bonnie Marcus has 20+ years of sales and management experience including CEO of ServiceMaster and executive positions in Fortune 500 and start up companies. Bonnie Marcus Bio In this interview, Bonnie shares some insights from her new book, “The Politics of Promotion: How High-Achieving Women get Ahead and Stay Ahead. Politics of Promotion show highlights: Women's Leadership Success Podcast #70 How to avoid being blind-sided by a lack of “political savvy.” Discover how to develop a strategy that will advance your career. Find out what “political will” is, and why this is important. Learn the secrets of branding your accomplishments. Become an expert on the unwritten rules of politics in your company. How to overcome your reluctance to develop “political skills”. Being your authentic self & navigate the realities of the workplace. The political tool kit for savvy self-promotion. In this interview you will be given the tips that will move you from being reactive to being proactive to advance your career.   Subscribe to Women’s Leadership Success in iTunes Can you do me favor? I would really appreciate it if you would please visit iTunes and subscribe to Women’s Leadership Success podcast and give the show a 5-star review. Every great review we get allows more women to discover the show and helps them succeed too. Also thank you for sharing my show with your friends and associates.    

Does employee morale impact retention, productivity, profits and fun? Heck yes... So picture this… A humble cocktail waitress - with only a high school diploma - pulls herself out of poverty - then develops a foundation worth millions, to help people move to a better life. So how does this relate to you? People want to be part of something bigger than themselves. Women leaders who paint a vision of a future where there is a way to help each other and their communities, excel at increasing employee morale in the workplace. That’s why you are going to love our guest today. You will broaden your perspective of how you can use giving to enhance your life, your job and employee morale.   Carrie Morgridge is Vice President of the Morgridge Family Foundation. She is recognized nationally for her work as a philanthropist, student advocate and the creator of innovative professional development for teachers. Carrie is practically “Superwoman”. Listen to her sage advice below and read Carrie’s detailed bio here.   “…Morgridge reminds us that we are a nation of “difference makers” and encourages us to continue that legacy of meaningful giving through her empowering stories of those who have made a difference.” Douglas Conant, Chairman, Avon Products; Chairman, Kellogg Executive Leadership Institute; Founder & CEO, ConantLeadership; Former CEO & President, Campbell Soup    How women leaders impact employee morale through giving WLS #69 highlights: Why giving taps into your core values and amplifies them Hear how a team’s gift to itself changed employee morale Ways to teach children to effectively give back How leading the giving program in your company will increase your brand and influence. New strategies to get on a corporate board The magnified power of women working together collectively, to change their organizations and community. If you want to make a difference, listen today to see how you can use giving to increase your passion, brand and influence.   Subscribe to Women’s Leadership Success in iTunes Can you do me favor? I would really appreciate you giving m a great review too. Every great review we get allows more women to discover the show and helps them succeed. Please visit iTunes and subscribe to Women’s Leadership Success podcast. Also I really appreciate you sharing my show with your friends and associates.  

Special Podcast on Stress Management for Women in Business. We’ve all felt it, the oppressive feeling we’ll never get everything done, make everyone happy, and fulfill all our roles in life. We lie awake at night worrying about what might happen tomorrow — and may happen because we’re so tired and stressed... Stress is a big word in every woman’s vocabulary. Go to the doctor with a complaint and too often the initial diagnosis will be “stress.” Stress management for women adds a new dimension felt by women in business, new mothers or discontented wives or daughters. In the workplace we must shine and prove our worth. We expected to demonstrate we’re as good or better than any man, without letting any man recognize we’re doing it. We contend with male bias along with our personal goal to get closer to that glass ceiling. Are women stressed? You bet we are. That’s why every woman can learn important lessons from today’s guest, Jenny Evans. Jenny Evans: Stress Management for Women Tips Jenny C. Evans is a speaker, author of THE RESILIENCY rEVOLUTION: Your Stress Solution For Life 60 Seconds at a Time and on-air expert on resiliency, stress, exercise physiology, nutrition, and health. She is the founder and CEO of PowerHouse Performance, where she works with executives, leaders, and employees worldwide to help them improve their performance and productivity, while enhancing their health. Evans’ clients include AT&T, Este?e Lauder Companies, Comcast, Nationwide, and Ameriprise Financial. Jenny Evans Share Stress Management for Women in Business Advice and How You Can Beat It In this podcast, executive business coach Sabrina Braham MA PCC and Jenny Evans, will talk about what you can do to be at the top of your game, including: Why most stress management programs don’t work, especially for women. The meaning of “resilience” and how it positively affects us when reaching for optimal performance. The importance of harnessing stress by letting it play out and how to do it. How to utilize 60-second bursts of activity to reset your stress button. How to understand your individual physiology so you can change it and reduce your stress response. The part nutrition plays in controlling stress and the strategies you can use to eat less and be healthier. The number one tool no one tells you about that will help women recover from stress. How small changes to your environment help you make changes automatically, without conscious effort on your part.     Stress Management for Women Questions Is stress at work and life holding your career or business back?  We want to know so we can help you be more resilient. Please post your stress questions below in the comments section and we'll get back to you with tips and advice   Download Women's Leadership Success Interview #67 Here  

Anyone who leads an organization or aspires to reach their potential will want to listen to this inspiring interview and leadership tips (below) with Patricia Walsh; author of Blind Ambition: How to Envision Your Limitless Potential And Achieve The Success You Want. Left sightless at the age of 14, instead of resigning herself to a life of dependence on others. She fought back with a fierce resolve to not only prove that she was equal to sighted people, but in some respects superior. Her leadership tips are a great story of grit, personal accountability, granite willpower, and a determination to buck overwhelming odds. Walsh’s achievements at the age of 33 are greater than most people could expect in a lifetime: a successful career as a software engineer, entrepreneur, author, professional speaker, and Champion Athlete. She will be representing the United States in the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.   Walsh has turned her experiences and triumphs into useful information that anyone can use to overcome obstacles, expand their horizons, and realize their potential in their personal and professional life.   Women’s Leadership Tips with Patricia Walsh & Sabrina Braham How should you handle naysayers? Using athletics to achieve your potential Why it’s important for women to speak up Finding a mentor The power of goal setting and a system that works Change your opinion of what you are capable of The practice of overcoming limitations Becoming motivated by what is possible. What it means to run the rootline. And how it will speed up your results. What are your leadership tips or questions? Please post them below and get more tips to help you succeed in your leadership and career. Thanks for sharing Women's leadership Success radio with friends and associates who want to advance their career and leadership in business and life.   Are you and your team ready to break through your communcation limitations in your career and life? Need more leadership tips ? Would you like to move to a more powerful confident level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Call or email me for executive coaching and consulting. (Use Contact Form Here) For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.  

Attention Current & Future Women Entrepreneurs   Multi-millionaire Chesapeake Bay Candle founder MEI XU shares leadership secrets for women entrepreneurs is one of Women Leadership Success Radio’s best interviews ever! Imagine you are from China... You studied to be a diplomat... but through unexpected events, found yourself a political dissident who was sent away for reeducation... And yet you made the difficult journey to get to the United States and there, founded a multi-million dollar business. Think this is impossible…? This is a true story! Join us today and hear how Mei Xu made this journey, from extreme challenge to becoming a top women leader. Listen to this show and read below to learn 3 Insider secrets from Mei Xu’s to help you succeed in your business, career and leadership. I interview her 5 years ago and it was one of the top listened to shows. This new interview is one of my all time favorite interviews. I hope you are as inspired and motivated by it as I am.  —A Candle Loses Nothing by Lighting Up Another (Buddha) That’s a favorite quote of our guest, Mei Xu, who believes it not only refers to her internationally successful candle business, but also to our relationships with others, especially relationships between entrepreneurs. Insights from Top Women Entrepreneurs Mei Xu and her former husband, David Wang, began importing a number of products, including candles, in 1994. Mei Xu knew very little about manufacturing and business when she began. She learned as went, taking note of what she did right and where she had to ask for help. When they realized candles stood-out from the others, they opened a workshop in their house and created their first collection. Today her company, Pacific Trade International, has grown into a fully integrated global innovator of home fragrance, fragrance technology and home decor products doing over million in sales. Even the White House chose these candles for gift baskets distributed to guests at Michele Obama’s first Farm-to-Table event. Today she’ll tell you the steps she took to learn what works and what doesn’t. She’ll also discuss the steps every businessperson needs to take on the journey towards being a leader in their fields. MEI XU Shares Leadership Secrets for Women Entrepreneurs What women entrepreneurs should consider when choosing a business opportunity. How a successful entrepreneur thinks during the process of crafting a company. What essential attribute may “kill the cat,” but make women entrepreneurs survive any challenge. What is meant by the Asian adage, “It will always be well in the end, so if it’s not well, it’s not the end” and how you should apply it when you reach a roadblock. Why a multi-million dollar company opened a factory to manufacture in the United States instead of Asia, despite monumental problems surrounding that decision. The benefits of learning from every person around you, being open to new ideas and asking questions constantly. How correctly understanding and utilizing social media can be a great benefit to your business and why she hasn’t used them—yet. The two primary skills Mei Xu learned “on the job” and considers the most important for women entrepreneurs. Did this great interview this spark any new ideas for you as a leader or entrepreneur? Did this great interview this spark any new ideas for you as a leader or entrepreneur? Please share your discoveries and opinions with us in the comments section below. And be sure to join our Women’s Leadership Success Group on Facebook and help us build an active community of women (and men) committed to helping each other succeed. Are you one of the women entrepreneurs ready to break through your limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to move your business and team to a more powerful level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.    

Do you wonder what is the gender communication code? Do you ever wonder why men don’t ask for directions? Or why men often interrupt you when you’re talking? Or why men think they’re right—even if they don’t know the answer? How many women can relate to these questions? In this fast-paced, thought provoking interview with one of the leading experts on gender communications at work, you’re going to discover that men and women have their own distinctive customs and rituals when talking, problem-solving and decision-making. Listen today and learn proven ways to deal with these gender challenges, how to move to win-win outcomes, and how to enjoy—and even celebrate—the gender communication differences. For the last 30 years Connie Glaser has been a leading expert on gender communication differences. She’s the author of five books on gender communications. Her breakthrough bestseller Swim with the Dolphins has been translated into over a dozen languages. Her latest book is GenderTalk Works: 7 Steps for Cracking the Gender Code at Work. In this interview Connie presents ground breaking ways to understand the cultural differences in communication between men and women. She shows us that differences in communications between men and women are a fact of life and if we handle them correctly, those difference will be immediately evident. Connie Glaser presents a practical, usable strategy to increase inclusiveness and clear the air for better communication and understanding. Highlights from the interview on gender communication differences: The differences between male and female brains; Why women apologize too much; Why it’s important for women to speak up; How to take credit for your work; The surprising truth about who interrupts the most; The cultural differences between women and men; How to plug in to hard-wired gender communication differences; How to handle the situation when cultural rituals create misunderstandings. What are your biggest concerns or questions on gender communication differences? Please post them below and get specific tips to help you succeed in your leadership and career. Listen to advice on gender communication from Connie Glaser and Sabrina Braham, M.A., MFT PCC today. Are you ready to break through your limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to move your business and team to a more powerful level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.

Do you think you know how to promote employee engagement and motivate people? Did you know, according to Gallup, that the vast majority of employees, as high as 70%, are not engaged in their work? Companies spend huge amounts of time and money to boost employee engagement. The problem? Most engagement strategies by organizations don’t work. Leadership expert and author Susan Fowler who is a researcher and senior consulting partner with The Ken Blanchard Companies, has spent the last fifteen years studying employee motivation. Susan is also the author of “Why Motivating People Doesn’t Work and What Does: The New Science of Leading, Energizing, and Engaging. Her research has revealed that leaders can’t motivate employees, because people are already motivated. But that doesn't mean that your employees are “engaged” and doing what you want... Listen to and find out what does improve employee engagement and how you can use it to improve your team's happiness, productivity and retention. Plus you will learn how to engage yourself and be happier too. Employee Engagement Interview Highlights: Why motivating people doesn’t work and what does. What changes when you have high-quality motivation. How to self-regulate your motivation. How facilitating a motivational outlook conversation will help your direct reports. How you can develop optimal motivation in yourself. Recognize that day-to-day optimal motivation is the fuel for employee engagement over time. What are your biggest concerns or questions on motivation and employee engagement? Please post them below to get tips to help you succeed in your leadership and career. Are you and your team ready for improved employee engagement to break through your communcation limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to move to a more powerful confident level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Call or email me for executive coaching and consulting. (Use Contact Form Here) For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.  

