What is the programme?

The Leadership Circle is an 10 week virtual programme in which a small group of purpose-led women come together to explore what leadership looks like for them.

There are a number of beliefs that underpin this circle: 

1. Everyone has the potential to lead

2. There are many, many ways to be a leader 

3. We need leadership that can embrace uncertainty and complexity

4. Good leadership is holistic 

The Leadership Circle is made up of two parts: 

1. The group: The weekly, themed, virtual group circles where we collectively reflect, share questions, personal experiences, and ideas on multiple topics around leadership.

2. The individual: In parallel with these spacious in-group sessions, you will be given a comprehensive workbook full of resources and journaling questions to support your own inner leadership work. 

The overall aim of this circle is to dive deep into what leadership looks and feels like for each one of us individually - acknowledging that leadership will be different for everyone. Importantly, this work is not a purely intellectual experience. For this reason we bring in a mix of embodiment, breath work, and visioning, alongside self-reflection and group discussion, to help us connect with what values-driven, powerful, authentic leadership is to you. 

Why the Leadership Circle?

"Every single crisis the world faces right now from the climate to inequality, is also a crisis of leadership. meaningful change is impossible if we don't change the sort of people who are in charge." Arwa Mahdawi, Strong Female Lead.

According to UN Women, the gender gap in power and leadership remains entrenched. Globally women in 2023 hold just 26.7% of seats in parliament, 35.5% in local government and 28.2% of management positions in the workplace. 

Our futures, and those of our children, are all impacted by the climate and biodiversity crisis, yet decisions about how to address this crisis are mainly in the hands of men. We need a diversity of leaders and we need representative leadership. Which means we need people who have not previously felt enabled, for whatever reasons, to stand up and lead.

You want to be a leader. Or maybe you already are a leader. But what actually is leadership? How do you feel about leadership? What do you think about leadership? And most importantly of all how do you feel about you as a leader?

For some people leadership can feel uncomfortable, for others it can feel completely out of reach. Maybe because we don’t see leaders who look or think like us in society and the media. Or maybe because we don’t feel good enough, capable enough, skilled or knowledgeable enough, etc. 

To support you to feel more like a leader, lots of leadership programmes will help you to get to grips with the theory of leadership - following the wisdom that to feel more capable or comfortable as leaders we might *think* about leadership. Which is useful, but it excludes a major component of what leadership encompasses - how leadership feels in our bodies! 

The difference in this programme is we will explore leadership holistically - drawing on various sources of theory AND taking time to consider what these ideas mean for us.  Using breath, our feelings, and our physical sensations we will explore how different aspects of leadership can feel, and how we can shift our bodies and mindsets to change those sensations. 

Put it this way - we know we need greater female representation at management and decision making levels, especially in government, climate and other purpose led-spaces. Yet women are disproportionately affected by imposter syndrome and not feeling good enough, meaning we are much more likely to get in our own way and hold ourselves back from taking risks, being bold, and essentially, being leaders. 

What you can expect from this circle:

Rich varied content: The content of this programme is inspired and informed by the many brilliant sources of leadership theory from Brené Brown to Arwa Mahdawi, and Adrienne Maree Brown to Simon Sinek, and many more. It is backed up by more than 10 years of personal experience working as a coach with purpose-led leaders and managers. While this programme is rich in content, it is NOT a training programme.  

A circle is not a training programme: This is why:

1. The theory of leadership is always evolving and changing - to create a training programme is to say ‘this is the right way’. Instead this is a reflective space that acknowledges there are many ways and they are also changing. 

2. The kinds of leadership needed are different depending on the circumstances. As a reflective space we can all bring our questions and challenges and find ideas that resonate for us. There is no one size fits all. 

3. You will be a different leader to me, because we have different personal and life experiences, and different skills and strengths that we each bring. Our strength is in us showing up as authentic, enabled, self-aware leaders, not in trying to lead like someone else. The power of this programme is in helping you to explore and ground the leader you are becoming and wish to be.

More questions than answers: This journey is not about one size fits all solutions! Instead we will be asking you lots of questions which, individually and collectively, we will explore and experiment with so you can find your own answers.

