Skip to 0 minutes and 0 seconds Hello. My name is Dr Suzanne Ross and I’m a senior lecturer in Executive Education at Nottingham Business School.
Skip to 0 minutes and 7 seconds Welcome to the Inspiring Women Leaders: Purpose-Driven Leadership for Business and Society micro credential. Throughout history, we’ve seen the capability of female leaders to change the world shaping society, politics, communities and businesses. Yet the advancement of women into leadership roles is still slow. Systemic challenges, perception and bias impact not just women’s careers, but their access to funding as entrepreneurs and their progression into influential positions, for example, in politics, law, scientific fields and health care. This not only detrimentally impacts women’s rights, health outcomes and financial security, but also leads to the exclusion of women from engaging in solutions to some of the most critical problems facing the world today.
Skip to 0 minutes and 58 seconds The gains for women into the senior leadership levels in business and society are painfully slow. For each step forward, there seems several steps back. The impact of covid was particularly detrimental to women in all sorts of ways. Women were more likely to be in precarious or part time work, in sectors significantly impacted by covid restrictions. And research indicates that women took on the largest share of childcare responsibilities alongside work during covid. And research indicates also that women are leaving the workforce at a greater rate than men post covid.
Skip to 1 minute and 37 seconds Yet during that period, what was also prevalent was the number of female political leaders navigating their respective countries through the crisis, showcasing in a very visible way the merits of female leadership. Research continues to identify the important contribution women make as leaders in business and society. Yet women, especially minority women, still face challenges in advancing into these leadership roles as a result of often hidden barriers, perception and systemic bias. That ‘women in leadership’ has become a focus in academia and practice over the last 10 to 15 years indicates how prevalent the barriers have been. Historically, literature has spoken to men’s experience of leadership. Typically, this has been used to not as a grammatically inclusive term, to mean everyone.
Skip to 2 minutes and 34 seconds It’s been used because the majority of leaders were men. Female leaders were an anomaly, and the expectation was they would lead in the same way as men if they wanted to be successful. As management and leadership thinking emerged, those thought leaders were typically men presenting the male experience of leadership for men seeking to progress into those leadership roles, whether that was in business, politics or the wider society. It’s often been in the domain of entrepreneurship where female leaders have carved the strongest path, in part in reaction to the barriers faced in organisations. However, research shows women’s start ups receive just a small fraction of venture capital funding compared to their male counterparts.
Skip to 3 minutes and 22 seconds Throughout the world, we’re seeing decisions being made that are having a significant impact on the freedoms and choices for women. Despite this, we’re increasingly seeing women step up to lead in business and society and lead in a purposeful way, in a way that reflects a commitment not only to profit, but to people on the planet, creating organisations that are purpose-driven and aligned to values. This course is for women who aspire to this. This course has been designed for women aspiring to be or already in leadership roles in business or society, who want to lead in a way that’s purpose-driven, aligned to values and emphasises the greater good.
Skip to 4 minutes and 9 seconds You may be a leader or an aspiring leader in an organisation looking to develop your leadership career. You may be a founder, an entrepreneur, wanting to develop your leadership capability as your organisation grows. You may be leading in the political environment, in faith-based organisations or leading in the broader society. You may be from the public, private or third sector, not for profit organisations. You may have a sense of purpose, or a vision and want to step in and step up into leadership in order to make that happen and bring your vision to life. This course runs over 10 weeks and has been designed to help you develop your capability as a purpose-driven leader.
Skip to 4 minutes and 56 seconds During Weeks 1, 2 and 3, you’ll learn more about the rise of women as purpose-driven leaders and what it means to be a purpose-driven leader. You’ll have the opportunity to explore how you see yourself as a leader and gain clarity on your own purpose, vision, values, strength and definition of what it means to you to be successful. You will explore the triple bottom line and how to approach leading for the greater good. As a purpose-driven leader, it’s important to be able to bring people with you during change and in Week 4, you will explore approaches to leading transformation and change. From Week5 onwards, we’ll be focusing on developing the competencies and capabilities needed for purpose-driven leadership.
Skip to 5 minutes and 45 seconds In Week 5, we will be exploring transformational and ethical leadership and what it means to lead authentically. In Weeks 6, 7 and 8, you’ll be developing your capability to build good relationships, become a woman of influence and negotiate when stakes are high. In the final two weeks, we will focus on developing strategies to confidently manage your career, build resilience and thrive. This course is a 10-credit Level 7 micro credential. In order to gain the 10 credits, there is an assessment. This assessment is designed to be practical and help you gain clarity around your own purpose and vision and the implementation of this.
Skip to 6 minutes and 27 seconds The course is designed to stimulate your thinking, help you to reflect and to engage in practical activities that will help you develop your capability and confidence as a purpose-driven leader. During the course, there will be the opportunity to interact with and learn from other talented women. So do please introduce yourself in the comments below. I hope you enjoy the course and you are inspired to make a difference through your own purpose-driven leadership.
