Women In Leadership – Oxford Economics

As an experienced leader, Abby wanted to continue developing her confidence while tackling some of the personal challenges that can accompany leadership, including impostor syndrome. Alongside this, she wanted to strengthen her understanding of strategic thinking and planning, while developing more effective approaches to leading and motivating her team.

“I was hoping to build my confidence as a leader and work through some of the challenges that can come with that, including impostor syndrome. I also wanted to strengthen my thinking around business strategy and planning and to develop more effective ways of leading a team”

Abby attended our four day, face to face Women in Leadership Programme in London, joining women from a wide variety of industries and organisations. Having previously completed mostly internal development programmes, she welcomed the opportunity to learn alongside peers from outside of her organisation.

The diverse mix of delegates created an environment where participants could openly discuss leadership challenges, organisational dynamics and strategic thinking from fresh perspectives.

“Most of the training I’d done before had been internal, so it was really nice to do something with people outside my organisation. It gave me the chance to be more open in talking about the dynamics and strategy within my organisation than I probably would have been otherwise”

The programme followed a clear four day structure, with each day focusing on a different aspect of leadership development, from communication styles and inclusive leadership through to strategy, planning and managing organisational change.

“The slides were really more of a starting point for conversation. The tutor facilitated a lot of discussion across the group and encouraged us to think about how the different models applied to our own organisations and experiences”

Rather than relying on traditional classroom teaching, the programme encouraged delegates to share experiences, explore different viewpoints and apply the concepts directly to the challenges they faced within their own organisations. Breakout discussions and interactive activities created an open learning environment where ideas could be tested and refined through collaboration with peers from a wide range of sectors.

Suzanne’s facilitation combined practical experience with an engaging delivery style, helping to create an atmosphere where delegates felt comfortable contributing and learning from one another.

“Suzanne was an engaging tutor and I learned a great deal from her experience”

The programme gave Abby greater confidence in her leadership while helping her develop a clearer understanding of strategic thinking and organisational change. Learning alongside women from different sectors exposed her to new perspectives, challenged existing assumptions and provided practical ideas she could take back into her own organisation.

By exploring different strategic frameworks and understanding why implementation often proves challenging, Abby left with greater confidence in both developing strategy and turning it into meaningful action.