What do the characters in The Wizard of Oz have in common with great leaders and simple leadership lessons? The scarecrow, the Tim man, and the Lion, are symbols of core attributes of successful leaders: Thought, Heart, and Courage. Through this wonderful story, our special guest shares wisdom that will help you inspire others, and keep you all on the Yellow Brick road. My interview this month is with Dr. Kevin Fickenscher, the author of Toto’s Reflections: The Leadership Lessons From The Wizard of Oz. He shares attributes of characters in famous stories, business and life share: Integrity, commitment, excellence and heart. Listen and remind yourself of what is important to be valued. Kevin shares easy and simple leadership lessons you can use in your relationships at work and career. Dr. Kevin Fickenscher, M.D., CPE, FACPE, FAAFP NS and author is a recognized physician executive leader with extensive experience in strategic and operational development in healthcare organizations. He is a thought leader related to information management and technology with extensive experience in organizational transformation, leadership development, and clinical quality and resource/care management, among other areas. Simple Leadership Lessons From The Wizard of Oz: WLS #62 How your best " simple leadership lessons "can come from your failures. The incredible value in listening to the “little people” Learning to reflect to gain a perspective that will give you guidance Why leaders need followers Ross Perot’s simple leadership lessons gift How to use fear as a focus to solve problems Employing persistence in the face of obstacles to achieve success Using your people skills to move your organization to a desired future How to express yourself, embrace the world, and have no fears.   What are your " simple leadership lessons " you want help on to grow your leadership skills and advance your career?  Please post them below and I’ll get you answers and help. Are you and your team ready to break through your communcation limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to move to a more powerful confident level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now:   Call or email me for executive coaching and consulting. (Use Contact Form Here) For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.    

This is How You Can Cultivate and Grow Your Leadership Skills This is a re-released interview with Mellody Hobson, formerly the President of the Ariel Fund. She is now chairman of the Board of Trustees of Ariel Mutual Funds and the Chairman of DreamWorks Animation SKG. Inc She is also a valued advisor and on the boards of Starbuck’s, Este Lauder and Groupon. In this interview to help you grow your leadership skills, Mellody talks about starting as an intern and advancing her career all the way up to president Arial Mutual Fund of the company. She is known for her astute questions and an incredible ability to see big picture outcomes. Grow your Leadership Skills: Career Tips from Mellody Hobson How to keep getting promoted The surprising most important aspect of work Learn the freedom of giving up a life of obligation You will be inspired by her passage from a childhood of money challenges to her passage into financial freedom It’s not to late! How to go from broke to financially independent. How to financially educate yourself and your children How to get your value recognized Mellody’s stories and beautiful lessons that will inspire, encourage you and help you advance your career and leadership.   Are you ready to break through your limitations in your career, grow your leadership skills and life? Would you like to move to a more powerful level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media. What are your top questions to grow your leadership skills? Please post them below and I’ll get you answers and help.  

Andrea Jung, former CEO of Avon missed important signs that lead to her failure. This podcast shares insider women leadership skills guaranteed to advance your career. Andrea Jung the former CEO of Avon Products, Inc. captured the imagination, hopes and dreams of women all over the world. She had incredible leadership abilities that helped Avon become a very successful company. She rose quickly with great skill and yet, missed important signposts that eventually led to her failure at Avon…. Do you know any other women who have or are missing the warning signs that may hurt their career? Maybe even you…?  Read on and listen to this important interview (see audio player and mp3 download link below) with an Avon VP. You'll learn how to advance your leadership skills and career from a top Avon insider.   Deborrah Himsel, the author of Beauty Queen: Inside the Reign of Avon's Andrea Jung, worked alongside Jung at Avon as Vice President of Global Organization. She shares insights that will help you understand critical lessons for success as a woman leader and specific career steps for avoiding failure.    Women Leadership Skills Learned from Avon’s Andrea Jung: You will see what makes great leaders great - what can challenge and hurt, even the greatest leaders - and what you can learn from them. Identify the skills that made Andrea Jung successful in her top leadership role? How your greatest strengths can also become your biggest liabilities. Why the details of leadership skills are important. The significance of complementing your team with your skills. How to pick assignments that will shore up your leadership skills. Find out if you are using critical feedback to develop your leadership skills. How to choose the "right" mentor. The importance of noticing the “political landscape." Women Leadership Skills Career Blocks Remember, no matter how brilliant or skilled you may be in your leadership in an organization, often like Andrea Jung, you are missing something or not seeing the “sign posts”. This can limit or totally derail your career and in the process disempower your team. Listen to this interview to learn how you can find out what you're overlooking and how to avoid being blindsided by these gaps. Are you and your team ready to break through your communcation limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to move to a more powerful confident level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Call or email me for executive coaching and consulting. (Use Contact Form Here) For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.

Every year I read thirty to forty business and career development books to gain knowledge and find thought leaders to interview. This book is one of the best I have read in 3 years. So good, I read it 3 times. If you are looking for a womans career guide to personal success, this podcast and book is not to be missed. Faisal Hoque, author of “Everything Connects, How to Transform and Lead in the Age of Creativity, Innovations, and Sustainability" is a brilliant thought leader who shares insights that will help you advance your career and be a better leader.   A Womans Career Guide to Personal Success I was surprised and delighted to find new ideas and ways of thinking. I think you will agree that it will change the way you think and hopefully what you will do with yourself and your career development. Management guru and thought leader Faisal Hoque shares his futuristic perspective on work and people.  He says that the constant cascade of new technologies and social changes are creating a more empowered population. Workforces are increasingly dispersed, demanding of self-expression, and quite possibly disengaged. "Within this topsy-turvy context, leaders must spark creativity, drive innovation, and ensure sustainability." Faisal Hoque Using real-life practical experiences, Faisal defines a personal and professional playbook that shows Women (and Men) how to: Holistically connect the “when” and “what”, with who you are Inspire and lead inside and outside of your organization Learn the importance of relationships and how to leverage them Woman’s career guide to opportunities for connections Develop your career with transferable skills Put yourself in a place where you have lots of different experiences. Open yourself up to knowledge- discovering actions If you truly want to advance your leadership and career, listen to this insightful interview and that will guide woman leaders worldwide. Women are often at a disadvantage when it comes to leading in business. You can help change that!   Are you and your team ready to break through your communcation limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to move to a more powerful confident level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Call or email me for executive business coaching,  consulting, assessments & trainings. (Use Contact Form Here) For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.  

Leadership is a process which, to be utilized successfully, requires an understanding of some basic guidelines, as Rebecca Herman refers to them, “Bases of Leadership”.   In this important interview, Rebecca Herman, PhD  shares insights with Sabrina Braham about team building tip for women and leadership. Rebecca Herman is co-author of LEAD ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME: Stories and Strategies To Develop Major League Leadership, and a Professor of Leadership and Organizational Development for Kaplan University’s School of Business graduate programs. Listen to these powerful team building tips for women and learn a winning system of leadership success using baseball analogies and stories. Women’s Leadership and Career Development Tips Include: How Major League Baseball managers gain the trust and respect of their players. A proven way to increase your passion at work The three dimensions of Major league leadership Why it is important to lead yourself first What we teach others by our behavior How to earn the respect of your team and co-workers The most important ingredient when working with different generations How one can foster a winning team; team building tips for women If you want to improve your leadership and your team building skills, listen to this interview, especially if you have at least a passing interest in America's greatest past time! It shows people at all levels, and in all industries, how to lead like a Major League Manager and develop Major League Leadership. Women are often at a disadvantage when it comes to leading in business. You can help change that! Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

How would you like to have a mindset that enables you to inspire the imagination and actions of everyone in your organization? What if you learned to see more possibilities than problems? What if small shifts in attitude lead to greater results at work, at home, and in all areas of your life? Join Sabrina Braham and Kathryn Cramer, the originator and founder of the Asset-Based Thinking Program, which is a way of looking at the world that helps leaders, influencers and their teams to make small shifts in thinking to produce extraordinary impact.  Kathryn has been studying effective leaders for almost 30 years. She has been interviewing effective leaders and has developed a system that you can replicate to improve your management style to be an effective women leader. She also has worked with a lot of clients such as DuPont, Prudential Real Estate, Starbucks, Microsoft as well as many educational and nonprofit organizations.  Her latest book is Lead Positive:  What Highly Effective Leaders See, Say, and Do Effective women leader interview tips with Sabrina Braaham and Kathryn Cramer include: How the contagious element of our thoughts and actions infect both the leader and the followers. How to shift out of the negativity bias into a positivity bias. The keys to staying on the possibility pathway when things are tough. A simple technique to change your focus and bias The most admired characteristic in America and how you can develop it. Useful strategies that help you shift out of ‘deficit thinking’ The 30 second cure to changing your thinking See and seize the emerging opportunities in any situation Starting a positive chain reaction Weaving together neuroscience and positive psychology Kathryn Cramer offers a unique and invaluable path to better leadership and inspiring teamwork. Women are often at a disadvantage when it comes to getting ahead in business. You can help change that! Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

Celebrate Women in History Month Did you know that 1/2 to 2/3’s of all fortune 500 CEO’s are incompetent and are fired for poor performance and lack of ethics, and almost all of them are men? Have you ever heard of a woman leader being fired for ethical reasons? This is because women tend to more ethical AND inspirational. The latest research shows that the most successful leaders care more about developing their followers, listen to them and encourage them to “think outside the box”. It turns out women leaders are more likely to have these qualities than men. For women’s history month, we are revisiting a powerful interview with Dr. Alice Eagley, a prolific author and one of the most respected researchers on women and gender. Alice Eagly - Women Making History Alice Eagly is a social psychologist who has published widely on the psychology of gender and of attitudes, especially attitude change and attitude structure. In both of these areas, she has carried out primary research and meta-analyses of research literature. She is the author of Sex Differences in Social Behavior: A Social Role Interpretation and co-author of Through The Labyrinth: The Truth About How Women Become Leaders with co-author Linda L. Carli and other more. She has received numerous awards, including the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award of the American Psychological Association and the Gold Medal from the American Psychological Foundation Life Achievement in the Science of Psychology, Breaking the Glass Ceiling - Women Making Career History It’s no longer impossible for career women to navigate to the top management jobs. Yet women leaders still have many more challenges. The Labyrinth is the new metaphor that replaces the Glass Ceiling and captures the challenges women face in their careers. When you understand the obstacles and learn the strategies and behaviors, you will get to very high places in your career and be very successful. Sabrina Braham and Alice Eagly discuss the proven research for helping women advance in their career and be better leaders. Listen now. You will walk away with ideas you can put to work immediately to help you get promoted. Alice Eagly: Women in History Leadership Interview Highlights: Learn the qualities that will round out your leadership style Find out what leadership characteristics are not ascribed to women as a group. What leadership styles work against women leaders? Lessons from observing people Strategies for building social capital The value of chat and eyes wide open  Download Alice Eagley Women in History Month Free MP3 Here

  What do Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Mellody Hobson, president of Ariel Investments and Mary Barra president of General Motors, all have in common? Like most successful women leaders, they all have mentors and are mentoring others... Power mentoring has been a hot topic of discussion for a lot of years, but most of us know that finding one mentor can be a real challenge – especially finding another woman to mentor us – so looking for more than one seems like a daunting task. On her website, Ellen Ensher uses an old Girl Scouts' song to illustrate one of the ideas behind multiple mentors: "Make new friends, keep the old; new is silver, old is gold." She advises having 10 to 12 mentors with differing areas of expertise and she convincingly describes the benefits you'll receive from this new way of seeking help. In this power mentoring interview with Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC, Dr. Ensher explains mentor-protégé relationships in an easily understandable and fun way, using personal stories about real people. She's spent the past 20 years studying mentor-protégé relationships, participating in them and teaching her students how they work and why. She'll open your eyes to this novel way to advance your career on the fast track. Ellen Ensher, Ph.D. Your Guide to Power Mentoring Since 2000, Dr. Ellen Ensher's students at Loyola Marymount University have consistently rated her among the top five percent of business professors at the school. Her established expertise in mentoring programs and her tested career advice make her a frequent key note speaker and workshop leader for conferences, as well as public and private organizations throughout the world. Frequently quoted in the media, Dr. Ensher has published over 40 articles/book chapters and has made over 100 professional presentations. She's the co-author, with Susan Murphy, of Power Mentoring: How Successful Mentors and Protégés Get the Most Out of Their Relationships, for which the authors interviewed 50 pairs of mentors and protégés from the fields of politics, technology and entertainment.   Advance Your Career: The Importance of Power Mentoring Some of the topics executive business coach Sabrina Braham and power mentoring expert Ellen Ensher will talk about in this women’s leadership podcast include:   The theory behind Power Mentoring and why younger people are benefitting from adopting the practice The benefits—one of which is increased income— are realized by those in power mentoring relationships How Ellen was mentored by Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and author of Lean In. Although they've never met—and how you can do the same thing The questions to ask yourself when looking for power mentors and the questions to ask potential mentors when you find them Why protégés should also serve as mentors and how to go about it What a "manager" can add to the mentor-protégé relationship The three major reasons people mentor others and the value they receive from doing it Why some formal company mentoring programs fail and how they can be fixed The perks you'll receive when your mentor-protégé relationship includes tests and challenges How to utilize your mentors to help you get seated on corporate boards. Women are often at a disadvantage when it comes to getting ahead in business. You can help change that!  

