A chair is a solid, real thing to us. We sit on it, stand on it, trust it to hold our weight. But it’s  mostly empty space, held together by unimaginably tiny particles using a great deal of energy. We humans believe in the things we see. When we see and feel the presence of others, we are  drawn to them, trust them, listen to them, engage with them, and support them.  

Visible professionals, male and female, at any level, share certain characteristics. They connect,  convince and compel. They are role models and mentors, confident and respectful. They are  helpful and accept help, they give and receive feedback, can make difficult decisions and conduct uncomfortable conversations. 

Becoming connected and visible at work is a practice of consistent actions that can be learned  and incorporated into a daily routine without adding time to a busy schedule. Female  professionals have a special set of skills and superpowers we bring to the work floor, as well as  our own set of demons, mindsets and cultural expectations to wrestle with. 

Workshop topics: 

• Understanding the roles we play at work and our attitudes. 

• The state of women’s’ engagement and self-assessment of our effectiveness. 

• Our demons: environment, thinking, many roles. A bit of “tough love” from one woman to  another: our need for control, our lack of psychological safety, our need to multitask,  over-perform. We may feel uncomfortable leveraging our networks. We may let our  emotions undermine our consistency, we may over-think and become paralyzed. 

• Our superpowers: skills and strengths, natural networking abilities and what we lose when we try to go it alone. Our ability to listen, empathy and intuition, instinct to support, our humor, our voices, and our brains. 

• We are experts in pattern recognition, 360-degree vision. We identify with stakeholders. 

• TIP 1: become the expert: Becoming highly knowledgeable in a small area, you are the  “go-to” person for anything on that matter. Work this passion into everything you do. 

• TIP 2: upskill natural networking: be present and make interactions memorable. 

• TIP 3: dare to be seen: walk the corridors, engage as a habit. Make the strategic casual  conversation part of your work day.

• TIP 4: engage digitally: get into the social stream in the right way. How and when to  publish, what, how often and where. 

• TIP 5: smart delegation: knowing when to seek help, help others, share the burden. For  many, a double-win for your network and your own brand as an expert