Women's Leadership: Stop Auditioning

Women have been managed. Historically. Oppressively. Consistently.

They have been told what to do, what to think, what they can be and what they’re worth.

And while there has been some progress where women have more agency over themselves and have shattered the proverbial glass ceilings in many areas — the effects of “management” still exist.

Study after study shows women are underpaid, undervalued, and not in places where decisions are made.

Women remain underrepresented in leadership roles that can not only change the trajectory of their lives, but the destiny of it.

Additionally, women have internalized narratives of not being good enough, having no value or needing to ask permission to be seen and heard.

These challenges show up in the workplace as lost productivity and lack of ownership of work.

These challenges show up in their lives as questions about their identity and their existence.

This is not the end of the story.

Although leadership is not gender specific, there has been a significant head start. Making up the difference requires intention.

For many women, the pursuit of success in the workplace can feel like a constant audition for their value. Society often places a disproportionate amount of pressure on women to prove their worth, which can lead to feelings of self-doubt and anxiety. This is why women's leadership development is so crucial.

A key aspect of women's leadership development is recognizing and combating the phenomenon of performing for praise. Many women struggle with feeling like they need to constantly prove themselves in order to be seen. Women's leadership development helps women gain confidence in their abilities and recognize their inherent value first as human beings, women, and leaders, without feeling like they need to constantly as for permission to just be.

Our leadership development programs build on the foundation of understanding women to their core and challenging them to uncover their "perfect world," and operate from a space of which they have only dared dream.

Our work invites women to embrace their inherent value and because to audition means to seek approval and we are not doing that anymore. We don't have to.

This is the beginning of the story.

Shereese Floyd is the CEO of Witness My Life - a people and culture firm that partners with corporations and universities to create and implement women’s leadership programs. She has coached thousands of women around the world to end self-doubt, to embrace self-mastery and governance and to develop authentic leadership. Shereese works with professional women to identify marketable and profitable skills garnered through their lived experiences to build and grow their influence in leadership, whether building a business, scaling a corporate ladder or pursuing a mission.

Break the Glass: Redefining Women’s Leadership is a signature offering that has been licensed to companies and taught as a single day or multi-day workshop.

Her book Become the Greatest Story Ever Told: Making a Memoir serves a dual role as a memoir-writing tool as well as the basis of a curriculum and study guide.?

Shereese is a TEDx speaker and coach as well as an award-winning speechwriter for her TEDx: The Secret to Healing the World. She’s been featured and/or interviewed in Chief Learning Officer, Essence, TEDx, CEO World, Entrepreneur Magazine, Blavity, Forbes, Inside Business, Charlotte Post, ABC, NBC and more. To schedule a call to work with Shereese, visit her website https://workwithshereese.com/