Empowering female employees to lead

As part of this push to ensure broad representation at every level of our business, we run a programme called ‘Taking the Stage’. ‘Taking the Stage’ is a leadership communication programme designed to empower women to lead, specifically focusing on their verbal and written communications.

Gender-based expectations can affect how women communicate, whether it is conscious or unconscious. This programme aims to build confidence and authority in a supportive environment, strengthening our organisation’s leadership pipeline. Participants learn to embrace their unique leadership identity, create strong scripts to guide their communications, recognise vocal patterns that don’t support their goals and project vocal authority instead, and achieve the presence of a leader through their body language.

Rachel Risi, Global Growth Director at SHV Energy, describes her experience participating in the ‘Taking the Stage’ programme. “It was really useful to debate and better understand gender stereotypes and how women should embrace their leadership identities. Another key aspect for me was the opportunity to network with and get to know women from other SHV companies who share the same challenges and dilemmas. We each developed a model called ‘The Leader’s Script’. It helps me a lot in dealing with my day-to-day leadership challenges.”