Communities of Connection

Hola Fierce Feminina,

In case you missed it, March 8^th was International Women’s Day. The day we recognize the achievements of women across the globe.

To highlight the accomplishments of women, I wanted to invite my Fierce Friend, Kolleen Chesley, the CEO of LeadHERship Global, to share the power women have when they work together for the good of their businesses and their communities.

Kolleen is a champion for women’s leadership and the synergy that occurs when women work together. This is what Kolleen had to say about women’s professional groups, “When women are pulling in the same direction, and we decide to do it together, that stretches so much further than us trying to do it individually.”

She is absolutely right!

Kolleen leads the professional women’s organization LeadHERship Global, which has over 10,000 members internationally. She sees LeadHERship Global as a beacon for women who are breaking through.  

“Leadership for women can be lonely,” said Kolleen. Women tend to get tunnel vision and lose perspective. She wholeheartedly believes we must surround ourselves with other like-minded women leaders.

Kolleen recognizes that there were times in her career when tunnel vision kept her from seeing what was working in other industries. This is why being connected to a community of women is so important. Kolleen thinks just being around other successful women motivates us to achieve and do more. I agree.

LeadHERship Global provides women leaders with connections, support, resources, visibility, and promotion. Professional women’s organizations are also beneficial for women who are stuck or feel like their careers are plateauing.

Kolleen and I planned to record a short 20-minute segment for the Fierce Feminina Podcast. However, our 20-minute conversation morphed into a full hour. When we got to the core of our conversation, it was all about women’s leadership and the significance of women coming together in the community to support one another.

We cannot reiterate this enough.

Kolleen shared with us her insights from the book How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back from Your Next Raise, Promotion, or Job by Marshell Goldsmith and Sally Helgesen.

The book describes many different habits holding us back as women. The one that piqued my interest was that the further you rise on the corporate ladder, the less it has to do with your skill level. This means that the thing that is holding you back from career success isn’t your ability to do the job; it’s your behavior. Ouch!

According to Goldsmith and Helgesen, the higher you are in an organization, the more likely your behavior is the issue that presents the most growth potential. Kolleen additionally shares that the same behaviors that got you where you are will not keep you there, leading women into situations where they are holding themselves back.

The skills you developed in the beginning of your career could be sabotaging your success right now. I hate that!

How do we gain insight into changing our negative habits? We do this by being in a community. The key is that Your Community helps get you unstuck and grow.  

Kolleen tells us to picture a heavy flywheel that you must push really hard to get to move. But there is something in the flywheel that is keeping it stuck. Maybe it is a bit of grit. We need to push past the grit. Having other women to help us push the flywheel together will give it the momentum necessary to move it and get unstuck.

Kolleen ends our conversation by giving us the advice she tells someone when they are stuck. Tell someone, said Kolleen. “You want to get it out of your head.” Once we start sharing it with other people, the flywheel begins to get unstuck. If this resonates with you, remember to ask for help.

If you’re not fulfilled or stuck, find a therapist, a coach, or a community. We are too busy building relationships instead of leveraging our friendships. Everyone should have a coach or someone in their community to talk with.

As Kolleen mentioned, leadership is hard, but even harder alone. To become a member of LeadHERship Global, simply click on the name.

Thank you all for your love and support in 2023! We created a 3 question survey to hear what inspires you. Please take a minute and complete our survey! 😘

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