Over 350 women have now completed our Leading From Within and Leading Collective Impact Programmes. Meet Marcia, Sustainability / CSR Manager at City & Guilds Group, one of our Leading From Within Graduates. Marcia joined our programme because she wanted to connect with others in pursuit of purposeful change and impact.
What is the change you are working on?
Learning to thrive in life irrespective of how it presents itself. More specifically, I am trying to successfully transition to parenting two children under four whilst also trying to find a way to otherwise positively impact the world through my professional work.
Why did you join Leading From Within?
I wanted to connect with others who were also purposeful about embracing change, with a view to being more impactful in their communities.
What’s been most impactful for you so far on the programme?
I don’t even know where to start in answering this. I felt honoured to be part of such an amazing community, especially at this time in my life. Although I have been working through a plan of action for the last year, connecting in with this community has positioned me to dream and reimagine what is possible for the first time in about 7 or so years. This is important, as I believe to successfully step further into my destiny and purpose, requires me to be as whole as possible – by that I mean with all my various identities skills experiences and way of knowing.
What is emerging for you as a leader?
The need to connect with others is crucial. I cannot do this on my own and I also don’t want to anymore. I want to be part of the wise thoughtful crowd who care enough about making impactful positive change that we can together, fearlessly stand in our truths and stick our heads up and above the parapet.
A reminder that I do have much to give. It may need to be refined but my voice and contribution are needed in the area I want to work in. It’s important for me to remain open and curious in my walk as a leader. Doing so and purposely embracing unusual/ previously unused spaces is enriching and stretching. For example, I attended another of the She Leads Change programmes, a Cup of Calm. On this short call, the facilitator spoke about beauty. I really struggled to bring things to mind at the time. This started a whole inquiry for me in about seeking out and appreciating beauty which was a wonderful gift from a call I might not have previously attended.
* If you’re inspired by Marcia’s experience of Leading From Within, applications are now open for Leading From Within cohorts launching in April and October apply here
* If you’d like to find out more about the programme, drop us a line on hello@sheleadschange.org – we’d love to tell you more.