What I learnt
How two women from either side of the Atlantic are boosting their executive careers.
Some of the best tips for making the step up to senior executive level were some of the most unexpected, say two participants of London Business School’s first Women in Leadership open programme. Whether it’s altering the tone of your voice, holding a more confident posture or realising that you can practice many different leadership styles, their experience of the programme is helping them to step up to the next career level.
Tips for getting to the top
- Try on different leadership styles
“I felt leadership had to be true to my own personal values but I learnt that you can be a leader and practice all different ways of communicating – there is a flexibility that means you can use all different types of leadership,” says Chantelle Mowbray, VP of people and culture at US-based underwear company Thinx. Reaching an important inflection point in her career by aiming for a c-suite role within the next three years, Mowbray sought a course that would help her get ready for her next step up. Unlike previous executive education courses she had done, she found the London Business School Women in Leadership programme highly advantageous because it was very focused on personal growth.
- Boost your personal presence
One of the most valuable lessons that Mowbray now uses daily is “to show up physically”. One coach taught her about the power of non-verbal presence, giving tactics on how to use certain tones in your voice, and how the way you stand sends out a message to those around you without you knowing. “It was a complete surprise and a great learning moment”, Mowbray explains.
Emma Davies, a partner at Grant Thornton UK, also found the advice given on personal gravitas and physical presence to be some of the most important. The tactics she uses to bolster her confidence is to “really stand tall, imagining there is a string pulling your head up”. Another is to slap your desk and tell yourself to “just do it”, when embarking on something daunting. When it comes to giving presentations, she makes sure she gives everyone in the room eye contact, telling herself that it is not a presentation but: “I am present and have something to tell you”. She credits the advice she was given on the Women in Leadership programme with helping her get through her final partnership panel interview.
- What got you here won’t get you there
“This was one of the biggest things I learned,” says Davies. If you want to get to the top of business, you cannot rely on simply working harder at getting your job done, you’ve got to think strategically, she explains. “It’s about getting connections with the right people and building your network internally and externally,” she says. It’s also about using some political nous to make sure that the decision makers see you in a leadership role and spot your potential. “Our work on strategic management really helped with my business case for partnership,” she explains.
- Capitalise on female shared experience
The Women in Leadership programme included a one-week residential stay on campus where Mowbray met the professors and the rest of her cohort. “I felt such a bond,” she says. “There’s a shared experience among a certain female demographic that is often not the same as men in the same position. It was a freer environment for being women-only.” She describes the professors as “phenomenal”, who made the executive education come to life by recounting their own personal experiences. “They really made the whole week,” she says. “The biggest surprise about the others on the programme was that we all had different perspectives but we all share similar experiences and can support each other.” She has made a support network that she will lean on for the rest of her career.
