Quietly Visible

Melody Wilding is a human behaviour expert and executive coach whose recently published book TRUST YOURSELF: Stop Overthinking and Channel Your Emotions for Success at Work draws on decades of research and client work to examine the intersection of sensitivity and achievement in the workplace and offers neuroscience-based strategies to break free from stress and self-doubt, to find the confidence to work and lead effectively.

We talk about Melody's book and how “Sensitive Strivers” (what Melody calls individuals who are both highly sensitive and high performing) are often so influenced and worried by how they appear to others, they struggle with overthinking, emotional reactivity, perfectionism, and an inability to set clear boundaries—which can hold them back from reaching their full potential as leaders and professionals. A reported 70% of introverts are sensitive strivers.

She also shares how her previous experience of not setting boundaries and saying no led to burnout.

About Melody

Melody Wilding, LMSW is an executive coach, human behavior expert, and author of Trust Yourself: Stop Overthinking and Channel Your Emotions for Success at Work. She has coached hundreds of private clients, from CEOs and Fortune 500 executives to leaders from the US Department of Education, the Federal Reserve, and the United Nations. She teaches graduate-level human behavior and psychology at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College in New York. Her writing is regularly featured on Medium and in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Forbes, Business Insider, and Quartz. Her advice has been featured in the New York Times, The Cut, Oprah Magazine, NBC News, US News and World Report, and more.

Being put on the spot to make a decision or express their point of view can be challenging for some introverted leaders due to their preference for thinking and reflecting before speaking. To other people this delay may seem like indecisiveness or that they lack confidence. If a leader seems indecisive, it does not instil confidence in those that they lead.

This can create anxiety making it even more challenging to make on the spot decisions. In this episode I share tips on how introverted leaders can make on the spot decisions and do it with ease and confidence.

About Me

I am the founder of Abounding Solutions and author of Quietly Visible: Leading With Influence and Impact as an Introverted Woman, an Executive, Career and Leadership Coach specialising in introverted women who are senior leaders.

I've been the featured expert in Women and Home magazine, Good Housekeeping magazine, the Telegraph and more. I'm a LinkedIn Top Voice UK 4 years running and have received awards for developing women leaders.

I am currently delivering programmes for senior leaders to increase their influence and impact. And my vision is that ALL women become influencers for positive change in their respective fields.

Find out more at https://aboundingsolutions.com/

Because of the way most meetings are conducted, speaking up in meetings and getting their voice heard in an influential and impactful way is something many introverted women leaders find challenging.  In this episode I share strategies to implement so you feel confident speaking up in meetings and perform at your best.

About Me

I am the founder of Abounding Solutions and author of Quietly Visible: Leading With Influence and Impact as an Introverted Woman, an Executive, Career and Leadership Coach specialising in introverted women who are senior leaders.

I've been the featured expert in Women and Home magazine, Good Housekeeping magazine, the Telegraph and more. I'm a LinkedIn Top Voice UK 4 years running and have received awards for developing women leaders.

I am currently delivering programmes for senior leaders to increase their influence and impact. And my vision is that ALL women become influencers for positive change in their respective fields.

Find out more at https://aboundingsolutions.com/

Many introverted women leaders think that in order to influence, they need to act more extroverted. However, this is not true. You don't have to be loud to be influential as a leader, but you do need to have presence. And you can exude presence in a way that works for you, without having to pretend to be something that you are not.

In this episode I talk about some of the ways in which you can develop your executive presence.

About Me

I am the founder of Abounding Solutions and author of Quietly Visible: Leading With Influence and Impact as an Introverted Woman, an Executive, Career and Leadership Coach specialising in introverted women who are senior leaders.

I've been the featured expert in Women and Home magazine, Good Housekeeping magazine, the Telegraph and more. I'm a LinkedIn Top Voice UK 4 years running and have received awards for developing women leaders.

I am currently delivering programmes for senior leaders to increase their influence and impact. And my vision is that ALL women become influencers for positive change in their respective fields.

Find out more at https://aboundingsolutions.com/

There are many benefits to be gained from practising mindfulness, and for the introverted woman leader, it is a secret power to still your mind from the 101 thoughts that are racing through it. Allowing you to feel calmer, confident, and stress free.

Carolyn Taylor talks about how you can use mindfulness throughout the course of your busy day to help you exude presence, to recharge when your feeling drained, and more. She also takes us through a 5 minute mindfulness practice session so you can put it into practice and have it as a  technique to keep in your leadership toolkit.

About Carolyn

Carolyn Taylor is a coach, hypnotherapist and NLP practitioner based near Bristol.

She has been in practice for well over twenty years, after becoming interested during her time volunteering at Victim Support. She started as a counsellor and trainer before continuing her own training in hypnotherapy and NLP.

Carolyn is currently developing a coaching programme making full use of all these approaches, along with reflective meditation to calm the mind and encourage a relaxed, objective focus leading to insight and creative solutions.

