WIL Talk (Women in Leadership Talk)

Are you curious about the truth or myth in the differences between male and female brains? We had the opportunity to speak with Professor Gina Rippon Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Neuroimaging at the Aston Brain Centre, Aston University. She is the past President of the British Association of Cognitive Neuroscience, and her research involves state-of-the-art brain imaging techniques to investigate developmental disorders such as autism especially regarding unrecognized females on the autistic spectrum. Her research also involves the use of neuroscience techniques to explore social processes, particularly those associated with sex/gender issues. She is a passionate supporter of initiatives to address the underrepresentation of women in all spheres of influence, especially science, and advocates an understanding of ‘the neuroscience of belonging’ as a framework to address the gender gaps. She is the author of “ Gender and Our Brain”.

 During our conversation, we discuss the myths associated with brain differences or the lack of them and how 18th-century beliefs have continued to the present day with little progress in shifting the thinking around our brains. It was positioned for men to be seen as superior and women inferior. We still see in today’s world that most CEOs are men and that fewer women are representatives in positions of power. She clarifies that there is overlap in research data to point to the minimal differences in male and female brains but our environment plays a significant role in how our brains are developed. Whether that be starting as young as a newborn baby and how we condition the baby to engage with society. She cautions us to pay attention to our definitions and language as we speak about even things like the gender pay gap which are sex gaps. How boys are taught to be brave, and girls are taught to be perfect, these beliefs carry forward into how our lives are shaped and even in more progressive countries where there is still a little impact in more women working in the sciences, mathematics, technology, etc. 

 And finally, the elephant in the room is around AI, and how that will impact our society going forward. Without having more women and diversity engaging in the setup, design, input, and sharing of their personal experiences – we are in for a bigger challenge that will set us back even further.  Let us know your thoughts on this conversation.

 If you want to learn more about how you show up as a leader, take our free leadership quiz at www.wilempowered.com

#neuroscience #brainandgender #Genderandourbrains #wilempowered #womenleaders #ginarippon

How do you and your organization build a culture of psychologically safe space enabling more human connection and trust? Join us as we speak with Vicky Smith about her research and work on this ever-important topic and the shift that is needed urgently. Vicky has her Masters in Organisational Development, Psychology, and Applied Health and Exercise, she is currently working on her PhD researching psychological safety in organizations. She is also qualified as an NLP trainer, psychotherapist, and executive coach. As you can see from her bio, she is an avid and lifelong learner.  She is also the co-author of “Brave New Leader”.

During our discussion, we dive into the acceleration of change taking place and how there is little to no stability, many not knowing what the future holds and how difficult that can be for many. She emphasized the pressure that is mounting for people and the need for a better balance between pressure and performance. Individuals struggle with the choices between family and work, lacking boundaries and needing to check in with themselves and what best serves them. While organizations are hanging on by the fingernails, attempting to stay competitive, and lots of cost-cutting, the pressure is pushed down to the people and then the pressure escalates. 

 Some of her tips are for creating a culture of expression, one that is trusting and can be trusted. Treating people as people and finding their strengths. Teams don’t work in isolation so that encourages building relationships throughout the organization. The need to pay attention to the eye-rolling, backstabbing or gossiping, and side glances all give you clues to what is going on. So that’s when we need to slow it down and determine the pinch point and the culture shift required. What is the culture we have created implied or explicit? Being aware of those subtleties can start to shift and gain buy-in from the teams. But also, there is a need for candid conversations with the intent to support. Feedback is a Gift!!! 

Would love to hear your thoughts on the conversation and what you see happening in your organization.

 Interested in learning more about your leadership capabilities? Take our free leadership quiz at www.wilempowered.com to learn what might be holding you back.

How does one begin to craft the life they desire? Join me in a conversation with 11x best-selling author, Top 20 podcast host, and philanthropist, Kelly Roach. Kelly has been featured in major media such as ABC, NBC, Fox, and Forbes – as well she has also been the recipient of numerous prestigious awards such as #287 on the INC. 5000 list, The Stevie Awards Woman of the Year, TITAN CEO of the year and Inc’s Best in Business.

 Kelly operates a portfolio of businesses that have a 2 -fold purpose:

1. Create Freedom and Family First
2. Glorify God by using your gifts to the best of your ability.

 She shares with us what she sees happening globally and how buyers are more discerning with what they purchase, that being more value-aligned is key for both the buyer and the seller. Keeping things simple to multiple through focused intention on building relationships. Creating a legacy that is not just about financial wealth but what are you modeling and leaving behind. Getting quiet and listening to what messages are coming through will help to guide you to the path you desire but you must reduce the noise to be able to hear those messages. 

 If you are interested in learning more, she invites you to check out “The Kelly Roach Show”, this is her podcast sharing great insights and learnings.

 Want to learn more about how you show up as a leader? Visit www.wilempowered.com and take our free leadership quiz. 

