What happens when senior leaders have the conversations they rarely get to have?
Many senior leaders carry questions, pressures and responsibilities that are not always visible from the outside. They may be managing organisational change, complex teams, at the same time as personal and family commitments and challenges. While they juggle difficult decisions, there is the pressure to appear composed, even when they are working things out themselves.
In this podcast episode, I share my reflections and observations from my first senior leader dinner, a confidential and intimate evening for women leaders to come together, put job titles and organisations aside, and have a different kind of conversation about the realities of leadership today.
This was not a networking evening, a general catch up, or even a formal leadership event. It was a space for honest conversation, good food, peer connection and deeper thinking in a very special experience.
Respecting the confidentiality of the room, I draw on the broad themes that emerged from the dinner, exploring why leadership and life are not separate conversations, why senior leaders need trusted spaces to share, and how behaviours, language and signalling can shape the culture experienced by the people they lead.
What you will learn in this episode:
- Why senior leaders need spaces for honest conversations beyond the usual networking places
- The human realities of leadership that are often hidden beneath visible exteriors
- Why leadership and life are not separate conversations
- How the work-life blend can be a more useful idea than work-life balance
- The opportunity to ‘give permission’ through signalling behaviour
- How language can reveal hidden assumptions about women in leadership
- The value of confidential peer spaces where leaders can share honestly
Where do you currently go to have open conversations about the realities of your leadership?
What are you carrying as a leader that is invisible to others?
Resources:
- Who do you know who would value Victoria’s next senior leader dinner for women? DM Victoria on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-rennoldson
- Learn more about and buy Victoria’s book, Become a Global Leader:https://culturecuppa.com/book/
- Follow Victoria on LinkedIn for more global leadership, strategic communication and Cultural Intelligence insights: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-rennoldson
- Talk to Victoria about global leadership coaching:https://culturecuppa.com/contact/
Read this Episode’s Blog post here:
- The Conversations Senior Leaders Rarely Have: https://culturecuppa.com/the-conversations-senior-leaders-rarely-have/
