Understanding Your Identity: Empowerment to Impact

Each of us have taken different paths to our roles. However, each journey included a mentor or colleague that created space for us, pulled us up, and validated our strengths. When we sat down to reflect, it was those strengths that inspired this session. This session was designed to create space for participants to tell their stories and to affirm each other’s leadership journeys.

How do you describe a leader?

The session opened with the presenters posing a question to the packed room of participants: If you were asked to describe your leadership style in an interview, What two-to-three words would you use?  After a moment or two, we then posed the larger question to the full room: What are strong leadership qualities?  At first, the room was a little timid - not wanting to speak on top of one another. Then the one-word descriptions started to come alive in a fast and furious manner. 

As you can imagine words such as, strategic, transformative, courageous, intentional, dynamic, data-driven, and innovative were quickly filling the slide that was being used.  Once the group felt there was a well-rounded list of approximately 30 words describing the strengths of a leader, what we called “Leadership 1.0”, we took pause and told the group we would be returning to this list later in the session.  

Share your Leadership Story

Next, participants took part in an interactive storytelling experience that sparked reflection, connection, and insight. In small groups of three to five, each person took a turn answering three powerful questions: What was the highlight of your career? What personal strengths helped you get there? What challenges did you overcome? With just three minutes to tell their story, participants were encouraged to speak from the heart, highlighting their identities through their narrative of a pivotal career highlight.

While one person shared, the rest of the group listened closely—no interruptions, just active listening. As they listened, group members jotted down the strengths, character traits, and leadership qualities they heard shining through the story. Once the speaker finished, the group shared their observations, offering a mirror of positive insights and strengths the speaker might not have seen in herself.

Then came the most powerful moment: the speaker reflected out loud on what she heard. Did anything surprise her? Did her perspective shift? This back-and-forth created a dynamic space for growth and connection, where women could see themselves—and each other—through a new lens. The activity wasn’t just about storytelling; it was about uncovering the leadership qualities within and building confidence through community. We saw in each other-and in ourselves - new strengths!

Collective Reflection: Evolving the Leadership Lexicon

What leadership strengths emerged in these stories? The collective discussion was revealing, and empowering for all of us. As the participants reflected on their stories in small groups, emergent themes included boldness, resilience, authenticity, intuition, and being “called” to lead. When we revisited the “Leadership 1.0” descriptors as a whole group, the conversations around these previously unspoken collective leadership strengths shifted palpably; there was shared ownership and shared joy in not only uncovering these strengths, but in claiming them. The strengths connected to our journey as women in leadership roles. Reflecting on our stories, in intimate groups of strangers, led to the creation of a Leadership 2.0 framework—one rooted in values, lived experience, and collaboration.

Turning Insight Into Action: Leadership Commitments

How do we turn these insights into action? Each participant completed the following prompt, “I will use my strength of ______ to ______.” Standing in a circle, each of us read our leadership commitments to the group. The power of the collective reaffirmed the importance of voice, visibility, and community in sustaining women in leadership roles.

Reflection is a core practice for a leader-but honestly, we recognize the effort it takes to balance the time each of us has.  By creating space for collective reflection we have learned to play to our strengths, collaborate, and increase our impact.  That was a goal for the participants. Moving forward, how will you create space for yourself and others within your circle to reflect collectively? How will you be a mirror and empower the innate qualities in the women leaders you meet?