“No.” is a full sentence.
That was the inspiration for this workshop, focused around recognizing the importance of each participants’ goals and working to give self-permission to prioritize those things. We took it one step further to dig into communication techniques that make it more comfortable to do something that feels so unnatural for many—saying no.
In November 2018 we had the opportunity to partner with ERS’ Young Professionals group to present a Building and Communicating Confidence workshop to kick off their offsite. We assisted the participants in articulating their strengths into their “30 second commercial” that will help them communicate their contributions with people in positions of influence. Then, we worked with participants to develop and practice personal and professional assertive communication strategies that can be used in various workplace situations, increasing their confidence in daily interactions with colleagues and supervisors.
In November, we were invited to facilitate a rapid value-mapping session at the first Appointed training through the Women’s Fund. Appointed is a non-partisan initiative that “identifies opportunities for women to serve on civic boards and commissions, and empowers them to seek a seat at the table. We provide support and training opportunities, and are a resource available to connect elected officials to interested board candidates.”
Rachel traveled to Toledo to give a keynote address focused on Communicating as Champions for Gender Parity. Our session focused on effective communication about gender issues in the workplace and provided attendees with the tools and language needed to have meaningful, professional conversations with their colleagues and to act as allies for gender equity.
In October we joined the North Carolina Association of CPAs for their Professional Women’s Conference in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Together with the attendees, we focused on creating solutions for gender issues.
This year, for the second year in a row, we had the honor of facilitating the two-day overnight retreat for the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber of Commerce WE Lead Program. WE Lead is a 10-month executive leadership development experience for high-potential, goal oriented women who are actively preparing for the next level of their career. The 10-month program begins with a kickoff reception at the Chamber, where the 56 women meet for the first time. The next time they come together is with us: for a two-day immersive experience for their retreat.
We loved working with local companies and B-Corps Ingage Partners and Thrive Impact Sourcing to deliver an Uncovering Unconscious Bias workshop to employees of both sister companies. Together we set the foundation of understanding our biases and why it is important to grow our awareness of them. With small groups, participants worked through a variety of scenarios to identify "bias interrupters" they might use in common workplace situations—especially those related to hiring and performance reviews.
Gild Collective traveled to San Antonio, Texas to deliver a Career Planning workshop for POWER—the Professional Organization of Women Empowered at Rackspace. POWER was bringing a subset of its 700 members together for the organization’s Annual Luncheon and invited Gild Collective to share our personal strategy map planning with their audience.
In July we were invited back to facilitate another great creative session for Gamma Phi Beta Sorority’s REAL Leadership Experience.
We were thrilled to be welcomed back to Brighton Center to present an Uncovering Unconscious Bias training to staff across multiple offices and departments. In the two hour training, we introduced the concept of implicit bias and assessed our own. We explored the impact of bias on our relationships with others, as well as discussed situations where we are more prone to experiencing it.
This year the topic was Addressing and Elevating Gender Issues, where we provided a picture of the current landscape of gender inequity in the workplace thanks to amazing current research. From there, we focused in on pain points that participants had identified in a survey before coming, and worked through the root causes, symptoms, and solutions to specific gender-based problems.
The Greater Pittsburgh chapter of the Women's Energy Network hosted members for a half day conference as part of their Leadership Series. As a group, we dove into the findings from the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap with the 2018 International Women's Day theme of "Press for Progress" in mind.
This month, we returned to dig deeper into the concept of bias with the Advancing Women in Leadership initiative. Our goal with this workshop was not only provide a thorough understanding of what bias is and how we can recognize it, but also to explore how small moments of bias can have a tremendous impact on a woman's career throughout a lifetime.
The local Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA) hosted a volunteer appreciation workshop focused on developing your career path and the importance of your network. The Gild team walked the group through one of our favorite strategic exercises—the personal Strategy Map—to outline each person's individual vision statement, paired with concrete objectives and strategies for achieving them.