Jun 7, 2021
Who is your future self?
If you could have a conversation with your future self, how might you steer your life differently? Would you take on new goals? What chances would you take? What changes would you make?
“It’s much easier to default to the present than to imagine a different future. If you don’t take time to imagine who you want to be, then you’ll reactively become whatever life drives you towards.”
Intrigued?
We invite you to explore this topic on Tuesday 8th June (5-6.30pm BST) with our recent Leading From Within Graduates. Our Spring 2021 cohort have co-created an evening around Your Future Self to showcase their learnings and their experience of our flagship programme.
“Evidence suggests that creating a safe setting which allows women to develop their own authentic leadership style and identity is crucial”
– Harvard Business Review (September 2013). Women rising: The unseen barriers.
Leading From Within is a three-month curated journey, providing women* a safe, nourishing space for reflection, realisation, experimentation and self-actualisation. It is designed to get under the skin of the things that worry you and hold you back, to give you courage to live with purpose, to develop strong bonds that can see you through tough times and to celebrate the wins. Most of all it is envisaged to give you the power of a community of amazing, like-minded women, so you can get on, create maximum impact and be your best self.
Future Self Visualisation is a powerful tool we use within our programme to help reframe our present and redefine our future.
If you’re curious as to how meeting your future self can help you discover the courage to live with purpose and lead change wholeheartedly, this session is for you! Click here to register.
*Whilst our Leading From Within programme is designed for women, our Graduation Showcase is open to anyone curious about She Leads Change and interested in encountering their “Future Self.”
May 19, 2021
Navigating Change
If there is something that I have learned from this unexpected and challenging time due to the pandemic, it is that life can change from one day to another and we cannot take for granted anything.
During this time I have evolved a lot and I am still doing it. Something that I have been able to explore more deeply is how valuable it is to keep yourself centered and driven by your purpose in life. This has allowed me to adapt proactively by taking the time and attention to prepare and develop myself in advance of the change.
In the midst of so much change and urgency, I have been able to focus on acting on strategy without getting demotivated. It is true we cannot always control the change but we can manage our response to it.
In a world in constant motion, where change is constant, both personally and professionally, we need to do it better at change. Whether it is change because of cover, career, personal circumstances or to solve humanities challenges, navigating change can be tough, energizing, scary, forced… The key is to create a vision of the way we would like life to be moving forward.
Have a look at 4 keys to navigate change:
- Personal changes, self-transformation, is something that we should prioritize before the change we want to make in the world. For me, the transformation needs to connect with a deeper sense of purpose. Then, you will be able to enable people with the capabilities that they need to succeed during the transformation and beyond.
- Be intentional about evolving your systems and processes. Keep the big picture in mind and identify barriers so you can proactively manage them.
- We all have energy drainers in our life. Lean on people who are interested in similar changes that you are, joint efforts and teamwork makes the difference for greater impact.
- It is great to explore shifting from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset where you will practice deep listening to learn and to bring out the best in people. The more questions you ask, the more you learn.
Love Kelly x
Be the change you want to see in the world 🌻
More about Kelly…
Kelly Cuesta is a seasoned brand marketing and demand generation specialist in tech. A natural born community builder and purpose-driven go-getter Hispanic woman thriving in a male-dominated industry. Her mission is to support and champion women and marginalized groups to unleash their full potential regardless of gender, race, age, social status… Making impact by changing stereotypes and shattering the glass ceiling.
Kelly is a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion activist and mental well – being advocate who is passionate about education, culture and systems change, tech and entrepreneurship.
May 12, 2021
We’ve gone through so many shifts in work this year and with lockdown easing many of you may be wondering about your professional futures.
What is it you need most, to take your next career step? Is it a practical offer of help, or the sharing of ideas and advice? Perhaps it’s a helpful chat with someone within your industry – or an industry you’d love to explore – who’s been there and done that…
What could you offer someone thinking about their career? A listening ear, an introduction – an idea of how best to approach their challenge – resources to explore, perhaps an accountability partner, or a skills sharing opportunity…
We’re hosting a Needs & Offers workshop on Monday 24th May from 4-6pm (BST) – a space to put forward your career needs and what you could offer. Together with our hosts, Daniel Hires and Carolin Goethel – experts in community weaving – we will be matching the needs and offers within our community.