 #legacy #creatingfreedom #womeninleadership #entreprenuers #wilempowered #wiltalkpodcast

How does one build on their economic power? What is our civic responsibility as human beings? These are some of the questions I dive into with Dr. Avis Deweever on the WIL Talk podcast this week. Dr. Avis earned her Ph.D. in Political Science and is part of the think tank industry working on the ecosystem of research just outside of Washington, DC. She is also an entrepreneur who teaches Black women business owners how to scale their businesses by developing high-ticket offers and implementing high-profile media and marketing methods. She is also a frequent speaker on race, gender and the economy, poverty, inequality of educational and economic opportunity, and issues of privilege, power, and policy in the US. Her advocacy is about speaking up about how policies are set and ensuring no harm is done or ridding policies that do harm people. She is a force and supports others in building their economic power and recognizes the need, especially for women to believe in themselves and create the lifestyle they desire.

She talks about the shift of women leaving corporations to start their businesses, especially black women. Research shows that women earn .72 cents to every dollar a man earns and for black women there is a double wage gap. Not only do women earn less but black women earn only .62 cents to other women. Not to mention the lack of access to mentorship and sponsorship. We all need to be better at taking an active role in making changes and holding accountable those we put into power. She shares many tips on how to do that and knows that your voice is important, and we must pay attention to exercising our power. So many amazing takeaways from this conversation. 

 Dr Avis offers a free e-book on her website at www.Abundanceredefined.com , be sure to visit her website to learn more or touch base with any questions you may have from the podcast conversation.

 If you are curious about your leadership, be sure to visit us at www.wilempowered.com and take our free leadership quiz. This will give you insight into your leadership.

 #womeninpolitics #leadership #impostersyndrome #womeninleadership #wilempowered

How do women break down the barriers to achieve true representation? Well, that is a conversation we had with Mary Hayashi, former California State Assemblymember and the author of “Women in Politics: Breaking Down the Barriers to Achieve True Representation. Mary’s journey as an Asian American Immigrant and former State Assemblymember is both enlightening and inspiring. She shares her journey and purpose but also the stories of 17 other inspiring leaders who influenced her to write the book and her political journey. This is not just about politics; our conversation applies to anyone striving to be in a leadership position and the systemic barriers that exist especially for women.

One quote that has inspired her perseverance is “You can’t be what you can’t see”, so she wanted to change that and so her book and mission highlight just how she is doing that, along with the many others she interviewed for her book. 

We discuss the imagination barrier and how that gets in our way by the role model effect. And how culturally our upbringing impacts the way we see things such as with the “silent good girl” or by being invisible. Several barriers and consequences show up such as the need to be liked or the likeability factor, the ambition gap where we are silenced to pursue a particular path, and how all of this impacts our confidence to put our hands up and just do it. 

 Mary also speaks to how women are more purpose-driven and use their personal experiences to invoke change especially when it comes to policy or legislation issues.  Where men are focused on power. This is especially important as to why we need more women leading whether that is in government, community, not-for-profit, or corporate environments. There are many reasons for this need such as advocating for others, no more suffering in silence, mental health issues, etc. Maintaining confidence is not easy when others doubt your abilities but when you are purpose-driven and know you can make a difference you just have to go for it, no matter what others say.

Let us know what you think of this conversation and how you might want to step into your true purpose. 

 If you are curious about your leadership, take our free leadership quiz at www.wilempowered.com to learn more about how you might show up.

As a hospital President, Cheryl’s hospital nailed being in the 99th percentile in its performance metrics and sustained this standing year after year.  She was asked many times how she maintains this status which is how Recalibrate came to life, where she reverse-engineered the work she did at the hospital and today works with many organizations to support them in leading more skillfully in times of uncertainty. She is also the author of the book, “Face to Face, A Guide to Leading More Skillfully in Times of Disruption and Uncertainty”. I love her book as it is a tale of her personal experiences navigating a safari on horseback in South Africa. 

During our conversation, Cheryl speaks to the many leadership lessons that are required to learn as we navigate the complexities of the world today and how we have created a society that believes it’s all about us and the reality is it’s not about you!! Leaders ask themselves the question – who do I placate and who is throwing the biggest temper tantrum now? We must get away from this mindset especially as we realize that “what you permit, you promote”. She talks about how we have moved away from relationships and the need to be very clear on the expectations and allow behaviors. It’s like a cancer, if you allow it to spread it will take over the entire body. 

She developed the B99 framework to make it easier for leaders to take an outside look at their organization. It’s like putting a puzzle together and you must make all the pieces fit. She is offering you a chance to take her free quiz and will book a 30-minute consultation with you to share some of the highlights. This is a wonderful opportunity to set the tone for the first half of 2024. 

 Cheryl is pleased to offer the Be99 ® Guiding Questions — reCalibrate to our audience as well as a series of quizzes that help to identify where leaders are rocking Be99® principles and where they need to grow in becoming their own Epic WorkplaceTM   

If you are curious how you show up as a leader, you can take our free quiz, at www.wilempowered.com. 