What do Coca-Cola, Walmart, Patagonia do that has increased, profits and success and set the stage for the future way beyond the vast majority of companies? How do they create compelling visions that shape a radically different future? What can you do, no matter what your job title is, to develop a vibrant culture and inspired employees? Listen to this thought provoking interview to find out. Are You Willing to Change Your Corporate Culture? Many businesses resist change… "We have a company that works, producing products the public wants and buys. Why mess with a good thing?" Do you believe that? Ask Kodak about rejecting the change to digital. Our world changes daily and successful businesses change with it. Beyond simple product changes, today's forward-looking enterprise has to demonstrate, at the very least, innovation, an environmental consciousness, globalization and stability. This means they must change their corporate culture. There can be no transformational change unless we look at things differently. It is the only road to sustainability and success. The best news is that the power to effect this change lies in each of us. Executive business coach Sabrina Braham and author Diana Rivenburgh share insights and actionable tips women (and men too) can use to improve your corporate culture and bottom line. Diana Rivenburgh – Corporate Culture Expert Author Diana Rivenburgh prominently displays her company's mission statement: "… to leverage the tremendous power of sustainability for client prosperity and a better world." Diana walks her talk. With over 25 years experience in organizational and leadership development, change, consulting and strategy creation, she held several corporate executive leadership positions before starting her own business. For her new book, The New Corporate Facts of Life: Rethink Your Business to Transform Today's Challenges into Tomorrow's Profits, Diana spoke to 100 leaders of large and small companies, in different sectors and countries, with diverse endeavors. Each talked to her about their perspective on what was important to their industries or organizations and what they saw as essential to success in the years ahead. How Women Leaders Can Contribute To Corporate Culture Change And Sustainability In this podcast, Sabrina Braham and Diana Rivenburgh will talk about:    The seven global forces that are affecting every corporate and non-profit enterprise today How to change corporate culture mindsets from "take, make, waste" to "shared value for the business and society" The major U.S. company that established a corporate initiative to help five million women around the world set up and expand their own businesses by 2020 How one international shoe company collaborates with their competitors to rethink how their products are made with environmental consciousness What you can do, wherever you stand on the corporate ladder, to shift mindsets and reshape the corporate culture The transcendent importance of consistent innovation when seeking sustainability and why one company's head of sustainability reports to their head of innovation The four lessons learned from Diana's research and how we can implement them in our workplaces What Anita Roddick, the founder of The Body Shop, has done to ensure the company operates on the core values of ethics and environment, along with human and animal rights Ways a construction business is not only socially responsible, but insists its employees lead, engage and align with the corporate culture The key attributes you must have if you want to be on the board of a forward thinking company. Women are often at a disadvantage when it comes to getting ahead in business. Help us change that! What challenges or suggestion do you have in changing corporate culture in your business or career? Thanks for sharing in the Facebook comments window Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

A NEW LIGHT ON OLD WAYS OF ENTREPRENEURIAL THINKING It used to be joked that an entrepreneur was "someone who hadn't found a job yet." That definition wasn't always accurate then, but today it's a ridiculous notion. More and more we are becoming an entrepreneurial culture—better trained, better able to take an idea, assemble and lead a team to make it happen, and finally achieve what may have once seemed an impossible goal. We're no longer content to sit back and watch others pursue their dreams. We want to push up our sleeves and get into the action. The question is: How do we do it? Bill Schley, the author of The Unstoppables: Tapping Your Entrepreneurial Power, says, "The entrepreneurs will make the jobs, invent the industries and populate the new companies that will win the war for the economic future . . . we need millions more." His message is that you can be one of those millions of entrepreneurs. He gives you the entrepreneurial thinking rules along with new ways of looking at how you see yourself and your place in business. Pay attention and you'll be right at home in your new endeavor. His sources are his own experiences and those of other successful entrepreneurs, along with the secrets of elite military forces for whom success is the only option. When this podcast is over, you'll look at your goals and how to attain them in a new light. It's an Aha! moment you can't afford to miss. BILL SCHLEY KNOWS HIS STUFF! No one understands what makes an entrepreneur tick better than another entrepreneur. Throughout his career, Bill Schley has successfully "done it on his own." An award-winning branding expert, author and speaker, Bill is president and co-founder of BrandTeamSix and is recognized as the creator of the Dominant Selling Idea for successful companies around the world. Before opening the first of his own companies, Bill was a copywriter for Ted Bates Advertising Agency, so it was a natural transition to write books based on his business experience. His first three best-sellers — Power of 10, Why Johnny Can't Brand, and The Micro-Script Rules — have now been joined by his latest book, The UnStoppables: Tapping Your Entrepreneurial Power. In it he shows how an unlikely team – the chairman of a multi-billion dollar tech company, a few Navy SEALs, some members of the Israeli Special Forces and a branding expert – came together to identify the central core of entrepreneurship. This is entrepreneurial thinking at it's best to help women advance their career and excel in business. BILL SCHLEY EXPLAINS HOW WOMEN CAN BE SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS In this episode of Women's Leadership Success Radio, executive business coach Sabrina Braham and author Bill Schley discuss a wide-range of entrepreneurial thinking topics covered in his book, The Unstoppables, including: The emotional mechanics essential to entrepreneurship and branding. The four-letter word Navy SEALs fight against when they are in difficult situations — and how to keep that word from defeating you. The difference between how successful Navy SEALs function and the way most entrepreneurs operate. A different definition of "failure" that's been recognized and utilized by the most successful entrepreneurs throughout history. Three ways to get motivated and moving toward your goal—and how to keep the momentum going. The definition of "Accelerated Proficiency," which is vital not only to your success, but ultimately to the success of the entire business sector. The four basic questions you must answer if you want to turn your idea into a great brand. The necessity of being "famous"—and the "Unstoppable Rules" you can follow to become both famous and successful. The three components women have that makes them better entrepreneurs and team builders than most men! Women are often at a disadvantage when it comes to getting ahead in their career & business. Help us change that! Download Women's Leadership Success Interview #53 Here To download this MP3 audio interview into any audio player device, "right-click" on the link above and "save as" into your computer. Click Player Bar Here to Listen to Women's Leadership Success #53

Successful Businesswomen or Imposters? Whether you were given a promotion or are in a new job or have returned to the work force after a few years at home waiting for the kids to go to school, you’ve probably felt as if it’s all a bit overwhelming. You may think you’re not really as accomplished as your colleagues believe. You pat yourself on the back for fooling everyone into thinking you really know what you’re doing. Others may view you as an articulate, experienced and highly successful businesswoman, but you look in the mirror and see an actress playing a part. It’s called the Imposter Syndrome and a majority of women, at every level, are victims. Perhaps it’s because we were raised to turn away from praise. It wasn’t “ladylike” to acknowledge our accomplishments. Maybe our mother or grandmother told us boys wouldn’t like us if we were too smart. It could be that someone laughed when we tried something difficult and failed. Or even worse, ridiculed us when we succeeded. Whatever the cause, our secret feeling of “I’m not good enough” is holding us back. The cure comes from identifying the Imposter Syndrome and working to overcome it. That’s what we’ll learn to do in this podcast. Valerie Yound Learned from Experience Valerie Young realized she was a victim of the Imposter Syndrome when she was in graduate school in the 1980s. It became the center of her research, the subject of her doctorate dissertation and the focal point of her career. Now she has written The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women: Why Capable People Suffer from the Impostor Syndrome and How to Thrive in Spite of It. Published by Random House, it’s currently being reprinted in three languages. Besides her work as seen at ImpostorSyndrome.com, Valerie is also the founder and “Dreamer in Residence” at ChangingCourse.com where over 23,000 people around the world read her newsletter that teaches how to make a living doing what you love. She has spoken at over 60 prestigious colleges and universities and addressed audiences at some of the nation’s largest companies and associations. Her career-related tips have been printed in publications around the world.   Valerie Young Shows Women the Way to Career and Business Success Executive business coach Sabrina Braham & author Valerie Young discuss: What the Imposter Syndrome is and who is most likely to suffer from it. The different imposter behaviors that are seen in even the most successful businesswomen — and ways can we can change them. The different kinds of confident behavior as outlined in Valerie’s “Confidence Workbook.” How a simple definition of fear can help overcome panic when faced with speaking to an audience. Ways we can follow the example of other successful businesswomen by daring to step outside the box and do something unexpected. Why women internalize our chronic self-doubt much more often than men. (Be sure to listen for the L’Oreal story!) Why it can be healing to remember the old adage: Fake It Till You Make It! The importance of “reframing” and “normalizing” to overcome feelings of inadequacy. The “Dirty Little Secret” about the Imposter Syndrome that we all have to know — and how knowing it will help successful businesswomen work through our lack of confidence and accept the accolades we’ve earned. What has been your experience around confidence & Valerie's Tips? Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

 How Can Fairy Tales help Women Master Management Skills? No matter how adult we are, in the heart of every woman is the memory of a childhood heroine. We all pretended, at one time or another, that we were Cinderella going to the ball or Rapunzel letting down her hair or Belle being Beauty who saves the Beast. We cut our teeth on fairy tales and on some level have always wished they were real. Today's guest will show you how those beloved fairy tales hold the seeds that help us grow outstanding management skills. Cary Broussard, author of From Cinderella to CEO: How to Master the 10 Lessons from Fairy Tales to Transform Your Work Life, will unlock the management skills secrets hidden in the stories of Hans Christian Anderson and the brothers Grimm. These stories were originally conceived for adults to pass down moral values before the days of how-to-books and business speakers. They also served to entertain before the advent of television and movies. Perhaps as a result of their original purpose, each much loved story holds a powerful message each of us can access. Cary Broussard has distilled the messages from these long-told tales and is delighted to share them with us. Cary Broussard Shows Women Management Skills Success Throughout her career, Cary has drawn on her childhood fairy tale friends to help guide her to the top of every business in which she was involved. She has also used these principles to teach management skills and mentor other women so they could follow in her footsteps. Now you'll get a taste of the management skills wisdom you can glean from familiar stories. After you listen today, you'll be rereading them, eager to learn more! Executive Business Coach Sabrina Braham & Cary Broussard Discuss in this Podcast:  How fairy tales help women change ourselves to become more like the person we want to be. The ways in which our lives already mirror the successful characters in fairy  tales. The questions each of us must answer truthfully if we expect to be truly improve our management skills What "Beauty and the Beast" can teach us about understanding imperfection and being prepared for the best and worst that's put in front of us. How one smart but shy woman relied on the lessons from "Rapunzel" to conquer her fears and dramatically change her life. Why being mentored—and mentoring others—is so critical to attaining the goals we've set for ourselves. How "Thumbelina" can teach you management skills magic to think big, step outside your comfort zone, offer help to the helpless and watch them turn around and become your rock. Why "Cinderella" is a metaphor for achieving your dreams, whether it's a step up the corporate ladder or a job in a brand new "palace." What are your biggest management skills challenges or breakthroughs? Share them in the Facebook comments window to get more tips and to help other women succeed.   Women are often at a disadvantage when it comes to management skills in business. Help us change that! Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