What is a Needs & Offers marketplace? We’re so glad you asked! Simply, it’s an interactive marketplace, facilitated by our experts, where everyone attending has the opportunity to bring whatever need they may have with regards to their career (something that would really help boost their next steps) and also, what they could potentially offer in return. These needs and offers may be along the lines of: a sounding board / a skills exchange / an introduction / a helpful conversation or advice / or anything else in between.
Who is it for? Anyone wanting support or direction around their career – it’s perfect for anyone feeling stuck, anxious, disillusioned or curious about what next…It will be a beautiful community connection of needs and offers – facilitated by our experts – ensuring everyone’s needs and offers are matched by the end of the day.
Please come. This is a brilliant opportunity to really give you the boost you need, to take the next step in your career AND to give someone else a much needed hand up.
How do I sign up? Click here to complete our registration form – we ask a few questions to help us understand your need and what you can offer – and we’ll see you on Monday 24th May! If you’ve any questions, Sandy can help – drop her an email here: Sandy@sheleadschange.org
Apr 27, 2021
Recently shortlisted as a Rising Star in the Tech industry by WeAreTheCity, and recent graduate of Leading From Within, Arka Raina shares her experience of how She Leads Change is teaching her to lead bidirectionally…
At the start of lockdown last year, I knew – like everyone else – that I wanted to make quarantine count. I was fortunate enough to keep my job and work as usual, just remotely from home, and I was no longer traveling to client offices for consulting work. This meant I could take time to stop, breathe and reflect and attain the idyllic work-life balance that is so often touted in leadership and career publications.
Or so I thought.
My journey was not as easy as that. Faced with blurred boundaries between work and personal time coupled with screen fatigue, I began to feel lost and stuck in a downward spiral. I needed to identify my values and goals, find my inner voice and make a shift forwards.
I therefore signed up to attend a leadership programme with She Leads Change, a non-profit organisation that aims to develop female leaders by unlocking their potential to become change makers. This programme helped me to understand myself from two vantage points: from the ‘inside-out’ by reflecting on my past experiences and achievements to inform my future aspirations, and from the ‘outside-in’ by putting myself in another person’s shoes and thinking about their goals and needs. By strengthening these foundations and improving my self-awareness, I would then be able to continue to lead others.
It has often been during conflict that I have found it the most difficult to have candid conversations. Fraught with negativity, tension and stress, these moments previously dampened my voice – particularly where unconscious bias was also a factor.
From the She Leads Change sessions, I was able to learn how to navigate conflict artfully by using compassionate communication that transmits my desired message without making the other person feel blamed, misunderstood or judged.
In fact, following on from them, I purchased the book ‘Nonviolent Communication’ to hone this skill further.
We find the strength to continue with the help of our community, and my community formed from the friendships that I made with other participants in my cohort. We are a diverse group from different ages, backgrounds, countries, incomes and religions. United by our passion to spark change that the world needs, we have accelerated each other’s journeys by swapping stories, podcast and book recommendations and life advice, to name a few! These have molded me into a more resilient and transparent leader who is comfortable with vulnerability. After all, it is easy to lead during a time when things go right, but the true mark of a leader is how they pull themselves and their team through adversity, particularly when no one is watching.
If you are looking to grow yourself into a change maker, then look no further with the amazing She Leads Change team, led by Nicola, Sati and Holly!
Curious about how Leading from Within can impact you and your world? Explore our programme here
Written by Arka Raina
Arka Raina is a Design Consultant who designs and delivers inclusive products/services through Agile and human-centred design methodologies across multiple industries. She graduated from University College London with a degree in French and Spanish, and she combines her love of tech, design, culture and social impact by contributing to ‘Tech for Good’ hackathons and other volunteer projects. Her goal is to change current systems and create new ones that cater to everyone for a truly just society. She has an interest in psychology, intersectional inequalities, holistic health/wellbeing, art and communication.
