He also said Oxford Saïd students and programme participants would have a moral mental compass once they complete their programmes, a compass which is very much focused on making the world a better place.
‘The decisions we make in business and in organisations you work for will have human implications and make important impact. They will affect human lives. It is important to realise the hardest part of leadership is to know yourself. The programme will help you to gain self-awareness and to get to know yourself. You will have a very rich experience in this programme about what it means to be a good leader,’ he added.
Given the barriers many women face in pursuing their leadership ambitions, the programme equips its participants with necessary skills, tools and guidance to help them overcome obstacles and reach the top of their professions. Areas covered range from self-acceptance to self-development, male assertiveness-aggression, relationship to work-life balance, the way women work with themselves and how society perceive women leaders.
‘When you bring together research insights, useful heuristics and the real leadership experience of every woman in the room, the resulting conversations are rich in learning. Oxford’s Women Transforming Leadership Programme offers participants the opportunity to transform their own leadership approach and helps them to turn their ideas into action,’ said Kathryn Bishop, the director of the Women Transforming Leadership executive education programme.
The programme also provides exceptional networking opportunities for its participants which they can carry beyond the programme and help find a robust solidarity and consultation platform in their professional life. As Kathryn mentioned in one of the programme sessions, ‘Male networks are more about access. Female networks are more about advice.’
‘Participants from all over the world join the programme on Monday and by the end of the week have become a vibrant and connected global network of women leaders. Each group stays in contact long after the programme, supporting each other and sharing useful resources. Their WhatsApp group is like having a coach in your pocket at all times - ask about a situation and someone will respond with a voice message or a reference. Their learning continues, building on the foundations laid during the programme,’ Kathryn pointed out.
The school has opened its doors to the 10th cohort at a time when only 15 percent of CEOs at fortune 500 companies are female, according to the World Economic Forum.
‘140 years! That's how long it will take for us to achieve parity in leadership. We can't wait that long, we need to act now to ensure that more women become managers and supervisors across sectors,’ said the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, in its latest report titled "Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The Gender Snapshot 2022".
‘Women are rarely invited to go on leadership journeys. Some also suffer from what is known as ‘impostor syndrome’… That is why it is critical for them to take active ownership of their career, ideally early on,’ says one programme instructor. She told the 10th cohort during the programme session, ‘When on the rise, women don’t receive support. Women need to fight for it.’
One participant from the 10th cohort said: ’I have attended many leadership programmes offered by different organisations in different parts of the world. Oxford Saïd’s was simply eye-opening!’