If you’re a growth-minded woman leader in IT who loves learning, progressing, and achieving new levels in your career, you may already be thinking about how to prepare for your next advancement opportunity.

Whether you want to grow as a leader, transition into management, or become an executive-level director one day, there are steps you can begin taking now.

And that preparation can start early in your career.

Moving into higher levels of leadership takes more than excelling at the job you have today.

As your career progresses, expectations change.

The opportunities you pursue, experiences you gain, and how others perceive you as a leader can prepare you for greater responsibility.

And sometimes, you may be ready for that next level sooner than you realize.

In this week's episode, we'll talk about what you can begin doing now to prepare for future leadership opportunities and claim a greater seat at the leadership table.

Tina Chapman helps women leaders in IT become more assertive and develop allies so they can confidently deliver on their best ideas. For step-by-step support, apply for Tina's Empowered Leadership Breakthrough program and she'll be in touch to invite you to a call.

Or if you're struggling with team accountability, sign up for a 90-minute Accountability Mastery session where you're learn how to confidently report status to stakeholders, earning their trust and respect, and transform your team dynamics and leadership skills.

Over the past six months, I’ve talked with many former colleagues and women leaders in IT about difficult changes happening in the workforce, including:

Mandated return to office.

Layoffs.

Reductions in force.

Doing more with fewer people.

And AI creating uncertainty about jobs and skills.

These changes are difficult to navigate and can take an emotional toll on your team—and on you as their leader. 

Many times, these decisions come from senior leadership, and depending on your position, you may have little or no input into them.

And you may be trying to process the changes yourself. 

But you’re the person your team looks to for support and help in working through them.

In this episode, we’ll explore how to guide your team through difficult times when morale is low and uncertainty is high.

Tina Chapman helps women leaders in IT become more assertive and develop allies so they can confidently deliver on their best ideas. For step-by-step support, apply for Tina's Empowered Leadership Breakthrough program and she'll be in touch to invite you to a call.

Or if you're struggling with team accountability, sign up for a 90-minute Accountability Mastery session where you're learn how to confidently report status to stakeholders, earning their trust and respect, and transform your team dynamics and leadership skills.

As a woman leader in IT, have you ever worked in an environment where you felt so devalued and unsupported that you began to shut down?

Instead of sharing your ideas, you put your head down, do your work, and try to get through each day.

That’s where my guest, Wendi O’Neill, found herself after working for a leader who was more focused on advancing his own career than supporting the people on his team.

Then something happened that reminded her what she’d been missing.

A former colleague listened to her ideas, engaged in the conversation, and encouraged her in a way she hadn’t experienced for a long time.

That moment became a catalyst to make a career change.

In this week's episode, Wendi shares why building allies, advocates, and sponsors should begin on day one of every job and why these relationships are about supporting, not saving each other.

Let’s jump into the conversation!

Tina Chapman helps women leaders in IT become more assertive and develop allies so they can confidently deliver on their best ideas. For step-by-step support, apply for Tina's Empowered Leadership Breakthrough program and she'll be in touch to invite you to a call.

Or if you're struggling with team accountability, sign up for a 90-minute Accountability Mastery session where you're learn how to confidently report status to stakeholders, earning their trust and respect, and transform your team dynamics and leadership skills.

When you move into a management role, it changes the dynamics of the relationships you once had with your teammates.

Suddenly, you’re no longer considered “one of the team.” You’re now “the boss.”

And that can be a difficult transition, especially when you’ve formed close relationships with some of your teammates.

You may even find you’re no longer invited to go out to lunch or social gatherings outside of work. 

Some may question whether you’re ready to be a manager, whether you’re qualified for the position, or even believe they should have received the position instead of you.

So how do you navigate these changing relationships while establishing yourself as their new leader?

In this episode, we’ll explore how to step into your new role with confidence and build strong relationships with the team you now lead.

Tina Chapman helps women leaders in IT become more assertive and develop allies so they can confidently deliver on their best ideas. For step-by-step support, apply for Tina's Empowered Leadership Breakthrough program and she'll be in touch to invite you to a call.

Or if you're struggling with team accountability, sign up for a 90-minute Accountability Mastery session where you're learn how to confidently report status to stakeholders, earning their trust and respect, and transform your team dynamics and leadership skills.

 This week, I'm bringing back one of the most listened to episodes of the Empowered Women in IT podcast. 

It's episode seven, “Five Steps to Increase Critical Thinking for Women Leaders in IT.” 

Critical thinking is one of those leadership skills that becomes increasingly important as you take on greater responsibility. 

You're expected to evaluate complex problems, challenge assumptions, consider different perspectives, and make decisions even when you don't have all the information you'd like. 

In this episode, I share a painful mistake I made in my early IT career that completely changed the way I approached critical thinking, and five practical steps you can use to strengthen this skill in your own leadership. 

Whether you've listened when it was first released or you're hearing it for the first time, I think you'll find it just as relevant today. 

Let's jump into the episode!

Tina Chapman helps women leaders in IT become more assertive and develop allies so they can confidently deliver on their best ideas. For step-by-step support, apply for Tina's Empowered Leadership Breakthrough program and she'll be in touch to invite you to a call.

Or if you're struggling with team accountability, sign up for a 90-minute Accountability Mastery session where you're learn how to confidently report status to stakeholders, earning their trust and respect, and transform your team dynamics and leadership skills.

There’s a statement I’ve heard repeatedly from women throughout my IT career:

“My good work should speak for itself.”

