If there’s one word to describe the experience of putting 58 women together to learn how to use their strengths to become more effective leaders, that word is “empowering.”
For the women who took part in Furman University’s Women’s Leadership Institute (WLI) over seven weeks between April and June, connecting with a group of peers across multiple industries was profoundly inspiring.
Justine Allen, program and event coordinator for Ten at the Top, said there are simply not enough superlatives to describe the experience.
“The women leading the sessions were so motivated and empowered themselves,” Allen said. “I’d love to see more programs like this.”
Virtual but powerful
The recent program was entirely virtual, which was a different experience for participants than the traditional face-to-face setting in place since the program’s beginning in 1998.
Anthony Herrera, Furman’s chief innovation officer and executive director of the university’s Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, said the shift to virtual was a necessary — but calculated — risk. The enthusiastic response from participants proved the program could remain dynamic and engaging and potentially reach a much broader audience than in years past, he said.
He added that going forward WLI will offer a hybrid blend of in-person and virtual sessions.
Allen said going into the sessions she expected to hear things she’d heard before.
“But in each session, I had an ‘Aha’ moment,” she said.
Molly Claycomb, director of financial reporting and accounting policy for United Community Bank, said the experience was meaningful to her because she got to interact with so many accomplished women from so many different fields.
“I thought a lot about the word ’empowering’ and it really is spot on,” Claycomb said.
One of the lessons that stuck with her came from work sessions on innovative thinking, Claycomb said. The exercises focused on taking leaders from a “Yes, but” mode of thinking about problems to a “Yes, and” approach.
Claycomb said the transformation showed her and the other participants how to approach problems to produce a broader range of ideas and solutions — a critical skill for leaders.
A volatile world
Among the changes to the program’s curriculum developed over the past eight years was incorporating VUCA training, Herrera said. The acronym stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity and comes from a type of leadership training that prepares leaders to survive and even thrive in an unpredictable world.
He added that the pandemic disproportionately affected women and brought challenges above those they already faced in the workplace. Based on guidance from a number of female leaders on what skills are most useful to thrive in today’s corporate world, WLI brought together presenters from a number of industries.
Herrera said, combined with the Furman faculty’s deep bench of talented women, the program addressed a range of leadership skills.
He said an additional strength of the program was the support of community partners to ensure WLI’s success. United Community Bank was the presenting sponsor and SCBIO was the presenting partner.
Having two such organizations recognize and support empowering women to become more effective leaders sends a powerful message.
“From an organization standpoint (it says) we know this is good and it is right,” he said.
For more information about the Women’s Leadership Institute, visit furman.edu/corporate-professional-development/womens-leadership-institute.
