Bridging the ‘credibility gap’ with Inspiring LeadHERship
Inspiring LeadHERship – are female leaders born or made?
For some women, leadership comes naturally. From a young age, the way they interact with their peers marks them out as the leaders of the future just waiting for their opportunity.
For others, leadership isn’t an innate characteristic. At EDN, we don’t believe that’s any reason to hold back potential female leaders. Inspiring LeadHERship is an online workshop designed to give women aspiring to leadership positions the tools they need to thrive at the head of the pack.
Who can benefit from Inspiring LeaderHERship?
For some women, being given their first leadership opportunity presents them with a new set of challenges. The ‘imposter phenomenon’ means that it’s common for women entering leadership to grapple with self-doubt or feel like they haven’t earned their place – even when their achievements clearly show otherwise. KPMG’s 2020 Women’s Leadership Report claims that 75% of female leaders have felt less than adequate in their roles at some stage of their careers.
This is made worse when those around them doubt their abilities to lead based on their characteristics (they may be young, new to the role or simply female). This is known as the ‘credibility gap’.
Deloitte’s 2024 Global Women Leadership report found that 71% of gen Z and millennial female leaders say managing their credibility was their biggest early career challenge. Similarly, McKinsey’s Women in the Workplace report from 2023 highlighted the 76% of women aged 18-34 who felt underestimated or doubted when stepping into their first management roles.
EDN’s Inspiring LeadHERship workshop aims to tackle these feelings of insecurity. By giving women the mental tools they need to address any feelings of imposterism and combat their credibility gap, Inspiring LeadHERship creates empowered, confident female managers, who can become role models for the next generation.
What does Inspiring LeadHERship involve?
Inspiring LeadHERship is a completely free online workshop, made up of practical exercises and expert-led discussions. Learn targeted strategies, and recognise and overcome barriers associated with stepping into management. Gain the confidence, clarity and tools needed to lead. And do all this on a flexible timescale that suits you.
The Inspiring LeadHERship workshop uses the ‘labyrinth model’, which acknowledges that female career progression is not a straight line in the traditional ‘ladder’ sense. It will help you to establish a new identity as a leader, and make the transition from peer to supervisor. You’ll explore ways to manage any lingering doubts about your ability to lead, and develop strategies to balance work responsibilities with those at home.
The course is set up to address the specific experiences of women in the workplace, and delivered by those with first-hand perspective of these challenges.
How did the leadHERship course come about?
At EDN, we recognised that, if you’re setting out on that leadHERship journey, then you can’t just pitch up and hope for the best. LeadHERship takes time, planning, and negotiation to get right.
Women have multiple barriers to achieving success in leadership, but they’re not insurmountable. In fact, if you know where and what they are, you can develop strategies to work around them. Inspiring LeadHERship can get you ready to face and overcome these barriers, and prepare for them before they even become relevant.
Learning key leadHERship strategies
For example, one way to bridge the credibility gap and stop feeling like an imposter is to claim your space. Stop apologising every time you speak. Using phrases in management meetings such as ‘Sorry, can I just say something?’ can make you sound inexperienced and unsure.
Conversely, saying things like ‘I’d love to add another idea’ or ‘here’s another way we can look at this’ inspire confidence and belief in what you’re saying – both in your colleagues and yourself.
This female leadership training course can help in many ways. There are several strategies and techniques to learn, all packed into a flexible, three-hour course that you can take online, from the comfort of your own home. Even better, the course is completely free.
Sign up today
So what are you waiting for? It’s time to turn ‘what me? Never!’ into ‘Can do, will do, let’s do it!’ Sign up to the Inspiring LeadHERship workshop from EDN today and start planning your journey to the head of the pack.