I believed that too for many years.

I worked hard, delivered results, and assumed my leadership would notice.

But eventually I had to ask myself:

"Was my work really speaking for itself?"

While I was doing great work, I wasn’t receiving the advancement opportunities I wanted—and felt I had earned.

Meanwhile, I watched others advance and wondered, “What are they doing that I’m not?”

One of the biggest differences was how they communicated their value. 

They made sure leadership understood their accomplishments and impact.

That changed how I thought about career advancement.

Doing great work matters. But you also have to make your impact visible to decision makers. 

In this episode, I’ll share five ways to increase your visibility, take ownership of your career goals, and position yourself for advancement.

Tina Chapman helps women leaders in IT become more assertive and develop allies so they can confidently deliver on their best ideas. For step-by-step support, apply for Tina's Empowered Leadership Breakthrough program and she'll be in touch to invite you to a call.

Or if you're struggling with team accountability, sign up for a 90-minute Accountability Mastery session where you're learn how to confidently report status to stakeholders, earning their trust and respect, and transform your team dynamics and leadership skills.

You’ve spent years becoming an expert in your IT field.

Your knowledge and experience have earned the trust and respect of those around you.

But there comes a point in your leadership career when being the expert can actually begin to hold you back.

Because being indispensable in your current role can make you unavailable for your next one.

If you’re still the person everyone depends on, it becomes difficult for you and your team to grow.

One of the hardest transitions in leadership is learning to let go of the expertise you worked so hard to develop and trusting someone else to carry it forward.

When you’re willing to share what you know to develop future leaders, everyone grows, including you.

In this episode, I’ll share five ways to let go of being the expert, develop the leaders around you, and prepare for your next leadership opportunity.

Tina Chapman helps women leaders in IT become more assertive and develop allies so they can confidently deliver on their best ideas. For step-by-step support, apply for Tina's Empowered Leadership Breakthrough program and she'll be in touch to invite you to a call.

Or if you're struggling with team accountability, sign up for a 90-minute Accountability Mastery session where you're learn how to confidently report status to stakeholders, earning their trust and respect, and transform your team dynamics and leadership skills.

Experience won’t protect you from being overlooked.

Allies and advocates will.

Angela Elliott had nearly 15 years of experience, a strong track record, and a seat at the leadership table.

Yet her manager worked around her, left her out of important conversations, and dismissed her ideas—only to embrace those same ideas when a male colleague shared them.

And that’s what makes this conversation so important.

Being overlooked doesn’t only happen early in your career. 

It can happen at any level, and when it does, you need a strategy.

In this episode, Angela shares how she navigated that experience with the support of a trusted colleague who became both an ally and an advocate, helping her rebuild her confidence and find her voice again. 

Because sometimes the difference between being overlooked and being heard is having the right person willing to stand beside you and speak up.

Tina Chapman helps women leaders in IT become more assertive and develop allies so they can confidently deliver on their best ideas. For step-by-step support, apply for Tina's Empowered Leadership Breakthrough program and she'll be in touch to invite you to a call.

Or if you're struggling with team accountability, sign up for a 90-minute Accountability Mastery session where you're learn how to confidently report status to stakeholders, earning their trust and respect, and transform your team dynamics and leadership skills.

Have you ever noticed that after accomplishing one of your biggest leadership goals, the attention starts to shift away from you?

You worked hard to implement new processes, develop your team, and build strong relationships with your customers.

Your leadership recognized your accomplishments and rewarded your success.

But over time, something changes.

Those accomplishments become the new normal.

Not because you're doing anything wrong—but because excellence is now expected.

That's where many successful women leaders in IT get stuck.

They continue delivering exceptional results but aren't receiving the same visibility or leadership opportunities they once did.

The answer isn't to work harder.

It's to create visibility in new ways.

In this episode, we'll explore how increasing your visibility outside your organization can strengthen your credibility, earn greater respect, and create new leadership opportunities.

Tina Chapman helps women leaders in IT become more assertive and develop allies so they can confidently deliver on their best ideas. For step-by-step support, apply for Tina's Empowered Leadership Breakthrough program and she'll be in touch to invite you to a call.

Or if you're struggling with team accountability, sign up for a 90-minute Accountability Mastery session where you're learn how to confidently report status to stakeholders, earning their trust and respect, and transform your team dynamics and leadership skills.

One of the biggest challenges many women leaders in IT have shared is feeling confident when making critical decisions.

You want to make the best decision possible, so you gather information, seek input from others, and think carefully about how your decision will affect your team, your customers, and your organization.

But even after doing all of that, it’s easy to wonder…

“Am I making the right decision?”

The fear of making a mistake—especially one that’s visible to your leadership team—can cause you to hesitate, overthink, or delay the decision altogether.

Yet your ability to make thoughtful, timely decisions is one of the ways you demonstrate that you’re ready for greater responsibility and new leadership opportunities.

In this week’s episode, I’ll share a practical framework to help you make critical decisions with greater confidence and strengthen your ability to advance in your IT career.

Tina Chapman helps women leaders in IT become more assertive and develop allies so they can confidently deliver on their best ideas. For step-by-step support, apply for Tina's Empowered Leadership Breakthrough program and she'll be in touch to invite you to a call.

Or if you're struggling with team accountability, sign up for a 90-minute Accountability Mastery session where you're learn how to confidently report status to stakeholders, earning their trust and respect, and transform your team dynamics and leadership skills.