Sabrina Braham MA PCC How can women leaders can improve their influence and trust to accelerate their careers? That's one of questions our guest hears most often when she works with leaders in a wide variety of businesses. Part of the answers is found in increasing your “emotional intelligence”. In this podcast she is going to give you the same advice she gives her executive clients. We're turning the tables today and focusing on the founder of Women's Leadership Success radio, Sabrina Braham MA PCC. She's an expert in emotional intelligence and its important in dealing with leadership issues, especially those faced by women. She is also a executive coach who is sought out by executives globally for help in leadership development, communication skills, career advancement, team building and more. She'll divulge insider secrets and top-level advice you can't get anywhere else. The guest host is Tim Warren, the executive producer of Women’s Leadership Success. He is also an internationally known speaker, coach and business advisor in the global tourism industry. Tim knows the questions to ask — and Sabrina has the answers you want.  Episode #50 of Women’s Leadership Success on Emotional Intelligence:  What emotional intelligence is and why it is one of the top eight skills of successful leaders. How a lack of self-awareness can stall your career. Why self-awareness is one of the vital skills every woman must cultivate if she's going to be successful and how it impacts the way others perceive you. Simple actions you can take today to increase your emotional intelligence.  The importance of designing a feedback system to get more allies, increase the behaviors you want.  The power of persuasion - why being able to persuade effectively will positively impact your career and promotions. Why positive emotions increase our behavioral changes Two habits that will increase your emotional intelligence If you want to change your behavior or coach someone else. Listen to these valuable ideas.   Women are often at a disadvantage when it comes to getting ahead in business. Help us change that! Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

Communication Skills: How Women Can Develop & Improve Their Verbal and Written Communication Skills to Engage & Influence Others Terry Pearce "Communication skills" has become a hackneyed phrase we hear over and over again, but what does it really mean? It's far more than being able to speak up at a meeting or give a client presentation that brings in the account. Communication refers to everything we say and write and do when interacting with someone else in any medium. It refers to how we share our ideas and our values, our ambitions and our disappointments—even how we have learned from our mistakes. People respond to everything they see in us. They listen to our stories, not unlike the way ancient tribes listened to the elders before thoughts and experiences were written down. It's vital that we know how to open ourselves to others, what to say and when to say it. When we control the communication, we steer people in the direction we want them to take. During the next 30 minutes, you'll hear an expert in both communication and leadership teach you the communication skills every successful woman must know. Terry Pearce: Leadership Communication Skills Expert Terry Pearce who once an executive at IBM, he has since taught leadership communication skills at the University of California-Berkeley, the Hass Graduate Business School (UC-Berkeley) and the London Business School. He co-authored "Clicks and Mortar: Passion-Driven Growth in an Internet-Driven World" with David Pottruck. His most-recent book, published in February, 2013, is the third edition of his best-selling "Leading Out Loud: A Guide for Engaging Others in Creating the Future."  Terry Pearce Biography Terry Knows How Women Can Be Successful You will quickly pick up on Terry Pearce's gift for communicating abstract concepts in a very down-to-earth and practical way. He illustrates his points with pertinent stories of real people he has worked with, many of them women who have earned their stripes through long experience, but who grew more secure in their leadership positions by following his advice. He's easy to listen to and boils down years of working with a variety of people and companies into straightforward suggestions any of us can follow. Terry will leave you wanting to hear more! Executive Business Coach Sabrina Braham and Terry Pearce Discuss: The ways in which human beings are moved by "story-telling" and how we all can use stories in business. Why being feminine in a male-dominated workplace can be to your advantage. The ways leading women executives manage to achieve work-and-life balance in today's business culture. The three things that are the essence of leadership communication skills. Why women's vulnerability is an asset instead of being debility in the workplace. How and why your work experience, life experience and education should be incorporated into business conversations. The importance of telling stories that reveal who you are, what you consider valuable, and how you bring these values into every aspect of your life. Ways in which a simple, short and sincere thank you note can make a lifelong positive impression. "The future is not some place we are going, but one we are creating…." Learn the entire quote from John Schaar and how it is central to how each of us should live and work successfully. Women are often at a disadvantage in communication skills which can prevent advancement in business. Help us change that! Are you ready to radically improve your communication skills in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to move to a more powerful impactful level of influence? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 4 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media. 4. Access my Free tip sheet here: 12 MASTERFUL COMMUNICATION TIPS TO BE A GREAT LEADER    

LEARN THE SECRETS of INSPIRED LEADERSHIP FOR WOMEN Every organization must have someone who leads it, but how many of those leaders are really fulfilled by their position? How many can lead by inspiring their teams to perform at maximum capability for the pleasure of the work instead of the tyranny of the paycheck? True leaders are excited, fearless, and more interested in the product and its effect on the community than the amount of money to be made. Their teams feel satisfied and fulfilled, eager to accept the next challenge. There are secrets to being this kind of leader and James Cusumano Ph.D will explain them. THE JAMES CUSUMANO STORY Today, you will meet an amazing leader. His exciting career spans being a Rock Star, a PhD Chemist, an executive at Exxon, founding a multi-million-dollar Silicon Valley company, becoming an acclaimed movie producer, and now owning a five-star hotel, spa, and business conference center near Prague where he teaches his unique formula for being a great leader. JAMES WILL TEACH YOU HOW TO BE A SUCCESS Throughout his several careers, James Cusumano has always pursued his passions, allowing him to find true purpose and balance in life. He has outlined his insights and techniques in his two books, "Cosmic Consciousness," and the compelling new volume, "Balance: The Business-Life Connection." He has a marvelous ability to translate a lifetime of varied experiences into down-to-earth steps anyone can take to make the most of life in any arena. Leadership for Women and Executive Business Coach Sabrina Braham and James Cusumano Discuss: The necessity of knowing the true purpose of your life so you can create your own reality. Why listening is the most important ability to nurture while you stand on the "Shoulders of Giants." The four questions to ask yourself to discover what's really important to you. "The Fulfillment Formula" sequence you can follow to achieve what you truly want. The three ways to look at your work to determine which level you want to attain. The difference between "shareholders" and "stakeholders" and how if affects an Inspired Leader's commitment. How fear engenders "negative energy vampires" who can destroy a team and cripple a company. Why does the 20-Question Performance Review give a more accurate picture of a person's strengths and areas needing additional training than the 360 Review? The value of a corporate "love note culture" in performance assessments. Women leaders are often at a disadvantage when it comes to getting ahead in business. Help us enhance leadership for women! Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

Business Relationships for Women Have you ever felt frustrated or stuck in a job you don’t like? Or maybe you just graduated from college or are back in the workforce after taking care of kids? Or you own your own small business and need to generate new clients and customers to stay in business? Good news. These all share a common solution. This is the same solution that most successful people, including some of the greatest leaders in the world, have been using for centuries. It is developing an entourage of business relationships that will help you when you have a need. Using the tips you’ll get from this episode of Women’s Leadership Success, you will never be alone. You will always have the support from a group of people who have your back, no matter what. If it sounds too good to be true, this is one program you can't afford to miss. Leslie Grossman will explain what to do and how to do it so you see the best possible payoff from your networking activities to build business relationships. The Leslie Grossman Story Leslie Grossman is a leadership and business relationship development expert, as well as the chief connections officer (COO) at Cojourneo.com, a blog/workshop website that provides proven ways to succeed on your personal or professional journey—and have fun along the way! She's the creator and co-founder, with Andrea March, of the Women's Leadership Exchange. She founded and ran her own integrated marketing agency. For over 25 years, she's been helping professionals, executives and business owners achieve success. This winter, her most recent book, Link Out: How to Turn Your Network into a Chain of Lasting Connectors, was published by John Wiley & Sons. Link Out is filled with tested strategies that will turn strangers into connections who can significantly advance your career or business. Leslie Will Teach You How To Be A Success In this podcast, executive business coach Sabrina Braham and Leslie Grossman will discuss: —   The difference between ordinary networking for women and being part of an entourage; —   How to determine which people will be included in your entourage and how   best to add them to your support group; —   Ways to follow up with your networking contacts so you're not forgotten; —   How to determine what other members of your entourage need from you, because successful networking is a two-way street; --  The rules of Entourage Etiquette, including how to be a facilitator and get the business relationship networking process in high gear; —   Former president Bill Clinton's fool-proof system for forming a tight connection with other people; —   The Rules of Engagement, which are specific things you can do to capitalize on your contacts while assisting them achieve their goals; —   How you can become the leader of your own life, taking the reins instead of being dragged along in the wrong direction. Women are often at a disadvantage when it comes to advancing their careers. Help us change that! Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

Follow Your Entrepreneurial Dream With Advice From Kim Malek Have you ever sat through a dull corporate meeting and dreamed of opening your own business? Have you fantasized about being the person in charge so things run the way they should? Studies show that 60 percent of working women leaders want to be their own boss. Today we're going to talk to a women leader who finally stopped dreaming and did something about it. How One Woman's Dream Began Kim Malek was working with Starbucks back in 1996 when it was a small Seattle coffee company with only 30 stores. She was there as it started to grow into today's international behemoth and she learned a lot about how to grow a business. As exciting as it was to be part of this legendary company, she wanted to move back to Portland, Oregon and open an ice cream shop with a difference. Over the next decade, she worked for other major corporations, always afraid to follow her dream and possibly fail. Kim Did It And You Can Do It, Too! In 2010, Kim finally quit the corporate world and moved back to Portland. One person offered her free room and board for a year. Her cousin, who was in culinary school and fascinated with ice cream production, saw her vision and wanted to be part of her dream. By 2011, they had opened the first Salt & Straw Ice Cream Parlor. Today, they distribute their ice creams nationally through the Internet and have two local outlets—so far. The company has been written up locally, featured in major magazines and profiled on network television programs. Kim has learned what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur and women leader. She's eager to share that knowledge with you. In this podcast, executive business coach Sabrina Braham and Kim Malek will discuss: —   How building solid community relationships can produce more effective advertising than having a large marketing budget; —   Ways you can use recycled materials and local elements to design your business space inexpensively and have it feel both comfortable and upscale; —   The ways in which international business experience translates to running a small local company; —   How financiers can give you invaluable assistance, even if they don't give you the loan; —   The importance of both working with women leader mentors and asking more experienced people for help when starting any new venture; —   Why your business plan should also outline the future, including a possible exit strategy; —   What you should constantly re-examine as your business grows and develops. Women leaders are often at a disadvantage when it comes to getting ahead in business. Help us change that! Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

This is Women's History Month. It was ninety-three years ago women won the right to vote. Since that time women have continued to champion important causes for civil rights and equal pay for equal work. Women’s rights and leadership has come far. There are now more women in congress than ever in our history. Join Susan Butler and Sabrina Braham MA PCC as we discuss the strides made, how that can help you lead, advance your career and support women and girls as we move forward to have equality for all. In this important conversation on Women Leadership you will learn: Why Womens History Month recognizes one of the most important movements for women in business, career and life worldwide. Learn about the leadership progress that has been made and how it helps you. Insider tips on how to notice the opportunities to move your career to the next level. Learn the difference between a job and a career The Importance of paying attention to guiding your career the direction you want to go. Important ways to change the conversation with your boss to increase your chances of promotion. How we can prepare younger women to be great tomorrow’s successful leaders. What Are You Doing to Advance Leadership & Equity for Women? Please Comment, Share and Like to Celebrate Women's History Month Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

Yesterday's Women Leaders There was a time when a woman's place was to keep a man happy and be quiet about it. Mother's taught their daughters to be seen and not heard. They warned about men's negative opinion of women who voiced opinions or made themselves conspicuous. There was also a time when we were sheltered, docile creatures who let men rule the world. That was yesterday. Today’s Women Leaders Today, some of the most articulate spokespeople for our society are women with ideas, purpose and persuasive ability. Before John Kerry, three of the previous four U.S. Secretaries of State were women. We are in politics, the professions, in science and the arts. The media is teeming with bright, interesting women who have something to say. The women who have risen to the top ranks in corporate America didn't achieve their positions by sitting back and letting others take the lead. In 2013, women leaders have found our voices. Now it's time for all of us to learn how to use those voices effectively. Communication Skills & Connection for Women Today's guest is popular media personality and spokesperson, Jennifer Wilcov. Jennifer is the host of the weekly syndicated show, “Your Book Is Your Hook” and a best-selling author. She's also the co-founder of the up-coming event for women held in New York and streaming online, "Get Your Voice On." In everything she does, Jennifer is concerned for and speaks directly to women. She's the embodiment of her inspiring personal message, “You have the right to remain fabulous – regardless of any situation, circumstance or condition!” In this Women’s Leaders podcast, executive business coach Sabrina Braham and Jennifer Wilcov will discuss:  The difference between "speaking up" and "getting your voice on" The danger of letting "what-if?" thinking influence your reactions to office situations The effective way to women can respond to the intimidating "what is it?" question from a superior with whom you're meeting What you need to have ready when you articulate the problem to a superior The two words that keep many women from getting their views heard Why "if you see something, say something" is a better rule than "silence is golden" What should be your most significant reason for remaining with your company The significance of the "Get Your Voice On" conference and how it can dramatically impact how women leaders act and react in the workplace. Women Leaders are often at a disadvantage when it comes to advancing their careers. Help us change that! Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

