We recently had the opportunity to attend the State of Women in Business event hosted by the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce and TARRA.
It shared a familiar story from this era of the Great Resignation: data and anecdotes that speak to the inequities that women are still facing on many levels in the workplace and in business. It’s causing them to leave the workforce in greater numbers than men, reducing the gains in equality that were made in the years before the pandemic.
What we loved about this discussion, however, was the focus on solutions. From pay to policies, opportunities, flexibility, childcare and hiring practices, a study commissioned through the Metropolitan State University of Denver highlighted a range of initiatives that form the complex and intricate puzzle needed to solve this challenge.
Amongst the wide-ranging solutions offered up, we were most interested in the perspective on the role of women’s leadership development as part of the puzzle. This is what we heard:
Development, including coaching, training and mentoring are key pieces of the solution puzzle. Coaching in particular provides the flexible, just-in-time and personalized development that not only meets the times but also meets the needs of women grappling with the demands of multiple responsibilities.
Support and elevation of women, from peers and senior sponsors, is also crucial.
It was encouraging for us to hear this, as the group coaching approach that we use with women leaders is uniquely suited to meet both of these elements.
Group coaching is an alternative to more traditional training approaches. As a developmental approach, it still supports women to grow the skills and confidence needed to step into their leadership power and/or advance to the next level. However, our approach to group coaching blends coaching, training and facilitation techniques and strategies that allow for structured exploration, reflection and learning around an anchor theme. We create an intimate, responsive and adaptable approach to development that works well for any leaders, but especially for women.
That’s because group coaching provides a space for more dialogue and engagement between participants than traditional training, so it provides women with an opportunity to support and empower each other. Sharing experiences and ideas in a small group setting helps women to leverage the collective wisdom of the group, to feel seen and heard, and to lift each other to reach their potential.
As we approach International Women’s Day, a call to action for accelerating women’s equality, we feel honored that our programs can be part of the solution to this long-standing issue.
What are the puzzle pieces critical to supporting and retaining your women leaders through this Great Resignation?