#womenleaders #leadership #wilempowered 

Why is it important to have more women on boards and build strong communities? Join us as we speak with Cecile Moulard, CEO of Mixr, and strong community-based platform that helps businesses build inclusive, trusting, communities within their organizations. Cecile shares her experience of being the only female on several boards and because of her technology background, other board members struggled to include her. Recognizing this was not about her she began to study why people had such a tough time finding common ground which is also how she developed Mixr. She was a pioneer with tech in France and brought Amazon to the country and this is where she really learned the importance of understanding the end user and how to follow the life cycle of customers' experience. 

 In our conversation, we discuss the importance of bringing the collective back how individualism has had such a negative impact on mental health, and why building your community is more important than ever. Cecile is a book lover and shared with us her latest reading which is by Jane McGonigal who is a game designer and author of the Unimaginable Future. She highly recommends reading as it provides a framework to be future-ready. This is such a great conversation and Cecile shares so many wonderful insights with us.

 If you are looking to build your community and not sure how to begin, visit us at www.wilempowered.com and learn about our on-demand networking course where we teach you the basics of building strong connections. 

#community #wilempowered #networking #connection

Dr. Laura Hays joins us for a conversation to share her experience in an incredibly high-stress role as an emergency room physician, especially during the pandemic, and how her exceptional leadership skills were instrumental in maintaining the effectiveness and integrity of her team during the pandemic. She is a dynamic speaker, podcaster, certified physician, coach, and an Assistant Professor at Campbell School of Medicine. She was also peer-voted Doctor of the Year at her sizeable medical center. 

Dr. Laura shares with us the importance of overall well-being and how during the pandemic she saw so many neglect their care. She hosts a podcast called “Lasting Impact” where you can learn even more about the role you play in your self-care and how important this is as you age. Many of us spend our lives on auto-pilot, a term used to describe how we might unconsciously go through life and not recognize how we get from point A to point B. When we are not tuned in and being intentional life happens to us and we must become the lead in this dance of life that we navigate every day. She shares how sleep impacts our overall well-being and how most of us are starved for more of it, what things we can do to improve, and bring awareness to how and what we are feeding our bodies. 

I love the ripple effect she speaks to and how the mind and body are in this constant dance with one another, and as long as we are listening, we have a chance to be in harmony.

Introducing “Networking: Love It or Hate It," a comprehensive workshop designed to help you unleash the power of meaningful connections and take your networking skills to new heights by moving you from hating it to loving it.

https://www.wilempowered.com/networking-love-it-or-hate-it/

The WIL Talk podcast releases its 100th episode today!! We thank you for your continued support and for listening from all around the globe. This is not something we take for granted and appreciate our listeners so very much. In this episode, we speak to Robert Althuis the author of “Never Enoughitis” and “Love and Truth’. Robert spent many years in corporate America building and leading businesses across the globe, he had the perfect wife, kids, and careers, at least that is what he thought until that all disappeared, and his real life began. 

In our conversation, Robert shares how moving from Holland to America was his dream, to have it all, and then recognize how that was all a game. A game that man plays and how he describes his journey from living in his head to living from his heart, and how once you see, you can never be unseen. He educates us about the secret sauce of love and how conditional love is an emotion whereas real love is an energy. That love energy has intelligence, and consistency to it. He also speaks to the male archetypes and shadow sides of the male and why we need the feminine power to harmonize with the masculine. Fascinating how he describes the shadow side and the corruption of man, and that the 3 pillars are: women, money, and power, how that is abused but in a healthy state there is no abuse, that women are honoured, money is shared generously and power is used for good.

 His parting gift is for women to move beyond the need for male recognition and know their worth, to right their own rules. In his book, “Love and Truth” he shares a quote that truly resonates with Epicteus “ No man is free who is not the master of himself”.  Let us know what you think of this 100th episode and what you are taking away from this conversation.

 If you are curious about how you show up as a leader, take our free quiz at www.wilempowered.com.

From being sex trafficked to a successful 6-7 figure business leader relying on intuition and inner guidance. Megan Camille joins us to share her story of resilience and strength at the age of 19 she was trafficked, and it took her 4 years to find her way back home. As a young girl, Megan always had intuitive abilities and was seen differently from the other kids, which sometimes kept her isolated so when she was trafficked, it was very subtle and unassuming until it wasn’t. One thing she talks about is how hard it is to detect or remove someone from these situations. Trafficking in the US alone last year accounted for 27 million people according to the State Department, and these are the cases we know about.

 Fortunately, Megan was able to escape this life and found her way to a path of healing and self-exploration. She shares with us how money plays a big role in our decisions and that pure survival helped her to create not 1 but 4 successful businesses. She firmly believes that business is 80% energetics and 20% strategy. She speaks a lot about how the gut can guide us through the darkness and show lights of opportunity when you tap into it and listen. The other thing she speaks to is the importance of how we educate our children about life and respecting boundaries. Truly an inspirational conversation. Thank you ,Megan.

A few stats about human and sex trafficking: 96% of those trafficked are women, 81% accused of trafficking are men, and 45% are between the age of 18-24 years old. These numbers are off the charts and we don’t speak about them enough. 

https://www.wilempowered.com/quiz/