If you're a woman who has held a job you've undoubtedly run into the issue of negotiating your salary and equal pay for equal work... You also know that it's a concept that rarely exists in today's business world. Across the board, women still earn considerably less than their male counterparts. Say you have achieved salary equality; it probably took you longer to prove your worth than it did the men on your level. The old argument that men were supporting families and needed more money has long since become irrelevant. Many women in the 21st Century are heads of households, even those in which they are the only resident. So what can you do to overcome the latent prejudices of male & even female management and put yourself on the equal footing your skills merit? Join women’s leadership coach Sabrina Braham M.A, PCC and negotiating your salary for women expert Barbara Belknap and get solid “how to” advice with free downloadable audio (below), video on negotiating and “negotiating tips” sheet. Executive business coach Sabrina Braham and negotiating your salary expert Barbara Belknap will discuss: How to correct the fatal mistake most women make when told the proposed salary for their position Why it really is a crime to pay a woman less than a man doing the same work  The cultural conditioning behind women's hesitancy to negotiate salary and how you can prepare your daughters to negotiate confidently in the workplace What you must do before entering into any conversation about your abilities, promotion or salary in work situations   When and how you can negotiate for more money, even when the company says, "No one is earning that figure," and "The pay scales are pre-set.”  How your lifetime earnings will affect the way you will spend the remainder of your life after retirement  The person who is a nationally known role-model for every woman who wants to succeed and be treated as an equal to men Which national and local organizations are helping women by-pass traditional societal and corporate attitudes so they can maximize their earning potential? What are your top negotiating challenges, quesitons and tips? Please share them in the Facebook Comment window.   Download Women's Leadership Success Interview #43 Here To download this MP3 audio interview into any audio player device, "right-click" on the blue link above and "save as" into your computer. Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview //

Join executive coach Sabrina as she interviews three delegates from the Vision 2020 Congress in Portland Oregon. Initiative To Advance Women’s Leadership, Economic & Social Equality Vision 2020 is a national initiative to advance women’s economic and social equality, gathered delegates and leaders. Women leaders from across the nation met this month in Portland, OR for its 3rd National Congress.  Its goal is to move America toward equality by 2020, the centennial celebration of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote. The delegates reviewed state projects that promote Vision 2020’s goals to achieve pay equity, to increase the number of women in senior leadership positions, and to promote family-friendly workplace policies, voter mobilization and civic engagement. Also, they developed strategies to sustain awareness of these goals and achieve success by the year 2020, which mark the centennial celebration of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote. Sabrina Interviews Three Vision 2020 Women Delegates: Audio Player & Show Download link below Roxanne Lara, delegate from New Mexico who talks about the five national goals of Vision 2020 Increase the number of women in senior leadership positions in American life to reflect the workforce talent pool and  ]demographics. Achieve pay equity, so that equal pay for equal work will be the norm in America. Educate employers about the value of policies and practices that enable women and men to share fairly their family responsibilities. Educate new generations of girls and boys to respect their differences and to act on the belief that America is at its best when leadership is shared and opportunities are open to all. Mobilize women in America to vote, with particular emphasis on a record-setting turnout in 2020, the centennial of the 19th Amendment. Roxanne shares some easy ways you can help this effort in your own life and community. Barbara Belknap, delegate from Alaska shares her initiative on negotiations. How her lack of negotiating skills impacted her salary What she learned about why this is a challenge for many women And some tips on how to develop this skill Robin Hall Guadagnini the delegate from Arkansas shares her initiative to mentor 8th grade girls through high school The impact it has had on the girls The excitement of leading business women to have this opportunity The challenges to figure out what the next steps are in this program.   What do you think about Vision 2020, initiatives and goals? You Can Help Today - Share and Spread the Word Please “Like”, Share and Comment in the Facebook Comments Window Below   Since 1978 Leadership Development & Communication Executive Coaching, Consulting & Training          Sabrina Braham M.A. PCC Author • Media Host • Consultant Phone:  707-576-7776 http://www.SabrinaBraham.com LinkedIn Recommendations/Profile SKYPE:  womenleadership Author of: The Tranquility Zone Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview //

Look around at any professional or social gathering and you'll see some people in animated conversation while others sit on the sidelines watching the action. Who do you think will be remembered when there's a promotion coming up?  Author Susan RoAne The ability to walk into a room of strangers and strike up a conversation is one hallmark of a leader. Whether you're talking to the assistant from Accounting or the company CEO, there are tips and tricks you can use to initiate conversation easily, so the other person becomes a friend, ally or mentor. Shyness is no excuse. You must be able to hold your own in a world where the ability to communicate has become an imperative.  Our guest is Susan RoAne who is known as "The Mingling Maven®," is considered to be one of today's most influential networking and business communication experts.  She teaches how anyone can overcome shyness and learn to schmooze with confidence, whether you're networking for business or attending a social event. Listen today and advance your career. You will get simple techniques and strategies for connecting and communicating in today’s global business world. In this Women's Leadership Success show, executive business coach Sabrina Braham and women leaders author Susan RoAne will discuss: Why women leaders have an advantage when making conversation because of an inherent ability Susan calls "the host training." How you can turn any boring conversation into an animated exchange that's interesting to both parties. Which newspaper most dynamic leaders read everyday, no matter where they live—it's not the Wall Street Journal. How to use specific social media sites, along with Google and other browsers, to give you a head start when talking to the people you want to know. Why technology has caused over 90 percent of people to identify themselves as "shy" and how you can be in the positive 10 percent. What you can learn by eavesdropping on people chatting around you, turning that information into sure-fire conversation starters. The uses and abuses of business cards and how you can make your card a memorable statement that's saved and remembered.   How women leaders can "shine in a crowd" by going against popular wisdom about 30-second introductions and presenting yourself as a total package, which includes how you dress and speak. Why you must encourage yourself. You know your skills and achievements, so speak up! Use proven tricks to get your message across without sounding conceited. Women are often at a disadvantage when it comes to getting ahead in business. Help us change that! Thank you for "Liking", Sharing and Tweeting about Women's Leadership Success Radio.   What is your #1 networking or communication question or tip? Please share it in the "Leave a Reply" box below. Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

Have you ever thought about starting a business, but didn't because you didn't know how to go about it? Do you have doubts about managing or leading people, either in your own business or in the company where you work now? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, or want to learn more about managing a company, then you need to listen to this show! Even today, when women are supposed to be considered equal, many people are amazed when they find us doing traditionally "male jobs." Whether a woman is a firefighter, an airline captain, an international corporate CEO or at the helm of a successful entrepreneurial enterprise, there's often a sense of disbelief that a female is handling a man's job. So imagine the reaction to a woman running a wilderness expedition company! Running a Successful Business In this Women's Leadership radio podcast we're going to talk about the lessons learned from starting and running a successful business, especially one in a man's world. Our guest is Donna Hunter who co-founded Mariah Wilderness Expeditions, turning her eight-year hobby into a business. In this episode of Women’s Leadership Success, executive business coach Sabrina Braham and Mariah Wilderness Expeditions leader Donna Hunter will discuss: What you need to learn before—or soon after—becoming an entrepreneur. The wide range of venues available to you when looking for information and how you can find out what questions to ask, one of the most important steps when learning anything new. Management by consensus and hierarchal management—why each has its place and how you can combine both styles. The ways business is different when a woman is running a successful business and why you need to find and learn from role models. The importance of knowing your niche, offering what your competitors can't and developing your brand. How to use humor in the workplace while making certain your staff understands you're serious about what you're saying. Why your competitors should be your allies and how you can profit from those relationships. How to turn the business mistakes we all make into invaluable learning experiences. Women are often at a disadvantage when it comes to getting ahead in business. Help us change that! Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

How can women leaders build trust and use influence to accelerate their careers? That's one of questions Sabrina hears most often when she works with leaders in a wide variety of businesses. In this podcast she is going to give you the same advice she gives her executive clients.   We're turning the tables today and focusing on the founder of Women's Leadership Success radio, Sabrina Braham. She's an expert in dealing with leadership issues, especially those faced by women, as well as being an highly experienced executive coach who is sought out by executives across the country. She'll divulge insider secrets and top-level advice you can't get anywhere else.       Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview The guest host is Sarah Victory, the author of numerous books and audio programs including Double Your Business in One Year or Less! and Do Something Brave Every Day. In this program, Sarah Victory and Sabrina Braham will talk about: What you can do to enhance your reputation and show others why they can trust you to be fair and honest. The importance of personal interaction when you want to influence/persuade people and how you can use it to strengthen your professional relationships. Why listening is one of the vital skills every woman must cultivate if she's going to be successful and how listening impacts the way others perceive you. The simple non-verbal actions you can take to reinforce the importance of another person's message, showing them you're paying close attention. How contact by phone, email and social media differs from face-to-face communication and why one is more effective than the others. The power of persuasion?how you can persuade others and why being able to persuade effectively will impact your career and promotions. Three valuable influencing skills you can use right now to change your career outcome and help you achieve your goals. Why successful women leaders build trust daily as part of the career advancement strategy Women are often at a disadvantage when it comes to getting ahead in business or their careers. Help us change that!  

Dianna Booher; Creating Personal Presence Watch a seasoned politician speak to her constituents or a corporate executive handle a press briefing on a sensitive subject. They speak with confidence, they project an aura of dependability and they leave their listeners convinced by their message. We live in a world where we are judged not just by what we say, but by how we say it — how we present ourselves — and how we take control of even the most uncomfortable situations. Communication skills are paramount and every acknowledged leader has mastered them. At one time it was enough to be quietly competent. Women, especially, were encouraged to stand back and avoid controversy. We were taught to be seen and not heard. However, we live in a new reality. Have you ever known the press to criticize a male Secretary of State for how he's dressed, how he wears his hair or whether he's had plastic surgery? In order to be successful today, women are expected to well-dressed and well-groomed. We must speak up at meetings, demonstrate our capabilities and draw attention to ourselves without being obvious or overbearing. It's a tall order. Sabrina Braham's guest is Dianna Booher, the CEO of Booher Consultants, a communication skills training firm that serves 280 of the Fortune 500 list along with other global clients including IBM, Pepsico, JCPenney, Deloitte and Touche, American Airlines, and JPMorgan Chase. The corporate goal is to increase productivity and profitability through more effective communication––presentation skills, business writing, technical writing, and interpersonal communication. Dianna has been featured in the list of "21 Top Speakers for the 21st Century" compiled by Successful Meetings and has written 46 books that have sold over four million copies Executive Coach Sabrina Braham & Dianna Booher Discuss: Why improved communication skills are the most important factor in every  woman's career advancement. How "personal presence" — the way you look, talk, think and act — affects how others evaluate you. The subtle difference between male gesturing and female gesturing styles. How to use a simple exercise to correct your posture and gesturing technique  to add validity to what you say.      Why you must dress like an executive instead of middle management and how you can achieve the proper business look. Why face-to-face communication is vital, especially in the Digital Age, and  how to approach personal interactions with confidence. How to recognize the six stages of every meeting and respond to each appropriately so you're considered an effective participant. When to use "bridging statements" to steer any discussion forward in the direction you want. Dianna Booher Biography for Women's Leadership Success Women are often at a disadvantage when it comes to getting ahead in business. Help us change that! Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

