Jennifer de Vries

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Jennifer de Vries University of Western
Australia Maggie Leavitt Maggie Cox
Associates
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This session

• LDW outcomes
• For the organisation
• For the women
• Programme philosophy design
• What makes it work?
• LDW on the move

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Outcomes for the organisation

• Retention and promotion
• Retains high quality people creating a
  much better workforce
• Diverse, dynamic successful women
• More senior women, more role models
• Valuable employees who stay and develop good
  careers

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Womens voices

• Hey, it must be working I worked up the
  confidence to go for a Level 5 and have got an
  interview

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Outcomes for the organisation

• Changes in the culture
• mentoring spreading through organisation
• changing the academic/general staff divide
• challenging status quo
• more positive vibe

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Wallys world

• (As a mentor) I think Ive been able to value add
  despite my big ego and my heroic leadership style

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Outcomes for the organisation

• ... the most significant contributor to the
  development of leadership in the UWA community,
  and to the fine performance of that community
  itself
• Very few things happen in an institution that
  could be said to transform that institution, but
  LDW has transformed UWA Vice-Chancellor Alan
  Robson

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Outcomes for the women

• Career development
• Networks
• Peer support

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Womens voices

• The program has given me a clearer insight on how
  I can strategically position myself for the
  ladder.

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A program for women AND a strategic intervention

• Framing Not about fixing the women
• Keeping the focus on the organisation

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What does it take to make it work?

• Organisational commitment
• Visible support from top
• Positioning in the organisation
• Other initiatives
• Balance of group
• Commitment to the long haul
• Preparedness to withstand the backlash

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What does it take to make it work?

• Key principles of the program
• Leadership exercised at all levels
• Women need to find their own leadership style
• Gender, culture, re-visioned leadership
• Tools for developing gendered cultural literacy
• Change through small wins
• Creation of a safe learning space

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Generic programme

• Two or three day core programme
• Mentor scheme
• Series of leadership skills workshops
• Peer Learning Groups
• Career information sessions e.g. applying for
  promotion
• How UWA Works information sessions (committees,
  structure, budgets, HR issues)

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LDW challenges the culture

• Public support
• Steering group
• Mentoring
• Peer learning
• Critical mass
• Programme curriculum
• Change agents

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Translating it to other organisations

• The LDW program per se translates easily
• The readiness and commitment of the organisation
  to position and support LDW appropriately is
  critical

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• Women want to lead in their own way
• There is a disconnect between the implicit
  assumptions people hold about effective
  leadership and the explicit competencies that are
  identified for leaders in an organisation.
• Culture change is essential