She was also named a Rising Star in the Tech industry by WeAreTheCity, a female leadership talent firm. Outside of work, she has enjoyed facilitating equitable access to opportunity for people from underrepresented groups, through helping companies hire global talent with AIESEC, teaching women to code and participating in hackathons with Code First Girls, mentoring designers from around the world with adplist.org, and creating content with Like Minded Females (LMF Network) CIC. She hopes to continue driving Tech for Good to uplift others and ensure a just digital world for all!
The public vote is now open until 30th April; if you have a few minutes free, please your support by sharing this post and voting for her in the link below, clicking the ‘Cast your vote’ button’ and selecting her name from the dropdown menu.
View Arka’s individual entry and vote here: https://risingstars.wearethecity.com/arka-raina-ibm/
Apr 23, 2021
We invite you to join a conversation between Anna Swaithes and Nicola Millson. If you are wondering how to navigate change more gracefully – whether it is change because of covid, career, personal circumstances or to solve humanities challenges – this is an unmissable conversation. It will give you perspectives, tools and connections to better create and handle change.
These two care enormously about big challenges facing the world and are convinced that when society prospers, businesses can succeed; and when business is done well, society benefits. They know change happens by bringing people together and approaching it from multiple perspectives. They have examined change at a personal, organisational and systemic level. For this evening, they are curious about exploring what it means to lead change as an individual, how to create change at scale and how to better navigate change.
Navigating Change with Anna and Nicola
Monday 26th April 2021 4-6pm (BST)
Sign up here
Anna is currently on maternity leave from her role as Head of the Government Inclusive Economy Unit. Anna’s focus over the past two years in government has been on building partnerships between government, business and civil society to create social value. Her earlier career was leading sustainability for multinationals – and she spent most of her time building partnerships with change makers both inside and outside the business.
As Global Sustainable Development Director of SABMiller she brought in Nicola as part of a ‘Prosper’ programme to support sustainability ‘intrapreneurs’ across the business. Subsequently, Anna has supported She Leads Change as a valued coach and advisor. Nicola and Anna are working on an innovative new idea to scale She Leads Change systemic impact – and might just share it!
Learn more about LeadMore – our monthly subscription our She Leads Change community of practice – here
Apr 22, 2021
In the last of our three part series looking back at the first quarter of LeadMore, Kelly shares on our topic for March: Communication
Last month, we learnt how to communicate at OUR BEST and connect consciously for improved relationships.
Some of my main takeaways were:
-
- Communication is a 2-way process so it is important to understand other people’s motives, their thoughts and needs. As Sandy mentioned, deep listening is something that will help to improve your communication skills and keep a better connection with your audience.
- As someone who has been working with diverse teams in marketing and communication, I find that asking questions for clarification improves that connection with others (especially now that most of us work remotely). Allow yourself to listen actively. Instead of spending time preparing your responses, use that information to read between the spoke lines so you can understand the whole context.
- We learnt and practiced how to pitch our ideas with Eleanor Saunders. It is true that it takes some time to improve our pitching. However, by practicing you can make it. It doesn’t matter if it is something you need to pitch either for work, or to your family. Practice and make sure you keep in mind the following questions: Why do you want to do this, Who is it for and what do you really want to say?
- Be more intentional and look at action and intention on an ongoing basis- what is your intention with what you are trying to do? Are your actions serving it?
- Melissa Abecassis, shared her wisdom and useful tools to foster conversations with empathy. A safe space for others to communicate at their best and share their stories. This starts with self-empathy. Question yourself about: where you are, what you need and how much you can give of yourself.
Secondly, look beyond right and wrong. Seeking to understand people that we disagree with is normal. You can set a safe space and foster empathy dialogues between people who have completely opposite views. So that we can come out with a new understanding and contribute to a world with empathy. Check out Melissa’s project Empathy Dinners to learn more about it.
Love Kelly x
Be the change you want to see in the world 🌻
More about Kelly…
Kelly Cuesta is a seasoned brand marketing and demand generation specialist in tech. A purpose-driven go-getter Hispanic woman thriving in a male-dominated industry who believes in solidarity to make the steps towards equality. Her mission is to support and champion women and marginalized groups to unleash their full potential regardless of gender, race, age, social status. Making impact by changing stereotypes and shattering the glass ceiling.
Kelly is a Diversity, Equality & Inclusion activist and mental health advocate who is passionate about education, culture and systems change, tech and entrepreneurship.