// Maybe you've been asked to review a financial statement and had no idea what to look for. Or the CEO has asked you to be one of the key players helping the company reach its financial objectives. In a follow-up brainstorming session, you're asked for ideas about what might be done, but you're not sure how your job relates to the bottom line. Or perhaps your boss wants you to come up with suggestions on percentage increases for the next year and you have to ask your high school senior how to figure them. There was a time when schools didn't worry much about women and numbers, let alone finance concepts. Those days should be long gone, but many brilliant women still feel uncomfortable around basic financial concepts. Even if you don't work in the finance department, this program will be invaluable to you. It's no longer acceptable to say you just "don't get" numbers. Today it's vital to your career to have a basic understanding of the financials that drive your business' success. Kevin Cope is a trusted resource and confidant to business leaders around the world. For over 25 years, he has promoted the idea that the brightest minds in business understand the essence of how a company makes money—and they use that knowledge to drive their decisions. He's distilled his theories in his new book, Seeing the Big Picture: Business Acumen to Build Your Credibility, Career, and Company. Beginning as a building contractor, Kevin went on to spend time in banking and then joined Covey Leadership Center in 1989. After a decade, he left to open his own company. Since 1999, Acumen Learning has trained more than 100,000 people in over 30 countries.  Women's Leadership Interview, Executive Business Coach Sabrina Braham and Kevin Cope Discuss:   What "business acumen" really means and why it is so important to any woman concerned about her career. The importance of speaking "the language of business" if you're going to add value to any discussion. The diamond shape that illustrates the five key drivers in every business. How perseverance can be the real key to attaining an understanding of financial operations. The four best ways to start developing financial competency, even if it's a totally new concept for you. The three primary financial documents every woman must understand and feel comfortable discussing. The extraordinary benefits of having both a mentor and a "circle of influence."   Kevin Cope Biography Women are often at a disadvantage when it comes to getting ahead in business. Help us change that! Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

In Part 2 of this interview with Paul Quinn, he shares more of his insights into how a woman can lead and influence. Always a mentor to and advocate for women, Paul says his goal when he retires is to leave behind a group of people whose careers are moving forward with his help and encouragement. He is candid and insightful; offering advice every woman needs to hear.   In Part 1 of Women’s Leadership Success Radio, we covered the most important skills to develop to move into management positions. This included the enormous value of critical thinking, and how to recover from being asked a question in a meeting you can’t answer. Part 2: Executive Business Coach Sabrina Braham and Paul Quinn Women's Leadership on Politics and Power Which situations should make you stop and evaluate if you're working with the right company. The need for an effective exit strategy, whether from your department or your company, along with action steps to take in your next position. Understanding the importance of continuing your professional and personal development throughout your career. Why feedback on your professional performance is essential and how you can ask for it most effectively. How you can most effectively communicate with anyone at any level. Women are often at a disadvantage when it comes to getting ahead in business. Help us change that! Listen to part 1 of this important interview with Paul Quinn soon to help you advance your career, enhance your leadership and help you earn more money here. Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

In previous shows, we've talked about the power of influencing others—at your level and above—to advance your career. When you can effectively influence those around you, you get your projects done, gain help from co-workers, expand your network, tune-in to corporate politics and increase your visibility. Influential women leaders are the women who earn promotions, serve on committees and are recognized as leaders. In this program you'll learn how to be one of these women. Paul Quinn has a very important message to help women lead and influence. As an Assistant Vice-President at Farmer's Insurance, Paul had 35 years with the company and run organizations of 1000 people. Always a mentor to and advocate for women, Paul says his goal when he retires is to leave behind a group of people whose careers are moving forward with his help and encouragement. He is candid and insightful, offering advice every woman needs to hear.  In this program, you're going to hear executive business coach Sabrina Braham and Paul Quinn talk about: Which interpersonal and financial skills are most important for women who want to be Influential women leaders and move up into management positions. Why women must develop a thick skin and demonstrate emotional intelligence if they want to make a good impression on "the guys." Why you want to be an expert at something that's important to the corporation, concentrating on a skill that no one else has. The enormous value of applying critical thinking principles to any office situation. How to save the day when things go wrong or people ask you questions you can't answer.  The value of preparing for meetings Women are often at a disadvantage when it comes to getting ahead in business. Help us change that!   Look for Part II of this important interview with Paul Quinn soon to help you advance your career, enhance your leadership and help you earn more money.  

Board Development for Women - How Women Leaders Get Their First Seat On A Corporate Board : Part II If you heard Part 1 of Sabrina Braham's interview with Ann Manix, you know that being named to a board can be an invaluable career tool for any woman business leader. (If you missed Part 1, be sure and listen to it by clicking on this link: board development for women  Women's Leadership Success Interview #33 Here You've learned the benefits of being on a board, how to get noticed through networking and "courting" board members, as well as which kinds of executive expertise will be most beneficial in advancing your career. Now it's time to find out what is expected and how to act once you take your seat at the boardroom table. There are unwritten rules of corporate board etiquette that women can use to their advantage when becoming a member of "the old boys' club." You'll learn those rules in this program! Listen as executive coach Sabrina Braham talks to Ann Manix about board development for women: Maximizing your board experience. The unspoken rule that must be observed during your first year on the board as a women. Why you must never take notes during board meetings. How keeping silent makes you look smarter and more confident. Utilizing off-line meetings to fill in the gaps in your knowledge and understanding. Tricks you can use to get the guys to listen to your ideas. The difference between regular networking and board member networking. Which publications are required reading for board members.? Why you must understand what the shareholders and company want from the board. Determining exactly what your role on the board entails. How a certified professional executive coach can advance board development for women. The games you should learn to play to be on equal footing with other board members. Only 17% of all corporate boards include women. Help us change that. Spread the word! ? Are you ready to break through your limitations in your career, leadership and life? Looking for corporate development for women guidance? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media. Next Episode of Women's Leadership Success Inspiration & Guidance to Enhance Your Leadership & Career? Listen to the next episode; "The Art of Influencing Up" with Paul Quinn to learn why it's critical for a women's career.  

*Attention Women Seeking Corp Board Tips * Only 17% of all corporate boards include women... Listen to this show and learn how we will change that. Even if you think you'll never sit on a board, listen to Ann Manix and you'll gain valuable Corp board tips for increasing your corporate leadership, career development and political skills. Sitting on a corporate board will increase your cachet as a leader and enhance your visibility in your own company — and it will expand your network, which will multiply your career choices and income. Over the next two shows we'll dispel several myths about women who serve on boards. We'll also give you specific actions steps that can lead to success in being awarded your first board position. Women's Leadership Success #33, Part I: How Women Get on Boards of Directors - Corp Board Tips: Discover the advantages of being a woman on corporate boards. Find out how this could benefit your company. See how being named to a board isn't as difficult as they say. Learn the expertise that is more important than status or title. Follow the step-by-step strategy to get on a board even if you aren't a female CEO. Find out which kinds of expertise are most useful. Recognize which professional and interpersonal qualities want in members.  Overcome the challenge of women getting on a board if they hold a staff position. Begin practicing what's recognized as "board behavior." Understand the career advancement wisdom of networking with company presidents and other men serving on  boards. Explore ways to find and connect with board members. Utilize the seven tips women can use to “court" a board of directors. Only 17% of all corporate boards include women. Help us change that. Spread the word! What do you think women leaders should do to get on more boards? Share your ideas below in the "Reply" box. Thanks for "Sharing", "Liking" and "Tweeting" this sound advice from Ann and Sabrina to help more woman get on boards. Listen to Part II here and you’ll learn how to be a great board member while advancing your leadership and career skills.   Are you ready to break through your limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like corp board tips to be on a board of directors? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.  

Do you have big dreams? Would you like to turn them into actions that improve your life and advance your career? Would you like simple and easy instructions to make this happen? Listen to  Susan Bulkeley Butler  the first woman partner at Accenture, a Fortune 100 company, and named by Upside magazine as one of the 50 women in technology who have moved “above the glass-ceiling cliché”. She is also a member of the Committee of 200,which is comprised of pre-eminent women in business. Join Susan and Executive Coach Sabrina Braham as she shares her fantastic career development skill, the Make-I-Happen Model. In this powerful, insightful interview you will learn how to: Reinvent yourself in the future by Tapping into different strengths Stop letting a lack of confidence get in your way Discover how to achieving goals through taglines Learn how to find your voice Do you know the difference between perfect choices and smart choices? Follow your gut When to say yes and when to say no When to turn a job request down Strategic networking How can we be strategic for each other? Strategic relationships Social networking web what to do and what not to do How can you change the world for other women? How you can support other women Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

In part II of this audio interview Sabrina Braham MA PCC and Cathy Greenberg Ph.D, an anthropologist, psychologist and an expert on positive psychology as she shares the importance of knowing what your innate gifts and strengths are, and how you can improve your life and the lives of the people around you. Women's Leadership & Career Development Highlight: •    How to make the best of your pregnancy at work, or your co-workers •    Recognizing the cultural desire to honor a pregnant woman •    The importance of your executive presence •    What to do if you are a working mom who is breastfeeding •    Articulating your needs: creating new boundaries and expectations •    Ask for what you want •    Learn what H. A. P. P. Y. stands for to be more successful and happy in your workplace and at home Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

Join Sabrina Braham MA PCC and Cathy Greenberg Ph.D, an anthropologist, psychologist and an expert on positive psychology as she shares how women can learn to have a happier life. Women Leadership and Career Interview Highlights The surprise that happiness is a science, that It can be taught, and how it will help you be more successful in your career Learn to listen for the clues that tell you how positive a person is and how to attract those people at work You can change the language you use, your work relationships and get more positive results Explore the new findings in positive psychology that will lead to a healthy and happy work balance for you and your direct reports Discover the happiness traps What to stop in order to be happy Happiness takes practice, and how to do it Open to the possibility of learning new ways of looking at the world and engaging people Eliminate some of our suffering and our own illnesses The simple personal inventory that will increase your happiness Discover your own path to happiness through identifying misplaced fears, nurturing and owning your own strengths, becoming proactive in the creation of your own destiny Thanks for Sharing, "Liking, and Google +1 this show dedicated to helping women lead and succeed in their careers, business and life. Thank you, Sabrina Braham MA PCC: Executive Coach for Women Leaders   Download Women's Leadership Success # 30 Here Click On Player Bar to Hear Women's Leadership Show   Listen to Part II of Cathy Greenberg interview here  

Ed Brodow one of corporate America’s best known and most successful negotiation experts, shares ideas from his acclaimed Negotiation Boot Camp Seminars with Sabrina Braham MA PCC. These are powerful ideas and leadership skills women in business and career women can apply to consistently achieve better results. Ed says, “Anyone can be a negotiator, and contrary to popular belief, negotiation is not really about winning, it is about collaboration”. Ed Brodow Biography Women’s Leadership Negotiation Skills Highlights Learn to think for yourself to be empowered The value of challenging everything Why you should be willing to walk away Know the kind of questions put people on the defensive Do you understand what it is that you want? The importance of having a good sense of yourself for leadership development Become a more effective team leader How learning negotiations will improve women in business and career women's ability to think critically Improve your relationships and leadership skills Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

Barrett Avigdor, co-author of What Happy Working Mothers Know and Director of Legal Talent Strategy at Accenture since 2007, says that most peoples' talent is under-utilized at work. Sabrina Braham, who helps women enhance their leadership skills and career through executive coaching, agrees.  Join Sabrina and Barrett, who share their insights on how you can change this and develop your leadership skills. Barret Avigdor Biography How a Savvy Woman Develops Her Career Highlights: The importance of asking for the leadership experience you want. Finding the connection between your work and what is meaningful to you. How women can show their ambitions and not put people off. How to get clear on strategy. How to control yourself and react to other peoples' blind spots. What to do if you fear you're not being enough. Learn to stay unemotional when negotiating. Control when you negotiate for best results. Savvy: The most important skill for building good relationships and women’s careers. A Request from Sabrina: Thank you for "Liking", commenting, sharing and Tweeting this episode so we can help more women lead and succeed! Be sure to fill out the short Women’s Leadership survey so I know more about what topics your want to learn about and how I can best support your career and leadership success. Plus you’ll get a chance to win $500 in executive coaching from me to help your leadership skills, career, or whatever is challenging you in work and life balance. Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

Honoring  Recently Deceased David Peterson: A candid discussion with Sabrina Braham:  Career Development Tips with David Peterson Join Sabrina Braham, MA MFT PCC, and her special guest David Peterson, best-selling author, Director of  Learning & Development at Google, and former senior VP at Personnel Decisions International. David is also an expert on women's leadership development and leadership effectiveness.This is one of the most critical career development interviews ever done to help women get promoted on Women's Leadership Success!David Peterson BiographyCareer Development Tips with David Peterson: Women’s Leadership Success #28Why it is important to learn business metaphorsHow staff role and functions experience may hamper your careerHow women can plan a career so that they will rise to the topWatch how you brand yourself and the language of your leadership   Learn to lead with the business rationaleHow women leaders can share their successes in a subtle yet powerful wayMaking sure your boss knows you want to get promotedThe workaround for a boss that is a roadblock or gatekeeperDiscover the value of broadly networking for womenClear goals and conscious choices that help women get promotedAttention Women Leaders - Leave Your Questions & CommentsBe sure to leave your questions and comments on Career Development Tips with David Peterson below on how to get promoted, career development, leadership or management below so I can assist you in succeeding in your career and life. Download Show Here  

