Thanks to those who are Paving the Way on International Women’s Day.

This week Jani Rubery and I finished the final group session of the Achieving Your Full Potential Programme that we run for British Land. It is a privilege to work with the inspiring female leaders on this programme who have engaged so enthusiastically with us and each other to explore how they want to move forward with their careers.

Jani and I have been working together delivering programmes for women in the workplace for almost a decade and it continues to be incredibly rewarding and inspiring. We have seen progress in the number of women rising to senior positions but there is still work to do to ensure greater diversity at senior leadership levels. This work needs to be driven at all levels and it will benefit all as diverse leadership will make for better working environments and better results.

By witnessing the progress made by the women who attend these programmes and the support they give each other we have gathered concrete evidence to demonstrate how shared insights and small changes in approach can have significant impact on career progress and impact.

The women we work with are incredibly talented and our work is not about fixing them. We share research to explore how their working environment and life experience can impact their approach in the workplace. We listen and learn from their experience and offer them options as to how they can navigate that challenging landscape to ensure their talents are recognised and their voices heard in a way that feels authentic to them.

We firmly believe that each of the hundreds of women we have worked with has contributed to the success of each successive cohort. Every courageous step taken by a participant has paved the way for us to offer encouragement to the next cohort, with confidence that the changes participants make are having a positive impact. Groups also build strong connections and continue to support one another beyond the life of the programme.

This is made possible by the organisations who invest and engage with us in this work.

We all owe a debt of gratitude to everyone from a minority group who has stood up for their right to be heard, acknowledged and respected, they have paved the way for those beside and behind them. We want to thank all of the women we have worked with for their engagement, courage and the impact they are having not only for their own careers but for those who are inspired by their progress and for providing us with the absolute confidence that change is possible. Their work contributes to a variety of voices and styles rising to positions of influence.

With special thanks to Christine Boinett who shared her experience of career progress following participation in a programme at the Wellcome Sanger Institute.

Listen to that episode of The Wordwise Coaching podcast here.

Sign up to Rachel's upcoming Assertiveness Workshop

Learn More

Catch up on season one of Rachel Goodwin's Wordwise Coaching podcast

Listen Here

Discover how Rachel can help you or your organisation

Contact Rachel

Rachel Goodwin

– Director