Think Less, Fail More: 5 Strategies to Boost Women’s Confidence

In my last post, I discussed how women can benefit from the “fake it until you make it” approach when it comes to improving their confidence levels. Men often use this strategy without thinking about it, erring on the side of overconfidence, while many women end up inadvertently holding themselves back from advancement opportunities by believing themselves to be less capable than they really are.

In SHAMBAUGH’s Women in Leadership Learning (WILL) Program, we share a number of strategies to help boost women’s confidence, which is important in developing a strong leadership and executive presence. Here are five steps that women can start taking today to let others know that they’re ready, willing, and able to take on the tough assignments that can lead to big opportunities...

What Leaders Can Learn from Hillary’s “Best Week Ever”

I wasn’t surprised to see Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign—dubbed “struggling” in September—wrap up the month with what pundits are calling her “Big October” and “best week of the campaign.” After participating in the Democratic debate on Oct. 13, she emerged unscathed a week later despite being grilled for 11 hours by the House’s Select Committee on Benghazi. Now many who wondered whether she could boost her poll numbers and provide more direction to her campaign are heralding the “inevitability” of her position as frontrunner, and maybe as president.

Putting politics to the side, when watching Hillary “do her thing,” it’s natural to feel awe and admiration for the way she commands a room under the highest stakes without breaking a sweat. No matter what level of leadership you’ve reached or to which you aspire, there is plenty to learn from Hillary’s style. Here are a few of her best leadership traits to emulate...

Leadership in Italy – Amazing Things Happen When You Rise Off the Sticky Floor!

I recently had the pleasure of joining dear friends in a wonderful part of the world: Tuscany, in Central Italy. We enjoyed several days of sightseeing and biking across the countryside, as well as eating incredible food and tasting fine wines from a number of different regions.

A particularly memorable experience was a visit to the town of Pienza, where our guide, Pietro, took us up the mountain to a cheese-making farm operated by a delightful family. When we arrived, the owner, a woman named Hilda, welcomed us to what she referred to as her “dream come true.”

As we sat down for a tasting of her delicious cheeses, I asked Hilda to talk about how she made this magnificent enterprise happen. She shared that her dream had been to own a cheese-making farm that would eventually support her and her family. Yet she knew nothing about making cheese. In fact, when she first conceived her dream, she had been in the same job for 10 years and was living a very comfortable life.