Women in Leadership

This module explores how you come to see yourself as a leader, how others come to see you as one, and why confidence is not the same as competence. It draws on Ely, Ibarra and Kolb on leadership identity, Ibarra's possible selves, Eagly's meta-analysis, Chamorro-Premuzic, Clance and Imes on the imposter phenomenon, Tulshyan and Burey, Ellis's ABCDE model and the life of Dame Stephanie Shirley.

This module examines why good work rarely speaks for itself at senior levels, and how to be seen, heard and credited in ways that fit your values. It covers Babcock and colleagues' research on non-promotable work, French and Raven's bases of power, power and interest mapping, personal brand, Kanter's work on tokens, practical moves for being heard, and amplification in the Obama White House.

This module asks who speaks for you when you are not in the room. It sets out the difference between mentoring and sponsorship, drawing on Kram's career and psychosocial functions, Ibarra, Carter and Silva's finding that women were over-mentored, Hewlett's reciprocal model of sponsorship and Ibarra and Hunter's three networks. The Xerox succession from Anne Mulcahy to Ursula Burns shows sponsorship built over years.

This module examines why just ask is not the whole answer on pay and progression. It covers research on the initiation gap and the social cost of asking, from Bowles, Babcock and Lai, Artz, Goodall and Oswald and Kugler and colleagues; BATNA, reservation price and ZOPA; relational framing; the BBC equal pay cases of Carrie Gracie and Samira Ahmed; the broken rung; and Ryan and Haslam's glass cliff.

This module explores bias at work through one stance: it is not you, it is the system, and you still have choices. It covers second-generation gender bias from Ely, Ibarra and Kolb, Catalyst's double binds, Eagly and Karau's role congruity theory, Steele and Aronson's stereotype threat, Crenshaw's intersectionality and DeGraffenreid v General Motors, responding in the moment, the 5Ds and allyship, and the Welsh Rugby Union review.

This module explores how to lead as yourself, for the long haul. It covers Ibarra's authenticity paradox and adaptive authenticity, Brené Brown's armoured and daring leadership, four techniques for steadying yourself, and energy, boundaries and life stage, including caring and menopause. Jacinda Ardern's resignation, in her own words, shows a leader naming her limits, and the module closes with a ninety-day plan drawing on every theme.

This module looks at sponsorship from the side of those who give it, and why sponsorship left to chance follows familiarity. It covers the broken rung and glass cliff, homophily, Ibarra's sponsorship spectrum, Dobbin and Kalev on what works, LeanIn.Org data on senior men stepping back after MeToo, Smith and Johnson's Good Guys, a six-step fair sponsorship design and positive action under section 158 of the Equality Act 2010.