Sabrina Braham, M.A., CPC, is interviewed by husband Tim Warren on leadership for women. Sabrina shares 3 key tips to help women get promoted and be better leaders from her upcoming video course. Sabrina is an expert on leadership development, women’s leadership, emotional intelligence and adult accelerated learning: the way people can learn to maximize their strengths and develop new skills in areas where they have gaps. Women Leadership Topics Sabrina Talks About: 1.    What got Sabrina interested in leadership development? 2.    How did Sabrina decide to help women get promoted in the corporate world? 3.    What specific things do women need to learn or pay attention to as they grow their ability to be a great leader? 4.    Goal setting and its importance 5.    What recommendations would make for women specifically to move to new levels of leadership? 6.    Branding for women leaders: How can you stand out from the crowd and get promoted? 7.    Great exercises that will help improve leadership skills in women 8.    What books and periodicals is Sabrina reading right now? Sabrina is the founder and Senior Partner of Braham & Associates, headquartered in the San Francisco Bay area. Sabrina’s firm specializes in consulting, executive coaching, assessments and trainings for executive & leadership development. Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

90% of women leaders worldwide have one thing in common that enhances their leadership and careers: high productivity and proven methods to eliminate procrastination. Join executive coach Sabrina Braham in this fun interview with Dr. Neil Fiore, a psychologist, speaker and author of six books, including The Now Habit at Work. You will come away with some simple strategies you can put into place to help you excel in your career, business and family. Dr. Neil Fiore Interview Highlights: Learn the brilliantly simple exercise that will shut off your stress, shut off your anxiety, and bring more brain power to your projects and career. Discover how women can more than double productivity while lowering stress. The importance of developing sanctuaries of at least 15 to 30 minutes to focus on big tasks. Career Development Tip: How to live your life from choice rather than ambivalence. Do not tolerate ambivalence in yourself. Build up your women’s leadership muscles. Find out what your default responses are. Executive coaching tip: Notice how you threaten yourself, how you allow things to evoke a fight/flight response, and what to do about it. The surprising definition of perfectionism and how it can hold women leaders back in their career development You will come away from this episode of Women's Leadership Success radio feeling encouraged, inspired and with tools you can put to use immediately. Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

Being new to a leadership role is one of the toughest jobs on the planet, especially if you never have been in a management position before. And for women new to management and leadership in a company culture that have few women leaders, it can be even more challenging. Join executive coach Sabrina Braham and Kevin Eikenberry, author of From Bud to Boss, and learn the critical skills you need to be successful as a woman manager or executive. Also, this career development interview has valuable information on how to coach a new leader. Kevin Eikenberry Interview Highlights: How this job changes all your working relationships. Why this job has such tremendous leverage. The secret to shifting your mindset from co-worker to manager. The most important conversation to have with close friends you are supervising. Getting to know other managers. How to deal with being younger than your direct reports. Managing expectations - yours and others. Building relationships to smooth challenges and misunderstandings Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

Rayona Sharpnack states that, “Leadership isn't about doing, it's about being.” Join women’s leadership executive coach Sabrina Braham  and Rayona Sharpnack, founder of the Institute for Women’s Leadership, to learn how you can be a better leader by understanding and transforming yourself. With over 40 years of teaching leadership to business people (mostly women), Sabrina and Rayona agree, you are more likely to succeed if you concentrate on transforming your mental framework, rather than memorizing mechanics. Rayona Sharpnack Bio Sabrina is pleased to have Rayona as a guest. She is the founder of the Institute for Women's Leadership and author of Trade Up: 5 Skills for Redesigning Your Leadership and Life from the Inside Out and Enlightened Power: How Women Are Transforming the Practice of Leadership. Career Development for Women Sharpnack states the importance of your personal operating system, or your "inheritance”, through a process of understanding, and unlearning what you assume to be true about what you can (and can't) accomplish, and how it will change your life and your leadership style. In this Rayona Sharpnack interview you will learn: How to acquire career development competency. Why only two things can come from practice. The one thing you must have to lead leadership change. Learn how to make sure that your amazing work gets noticed. Find out the three key areas women need to accelerate a promotion. Thought provoking tips to improve your life. Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

“Get rich, don't bitch” says Jean Chatzky, award wining journalist and bestselling author. Now, more than ever, the tools and resources are available for every woman to create wealth in her life. Jean is brilliant in her ability to explain money and investing in simple, straightforward ways. Jean shares with Sabrina Braham, host of Women’s Leadership Success Radio, some practical ideas you can put to work immediately. Jean Chatzky is an award wining journalist and bestselling author of Pay it Down from Debt, Wealth on $10 a Day, Make Money Not Excuses, The Difference: How Anyone can Prosper in Even the Toughest Times, Money 911, Not Your Parents' Money Book, and more. Jean Chatzky Interview Summary · Where to start (even if you are in debt) · The importance of tracking your money · The habit that will make you wealthy · How optimism increases your money IQ · Some simple and yet brilliant ideas to increase your money confidence · As a woman leader, how you can increase your direct reports financial literacy? Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

Join Sabrina Braham as she interviews Donna Lucas on how women can use their networking influence to be a stronger women leaders in their careers, business and even in politics. Donna Lucas is one of the most influential and respected public affairs strategists in the United States and in California. She's had various roles in government, working as deputy chief of staff for Governor George Deukmejian and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and she was California press secretary of President George H.W. Bush and chief of staff for first lady Maria Shriver. She is now chief executive for Lucas Public Affairs. She advises candidates, unions, corporations, and campaigns. Donna Lucas interview topics covered: Keeping healthy How to keep growing and learning The value of meeting people in new arenas Good ice breakers The most effective ways to follow-up Knowing what to say when following up Being more keenly aware Staying in the know and staying connected for added value The biggest mistakes women leaders make networking The powerful strategy to use before you walk into the room The important questions to ask yourself to gain recognition and influence The value of article writing Know what is important to you The value of building community If you work with teams of people in your career, social life or in the any political forum, do not miss this cutting edge interview with Sabrina Braham and Donna Lucas to learn how to better network, influence and be a more successful women leader. Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

It’s no longer impossible for career women to navigate to the top management jobs. Yet women leaders still have many more challenges. The Labyrinth is the new metaphor that replaces the Glass Ceiling and captures the challenges women face in their careers. When you understand the obstacles and learn the strategies and behaviors, you will get to very high places in your career and be very successful. Just ask Alice Eagly, co-author of Through The Labyrinth: The Truth About How Women Become Leaders. Sabrina Braham and Alice Eagly discuss the proven research for helping women advance in their career and be better leaders. Listen now. You will walk away with ideas you can put to work immediately to help you get promoted. Alice Eagly Women Leaders Interview Highlights: Learn the qualities that will round out your leadership style Find out what leadership characteristics are not ascribed to women as a group. What leadership styles work against women leaders? Lessons from observing people Strategies for building social capital The value of chat and eyes wide open  Download Alice Eagley Women Leaders MP3 Here Listen to Women's Leadership Success Here Now

If you want to learn the career secrets of a successful, well-balanced female executive – who is under 40 – and  has excelled in a male-dominated corporate environment, then you have come to the right place. Take a few minutes now and listen to this fresh, honest, and compelling interview with Karin Gilford, senior vice president of Fancast and online entertainment, Comcast Interactive Media and Sabrina Braham, host of Women’s Leadership Success Radio Podcast. In this Karin Gilford interview you will learn: Finance knowledge: a core career development for women success ingredient Where you fit in the goals and values of the company Being honest and forthright about your commitment to your children Getting others to invest in your success for career development Time management: the surprising suggestion for what to tackle first. Women leaders taking risks in male dominated areas How women leaders can prosper, even in a down economy The importance of completely understanding the discussions at meetings How women leaders can leverage people skills for promotions and profits Look for the next episode of Women’s Leadership Success Radio Podcast for a fantastic interview with Alice Eagly, author of Through The Labriynth: The Truth About How Women Become Leaders. Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

Mei Xu Biography Top Women-Owned Business Success Series: Mei Xu Woman Entrepreneur You will be inspired and encouraged to become an entrepreneur after listening to Mei Xu?s odyssey from Tiananmen Square to the United States. Learn how she noticed an undeveloped niche that moved her from being an employee to starting her own company, Pacific Trade International, which includes Chesapeake Candle Company and Blissliving Home, and earns more that $90 million in sales a year. Join Sabrina Braham, executive coach, as she discovers the secrets of one of the most amazing women CEOs. Mei Xu Woman Entrepreneur Highlights : Learn the career development skill of spotting trends before they happen Become a woman leader by discovering the value of learning from the bottom up Three suggestions to follow when you are starting your business The importance of developing yourself for business success How business women can thrive and survive in difficult economic times The kind of service that sets your company apart Mei Xu Woman Entrepreneur life story will inspire you How learning a second language will change your thinking and improve your ability to spot trends Standing out while working for someone else   Are you ready to break through your limitations in your business, leadership and life? Would you like to move to a more profitable level for your yourself and team? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.    

  Join Sabrina Braham, executive coach, and Stephanie Gallo, Senior Director of Marketing for the E&J Gallo Winery, and learn how Stephanie developed her career from the ground floor in one of California's most famous and historic winery families. Listen as this smart, kind and curious woman leader shares her wisdom and insights.                        Stephanie A. Gallo Biography Women's Leadership Success Radio Show Highlights Include:    The value of learning leadership from the bottom up     How to put your career on a fast track     An unusual and highly effective way women can develop self-confidence.     Three keys to womens's leadership success: push, challenge, and develop.     How to build a world-class business reverse nepotism.     A powerful way to diversify and broaden your skill sets quickly.     The importance of a mentor.     The discipline that makes a family business fun. Ms. Gallo is involved in her community as a member of the Board of Directors for the Center for Human Services and is a regular speaker on women in business, family business and the importance of community giving. For her work in the family business and the community, she was named 2007 Young Entrepreneur of the Year by California State University Stanislaus.  Listen to this great interview on Women's Leadership and succeeding in a family business. Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

How To Become Star Women Leaders In Challenging Times Chip Conley is the founder, president, and CEO of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, California’s largest independent hotel company – and America’s second largest boutique hotelier. He has always been on the cutting edge of what’s new in hospitality. Inspired by the French expression, Joie de Vivre, for “joy of life,”. Chip created Joie de Vivre with the intention of developing what USA Today has called “the most delightfully schizophrenic collection of hotels in America.”  Chip challenges your thinking by asking you to frame all that you do with a question about Joie de Vive, "Am I getting joy in life from what I do?”   In this Women's Leadership interview on star women leaders with Sabrina Braham, Chip shares with us: The four keys of a successful business leader How to get top performance from your people. Why transparency builds trust. Learning to ask the right questions: Are you in the right habitat? Are you valued and respected at work? What scorecard are you using? How are you measuring success? Listen carefully as Chip Conley, one of the top thought leaders in the USA, talks with Sabrina Braham MA PCC and tells you how to improve yourself, your company and what develops star woman leaders in these challenging times.     Are you ready to break through your limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to be one of the star women leaders? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.

