To build something greater than us, we must be prepared to embrace creativity with the courage to overcome internal barriers that hold us back.

I believe in a world where more women have the courage to lead and influence their communities. My calling for a greater purpose led me to create a Signature Programme for women leaders last year. I\’ve heard so many women from diverse backgrounds tell me that they struggled to step into \’leadership\’ because opportunities were very limited. I was one of those women too. My personal experience has taught me the power of \’creativity\’. Where we are not able to convince others thorough our influence, there\’s nothing to stop us from \’creating opportunities\’.

A Signature Course designed to help transform women leaders into trailblazers using my L.E.G.A.C.Y framework.

I have come across so many courses run by coaching businesses online and was always curious about course creation, as a way of imparting knowledge in the same way as training or mentoring. I love delivering training as much as I enjoy mentoring and coaching. Training has always enabled me to have impact on a group of people whilst mentoring and coaching has enabled me to guide people closely on a one to one basis.

Sometimes we fail to see what is literally under our nose. I have attended so events promoting equality, diversity and inclusion, which were led by non Asian women, to only be surprised to see the majority attendees to be of Asian Muslim background. How ironic is it to be told by a culturally incompetent person how to achieve equality, diversity and inclusion? How can they comprehend or understand our challenges? The need for representation is there but the leadership is simply not there.

On one occasion I met two Asian women leaders who I sensed were more concerned about fitting in with the status quo as opposed to connecting with their attendees. I could empathise with them and feel their self doubt. Their concerted efforts to stand out as professionals was also very obvious to me. I know the feeling as I too once wore a mask to fit in the legal profession and my leadership positions. I have always worked very hard and developed a strong track record in my areas of expertise. Why should I be a token of my cultural identity?

It was only last year that it hit me! My style of mentoring and coaching often promotes the `mirror effect\’, something that most people find very uncomfortable, yet I am not applying it myself. There is a gap in representation of Asian women leaders and I somehow forgot to look in the mirror. As a representative of the non-profit sector with `lived experience\’ what I bring to the table for other women like me is my uniqueness. For that reason I felt a strong calling to package what I know to be the real nuggets and jewels of community leadership into a programme for women like me. That way I can help close this vital gap by transforming women into Trailblazers.

To lead by example – we must `be the change\’

I\’ve at times felt frustrated for not being able to make greater impact through knowledge sharing due to my professional and personal responsibilities. I found my outlet through LinkedIn – the platform that initially exposed me to `visibility\’ and then taught me the therapeutic value of expressing and sharing my diverse thoughts and opinions with a global audience. The reasons that stop many women leaders from being visible; fear of judgment, imposter syndrome, the need for humility, was what stopped me too. It wasn\’t until I was nominated and became a finalist for the She UK Awards 2022 that the need for visibility really hit me!

In 2022 I delivered my Trailblazer Leadership Programme for the first time and it gave me great insight into how I could adapt and improve the Programme for future clients. My greatest learning came from critical feedback and a reminder that my Programme doesn\’t need to be like other people\’s. It provides the right amount of flexibility and curiosity for creativity to flourish, whilst catering for my dream clients needs.

I started 2023 with the hope of impacting 50 women through my Leadership Programme. In the first quarter of this year I managed to impact 12 women and will be running the programme again next month. I am looking to work with businesses and organisations that will enable me to achieve this goal. Is your organisation currently focusing on equity, diversity and inclusion? Have you considered developing your Asian female staff to increase representation at senior leadership level? Contact me via LinkedIn or my website: www.monwaraconsulting.wordpress.com