She is also the author of a number of books under the name Lynn Williams as follows:

Kogan Page

KPI Software

Arrow Books

HarperCollins

Rider Books

You can find out more about Carolyn at: https://www.enchantmylife.com/

Leatrice Oram is an introvert and a leader in higher education administration, enjoying the later stages of a 30-year career.  Her doctoral dissertation explored the lived experience of introverted leaders in a wide variety of industries. Her research found that these leaders' introversion was an integral part of how they developed as leaders, along with other findings we will talk about.

On a daily basis, Leatrice uses the understanding she gained from her research and during her own process of becoming a leader to help teams and individuals flourish.  She is also committed to promoting introversion as a positive individual difference, and to being an advocate for introverts at all levels of an organisation who are interested in building their leadership identity and experience.

We discuss Leatrice's research and findings, and she shares plenty of takeaways that introverted leaders can apply to thrive as leaders and in life.

For those interested in learning more about Leatrice's research, her dissertation can be downloaded for free by entering "A Method to My Quietness: Living and Leading with Introversion" into any search engine, or by clicking here.

You don't have to be loud to stand out as a leader but you do need to have presence. In this episode I talk with Susan Heaton-Wright, about the importance of tone of voice when it comes to executive presence. Susan shares some great insights and tips for introverted women leaders on how to make the most of their voices when wanting to command the room and have presence.

About Susan

Susan Heaton-Wright is a Virtual impact, communications and speaking expert for emerging leaders and the creator of the Superstar Communicator™ methodology. She is an international speaker; the MD of award winning music company, Viva Live Music, podcaster and a former prize winning international opera singer. In 2020, she was named as an #ialso 100 top inspirational female entrepreneurs in UK. She is a Fellow of the Professional Speaking Association.

She delivers virtual seminars, workshops and individual training for many companies including Astra Zeneca, Deloitte, Invesco, RBS,  Shell, Microsoft,  AXA, the NHS and Quintiles. Her area of expertise is in Impact, Presence and spoken communication. Her virtual courses are CPD accredited independently; she is also a fully qualified teacher.

Susan regularly delivers remote speeches and seminars to professional organisations and businesses, as well as leaders and emerging leaders in organisations. She has spoken in Lithuania, France and The Netherlands, as well as throughout UK, at conferences; as a panellist; business events; lunch and learn sessions and trade shows. More recently Susan has been speaking virtually to international audiences, including virtual conferences.

She is regularly interviewed on BBC Radio Five Live; BBC2, local radios and international podcasts. Susan has contributed to articles in Forbes, The Guardian, Huffington Post, Thrive Global, The Scotsman and trade publications.

Susan is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, The Royal Society of Arts and the Incorporated Society of Musicians. Susan is a former Regional President of PSA UK, for the Eastern Region. She leads a project of musicians in Greece annually, to deliver music workshops to refugees in Athens as part of the ‘Love without Borders’ charity.

Find out more about Susan at www.superstarcommunicator.com

When conducting research for my book Quietly Visible: Leading With Influence and Impact as an Introverted Woman, I surveyed introverted women who were senior leaders and 73% said that they experienced self-doubt.

Despite this self-doubt, they were achieving great success in their careers. However, there was an inner turmoil going on for them that was stressful, and chipped away at their self-confidence. 

I coach introverted women who are senior leaders and self-doubt is an issue for many of them why they come for coaching. A bit like a swan, they appear calm and collected on the outside, but on the inside, they are stressed, lacking inner confidence, and experience things such as imposter syndrome.

If you experience self-doubt, in this episode I share tried and tested tips that you can apply to overcome it. And if you want further support, then you can contact me here. 

Research published in the UK by the Chartered Institute for Personnel Development (CIPD) in 2020 shows that 15% of people said they experienced bullying at work within the past 3 years, and 18% said they had observed this. The most recent survey by the Workplace Bullying Institute in the U.S. shows 30% of workers there experienced it.

Bullying at work is something that doesn't often get talked about, despite the high frequency of occurrence. In this episode, Amy Schellenberg talks about her experience of workplace bullying, and how she now supports others who are experiencing it too.

About Amy

Amy Schellenberg is an affiliate member of the Workplace Bullying Institute; Educator and Trainer; and Engagement Specialist. Through her website Education Heals Wounds, she works with Targets (victims) of workplace bullying to help them better understand their situation so they can make more informed decisions. She is particularly interested in how introverts are impacted by workplace bullying, whether they are a Target or a witness. Visit https://haveboss-needtherapist.com/targets/ for further information.

Shane Woods is a Senior Director at The STEM Center of Excellence, Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas. She discusses her experience of how sponsors and mentors helped give her the courage and confidence to pursue her leadership career, and then to make a career change in her 40s, after 16 years in the same organisation.

With a passion for science and getting more girls to study STEM subjects, and to fill the STEM pipeline, she touches on how to get little girls interested in science through everyday activities such as the toothpaste we use to brush our teeth, or having our hair done.

She shares the key things she had in place to help her thrive on her leadership journey.