If you are entreprenurial or career woman in a currrent or future leadership position, you need to listen to this important episode of Women's Leadership Success with Sabrina Braham, executive coach, and Pat Drea, Vice President of Visiting Angels, a leading national home health care company. Pat shares the ways of thinking that have brought her great success in business and as a women leader. Learn about the Psychology of Achievement for Women Leaders and simple ways you can activate your mind more effectively to achive your goals. Psychology of Achievement For Women Leaders, this episode includes: Secrets for finding and being a mentor The principles that will help you maximize your talents and realize your full potential. How to change the way you think and open up to unlimited possibilities. The importance of setting goals and expanding your thinking. The gift in your failure. Increase your success through the power of intention. Pat Drea, Chief Operating Officer of Visiting Angels A leading national private duty home care company, at which she is the primary architect of business and operational models. Pat is an exceptional business leader. She is admired and respected for her wisdom and brillance. Prior to her current position, She has successfully led four company startups and two turnarounds. Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

How Women Get Promoted with Mellody Hobson  Mellody Hobson, Co-CEO & President at Ariel Investments talks about her career at Ariel, starting as an intern working her way up to president of the company.   About Mellody Hobson: How Women Get Promoted Mellody is an amazing example of how women get promoted with her journey from a childhood of financial challenges to being financially smart about money.  Learn from this genuinely down to earth, intelligent, and nice woman. As Co-CEO for Ariel Investments, Mellody is responsible for all firm-wide management, including strategic planning and growth as well as every aspect of Ariel’s business beyond research and portfolio management. Prior to her formal appointment to Co-CEO, Mellody served as Ariel’s President for nearly two decades and functions as chairman of the board of trustees for Ariel Investment Trust. Mellody has become a nationally recognized voice on financial literacy and investor education. She is a regular contributor and analyst on finance, the markets and economic trends for CBS News. She also extends weekly money tips on the Tom Joyner Morning Show and pens a column for Black Enterprise magazine. As a passionate advocate for investor education, she is a spokesperson for the Ariel/Hewitt Study: 401(k) Plans in Living Color and the Ariel Black Investor Survey, both of which examine investing patterns among minorities. Women's Leadership Success #13 on How Women Get Promoted Insights and Suggestions on: How to keep getting promoted. The importance of loving what you do for work. What it means to give up a life of obligation. The steps you can take to go from debt-ridden to financially independent. How to  begin to do this yourself and how to teach this to your children. And the sage advice “If you want to be the best…” Listen for the answer to this and much more   Are you ready to learn how women get promoted and break through your limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to move to a more powerful level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.

Join Sabrina as she interviews Randy White, co-author of ' Breaking the Glass Ceiling", one of the most famous books that have helped women world wide advance their leadership, careers and income.  Do you feel stuck trying to advance your career?  Not sure what the secrets are to reach the top ranks in your company?   Randy White, one of the leading management consultants in the United States, and the author of Breaking the Glass Ceiling shares his insights with Sabrina Braham on how women can get into top management positions. Breaking the Glass Ceiling - Women's Leadership Success #13 Highlights Do you know what the narrow band of acceptable conduct is in your company? Learn how to navigate through the barriers. Discover the most important factor to your career. Is the female modesty effect blocking your advancement? Do you know who makes it and why? The secret to reaching the top ranks in your company. Learning to take risks Join executive coach Sarina Braham MA CPC and Randy White and find our how Hillary Clinton, Vice President Pamela Harris Geraldine Ferarro and women leaders around the world are breaking the glass ceiling. If you have found this Breaking the Glass Ceiling interview with co-author Randy White useful, thanks for sharing, "Liking", Google+, Tweet and comment below.  Everybody wins!   Are you ready to be breaking the glass ceiling on your limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to move to a more powerful level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.  

Susan Hackley, Managing Director at the Program on Negotiations at Harvard Law School, shares her expertise in negotiations and how women can use it to increase your salary.   Negotiating is a skill that every women uses daily, from talking to your boss, your customers, and even when dealing with demanding requests from your children. Susan says that men are as a rule much more comfortable negotiating than women, and the lack of negotiating skills are obstacles to advancement for women  in business and their careers. Susan Hackley Bio Join Susan and Sabrina Discussing: Setting up a framework for favorable negotiations How preparation is the  most important ingredient How to think through your salary strategy Developing your negotiation muscle Learn to ask for what you want What to ask if you don't get the raise Use goals to help you grow into your next job Three ways to practice negotiating The importance of aiming high enough   Listen & Download Now Click Here to Listen to Show          Download MP3 [media:http://www.travel-media.info/womensleadership/12WLS.Negotiating.Salary.mp3]   Next Show of Women's Leadership Success Radio Podcast: Action Tips to Help You Get Promoted - The Power of Intention Pat Drea, COO, Visiting Angels

Master networker and successful founder of a multi-million dollar business, Cynthia Good, Editor and Founder of Little Pink Book shares her experience of seeing a need and making it happen. Listen to her insights on how you can make your life and career exceptional. Cynthia Good Bio    Women's Leadership Success Show Highlights: Learn that "Asking is free." Have the courage to say "I will do that" Remember that working on your career is as important as working on your job Give up lunch at work, and start networking lunch Tips that will help you get promoted The strategy that helps put obstacles in perspective Interviewing Cynthia Good was a wonderful experience. She is kind, gracious and passionate about helping women succeed in companies and as entrepreneurs. She shares the goal at Pink of, "asking is free" and how that can change  your life. She will remind you of the importance of developing relationships with women you admire, and how that will enrich your life and career. She reminds you that if you set your mind on a goal that you are passionate about you can make it happen. Listen and get excited!   Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

Debbie Meekins, Executive Vice President of Sterling Savings Bank, with over 200 branches and 1,300 employees, shares the career moves and leadership strategies she used to get promoted from bank teller to one of the first women presidents of a bank in California at 38 years old. Sabrina Braham, host of Women's Leadership Success Radio and Debbie talk about  how she got out of her comfort zone, learned new leadership and career skills and called upon her business network to excel in her new jobs. Debbie Meekins Bio   Highlights of the Interview: When you should change companies even though it is scary and painful What to do when you have been promoted and don't know how to do the job Moving forward from mistakes, career development tips Three important steps to getting a promotion for women A women's best approach to politics at work Community service as a way to catapult your career How to relate to people that work for you Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

Join Sabrina and Nancy Hayes, Dean of the College of Business at San Francisco State university with over twenty years of senior executive experience at IBM and quoted in the book, The Secret Hand Shake, talk about the advantages for women's career by getting a Masters in Business Administration (MBA). Nancy Hayes Bio Highlight of this Show: Will an MBA Help Your Career? The value of an MBA for women's careers How to manage your career or restart it How you can use an MBA to differentiate yourself from others Networking and relationships for career development How to maximize this educational opportunity for women Build your self confidence with an MBA Why it is important to become the go to person Develop opportunities to change careers for women Learn what a "T" shaped person is Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

Sabrina Braham interviews Michelle Messina, principal of Explora  International, who provides five career development secrets to being entrepreneurial and jumpstarting your own business. Michelle Messina Bio For over 19 years, she was a Vice President of Sales, Business Development and Marketing in the Silicon Valley.  She was laid off during the dot com crash. After a lot of soul searching, she decided to take the plunge and start her own business. Starting Your Own Business: Women's Leadership Success Show Summary Shares her excitement in owning her own business Michelle reveals her fears and anxieties around starting her business Where she got the support and encouragement to move ahead How she developed her successful consulting firm The key ingredient to continual success and profits The value of networking for women entrepreneurs Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

Listen to the words of wisdom, encouragement and no non-sense advice from Teresa Jackson, Vice President of Home Coming Savings on women's leadership and career development. Sabrina Braham and Teresa share insights on meeting the challenges of single parenting and learning to cope with the demands of combining a successful career and family will encourage you and working women worldwide. Teresa  Jackson  Bio This episode of Women's Leadership Succcess will show you how this could be an opportunity to learn compassion and networking skills. In this heartfelt interview Teresa shares: Different ways to develop support for single parenting for women. The importance of self care for working women. Questions to ask mentors. Creative ways to spend time with your child. How commitment and intention affect your happiness. Time management and stress reduction tips for career women and women entreprenuers.   Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

Do you want to increase your business? Would you like to build your personal brand at work? Sabrina Braham interviews Dawn Lyons, a master networker and co-owner of The Referral Institute and franchise owner of Business Networking International (BNI) in Northern California, with strategies you can put to work immediately.   Dawn Lyons' Biography   Top Tips for Career Women Development and Entrepreneurial Women: How to compel people to help you. Learn to increase the trust factor. Why direct selling is not networking. The secret of "Givers Gain". What makes you referable. Helpful hints to increase your social network. Why are social networks and referral based marketing one of the most profitable forms of marketing and career development. End of of Women's Leadership Success.com Radio Podcast Show Bonuses A very useful and simple tip guaranteed to reduce your stress at the end. An Opportunity to win $500 worth of executive coaching with Sabrina Braham   Click Player Bar Now to Listen [media:http://www.travel-media.info/womensleadership/06WLS.Social-Networking.mp3]   Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

Career Development Paradox for Women How to Change Your Career Skills to Survive & Succeed At first she was excited about her promotion. Her career development plan worked. Then she began to dislike her job. As a career or entrepreneurial women, has this ever happened to you? Barbara Plumley, Dean, Emeritus HealthCare Partners Leadership Institute at Healthcare Partners Medical Groups’, tells us about the turning point in her career when she learned the old way of thinking and acting no longer worked. And how she changed her job so that it is now exhilarating and fulfilling. Health Care Partners Medical Group is an organization that spans five areas in Southern California. We’re accountable for the delivery of health care to over 80,000 patients, as well as for the fiscal responsibility of the region for assuring patient satisfaction, satisfaction with the delivery of care, employee satisfaction and the growth and development of the region. Join executive coach Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC and Barbara Plumley and learn how the need to think and behave differently, equals better job satisfaction for the working women.     Are you ready to break through your limitations in your career, leadership and life? Would you like to move to a more powerful level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.    

Join Sabrina Braham and Judy McKenzie to find out how your attitude and visualizing affects your success.  Judy McKenzie has risen from bookkeeper to Operations & Marketing Director with Terry McBride Enterprises. She is an author and globally recognized motivational speaker. Judy McKenzie Win $500 in Executive Coaching with Sabrina Braham Please call 214-615-6500 ext. 7946 by June 30, 2007, share your top women's leadership concern or topic you want discussed on the show and be eligible to win $500 in executive coaching with me. Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview

Find out how a successful real estate entrepreneur decided to get out of the field, launch a new project and create a highly successful business in the bail bonds world. Join Sabrina Braham and Kathy Erken with Madonna's bails bond and learn how you can use your professionalism, integrity and attitude - even in a stressful situation and challenging people - to succeed in your business or career. Kathy shares her #1 secret she uses to get top performers to share their best strategies. Click Here Now to Hear Show [media:http://www.travel-media.info/womensleadership/03impressions.mp3]   Download MP3 Audio File Here   Download Women's Leadership Success Radio Podcast Win $500 in Executive Coaching with Sabrina Braham Please call 214-615-6500 ext. 7946 by June 30, 2007, share your top women's leadership concern or topic you want discussed on the show and be eligible to win $500 in executive coaching with me.  

Core question: Why Women Worry About Money?  A high percentage of women have a fear of not having enough money. Sabrina Braham talks with financial advisor Renee-Eva Amochaev about how to become financially confident and secure. Learn the opportunity cost of money and how your spending habits help or hinder your financial security.  Renee shares 5 key steps you can do right now, to take charge of your finances. Also if you want to read the " why women worry about money "  transcripts, click here: About Renee-Eva Amochaev in Her Own Words "I am a woman and I do earn money and I have been managing my own money since I was probably about 13 years old. I had the very good fortune of having a mother that believed that a woman should be independently financially secure, and she taught me this at a really young age and gave me that responsibility at a really young age. And as a result, that led to a career in finance, and I’ve been a financial advisor since the late ’90s working with some of Wall Street’s largest firms, Merrill Lynch, Smith Barney, and currently Wachovia Securities."   Do you worry about financial & job security? Are you ready to break through your limitations in your career, leadership and income? Would you like to move to a more powerful level? Then here are 3 things you can start with right now: Here are 3 things you can start with now: 1.     Call or email me for executive coaching, consulting or training. (Use Contact Form Here) 2.     For a free career and leadership assessment from me, Go to Career Development Quiz .Com  3.     Help me spread the word to women just like you, tap into the insights you are getting from this show by giving me a review in Apple Podcasts  (iTunes), Spotify, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict &  sharing this show in your favorite social media.      

  Women's Leadership Success Radio Podcast: Show #1 Sabrina Braham shares alarming facts on how women are not getting the same leadership and income opportunities of men. Episode #1 is a preview of the resources, interviews and advice Sabrina and her guests will give you to help you and women succeed and lead in business, career development and life! Sabrina also shares how she started helping women managers and CEO’s in 1984 with their leadership success, teams and communications. Women's Leadership Success Radio Podast Will Help You: Project a credible leadership presence Build confidence Gain an advantage over men Get a promotion Increase your earnings Enhance your job and life satisfaction Sabrina’s seasoned advice and informative interviews with a wide range of women leaders is not to be missed. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO SHOW [media:http://www.travel-media.info/womensleadership/01womenleadership.showintro.mp3] Click on Audio Player below to Listen to Women's Leadership Success Interview