Experimental and emergent: The design of this program will be deliberately exploratory. We’ll respond to what comes up as we journey. We'll ask questions that will challenge you. We’ll support you to design a personal practice that supports your own personal development going forwards. 

A part of your leadership journey: Your leadership journey is ongoing. There is no destination. As a leader you will continue to evolve and grow, always. You can reliably expect this circle to super-charge that journey: your ideas, feelings, confidence, and community. It will be as useful as you empower it to be. 

An intimate, supportive, curious group of peers: Circles of like-minded women have come together to learn from and nourish one another throughout history. Whilst on this journey, we'll celebrate each other's successes, share our wisdom, and inspire one another. You’ll be part of a community of purpose-driven leaders, supporting each other on this transformative journey.

The group will be purposely small (max 8 women), and we will co-design it to be a space where we support one another and feel safe. The quality of the interaction will be curious with a view to understanding ourselves, our needs, and our ideas. We will encourage you to use this opportunity to be curious and experimental with new or challenging areas of leadership. There will be time to share personal experiences, questions and wisdom peer-to-peer which (in past circles) has often resulted in honest, rich, deep connection and ideas. 

A holistic experience: This is an embodiment programme which means we’ll be using our bodies, standing, sitting, breathing, and connecting with our senses in all the sessions - this is a long way from a theoretical dive into leadership. Science is increasingly offering us evidence of what tribespeople and elders have known for centuries - that our bodies hold information, wisdom and answers. In this programme we will use all of this to give you a multidimensional approach to your leadership. 

Leaving the circle you will have a more holistic, embodied sense of yourself as a leader. You will feel connected to what good leadership looks like for you, including having a greater sense of ease and flow when taking on leadership opportunities and facing challenges. You’ll have daily practices that support you to retain your own sense of leadership in the face of challenges. You will also have a lesser sense of inner limitation and stuckness or imposter syndrome here. Ultimately that you are able to be your powerful self more consistently and enjoyably!

The aims of this circle:

• Clarify what great leadership looks like to you, including an expansive future vision for yourself as a leader.

• Identify your leadership inspiration - who is a great leader to you and why?

• Support you in moving from fear to courage in all areas of your leadership

• Explore the key elements to building strong and trusting relationships

• Embody leadership - connect with your felt sense of leadership. How do you stand, breath, and feel as a confident leader?

• Work through any leadership blocks and challenges 

• Understand your needs as a leader - what practices, and which people, will scaffold your journey and development as a leader

The fine details:

Session dates / details:

• 3 weeks of in-person sessions via Zoom on a Wednesday afternoon, 3.30-5pm GMT. Session dates: 5th, 12th, 19th June. NB: The initial session on the 5th June is a longer session of 2 hours, 3-5pm GMT 4-6pm CET. 

• 1 weeks break for reflection and integration on the 26th June. This is also an opportunity to meet with your buddy and to have a 1-1 coaching session.

• 3 further weeks of in-person sessions via Zoom on a Wednesday afternoon 3.30-5pm GMT. Session dates: 3rd, 10th, 17th July 2024. 

• 1 weeks break for reflection and integration on the 24th July. This is also an opportunity to meet with your buddy and to have a 1-1 coaching session.

• 2 further weeks of in-person sessions via Zoom on a Wednesday afternoon 3.30-5pm GMT. Session dates: 31st July, 7th August 2024. 

• You will have an additional (second) 1:1, 60 minute coaching session with either Sarah or Joey which you will be asked to schedule at a time convenient to you before the end of the programme. 

Total time commitment required: 

As with all things, the more you put into this, the more you will get from it. The circle time will be 90 minutes a week. In addition we will provide you with a comprehensive workbook of resources and journaling questions to support your reflection and development of ideas. The resources are predominantly a mix of podcasts, articles and books. We encourage you to set aside at least 5 hours of listening / reading time per week to get the most from this experience. 

Group size:

There will be no more than 8 participants in the group. The group will be co-led by Joey Clifton and Sarah Hutchison.