Preparing the Future: Executive Development for Emerging Women Leaders
In October 2010 the Darden Business School will offer a new open-enrollment executive education program called Women Emerging in Leadership. The program has been, shall we say, “in the making” for at least the past decade, and on several occasions during that time period small groups of faculty convened to discuss the possibility and the need for such a program. In the end it was never brought to fruition - until now. I am pleased to not only be heading this new initiative but to be working with an adroit group of faculty colleagues to bring it to life.
Women Emerging in Leadership is designed primarily by women and specifically for women who have or will soon be crossing the threshold into significant positions of leadership. Its goal is to enhance women’s skill set in critical areas that will allow them to be even more effective as they continue to assume increasing positions of power and influence in their organizations. In doing so, not only will they increase the likelihood of their own personal career advancement, but will be better positioned to contribute to the successful performance of their organizations. In the end, both the individual participant and her respective organization will be primed for becoming more competitive.
In designing the Women Emerging in Leadership program we assumed that the participants have already passed the bar in functional expertise and in their facility with core business principles. Instead, the program focuses on those skills that can make or break the participant’s ability to cross over from individual contributor and manager roles to leader. As the varied research of the faculty teaching in the program has concluded, the challenge for women is not in their technical expertise, but in their ability to have voice and lead authentically in systems or organizations they did not create but to which they have the potential to contribute in powerful ways. Therefore, we have included in the curriculum sessions geared toward enhancing:
- effective decision making capabilities
- strong negotiation and communication skills
- conflict resolution techniques
- strategies for building trust
- relationship building across all levels
- the ability to lead under pressure
The program is designed to be highly interactive and will feature Darden’s premier case method teaching delivered by faculty consistently identified by business publications as among the best in the world. In addition, the program will provide a variety of application-based offerings that will give participants hands-on leadership experiences. Participants in Women Emerging in Leadership will also benefit from coaching opportunities, a session on creating executive presence, a keynote address by a senior female executive, and opportunities for small group “open- call” discussions. But perhaps the true hallmark of the program is the women themselves. By working exclusively with other women attendees, participants will be able to contribute to and learn from the unique experiences of women in influential positions in what are often predominately male led organizations. Our focus on offering a program that speaks to the whole woman is a distinguishing feature of Women Emerging in Leadership.
The timing is right for a leadership development program specifically geared toward the challenges and opportunities of women currently in or emerging in various leadership positions. The past decade has been marred by a series of crises - situations that call for the most capable and competent leaders to emerge. Among the most pervasive challenges are those associated with the world-wide economic decline. Interestingly, recent research has shown that firms in both the U.S. and abroad that have a higher proportion of women in executive positions perform better in recessionary times than those firms with fewer women at such levels. With this as a backdrop, Darden’s Women Emerging in Leadership program is intended to help ensure that organizations will be prepared with a pipeline of capable women leaders as companies recover from the economic downturn and transition to the next cycle of growth and prosperity.