Women in the Rural South: Emerging Leaders' Voices

• In Event: Interactive Roundtable Discussion Session

Short Description

This roundtable will share the experiences of women who have participated in a women leadership academy in a southern heritage county in Georgia. Historically, agriculture and manufacturing have been economic drivers and male-dominated fields. Theories that have framed the academy’s curriculum are servant and adaptive leadership as well as the exploration of women voice(s). Roundtable participants will engage in a discussion on how the learnings and implications from this academy contribute to and further the research on women and leadership.

Detailed Abstract

This Women’s Leadership Academy is an example of how culturally-specific or intersectional approaches are put into practice to advancing women in leadership. Additionally, the design of this academy takes into consideration the main barriers that women face in leadership (Chandler, 2011; Elias, 2018; Eagly & Johannesen-Schmidt, 2001; Gadiesh & Coffman, 2015; Hill, Miller, Benson, & Handley, 2016; Lyness & Grotto, 2018; McCullough, 2011) as well as Barsh and Cranston (2009) premises that women need to demonstrate the preconditions of talent, desire to lead, and tolerance of change and to enact the following characteristics: “(1) meaning, connoting the realization of their life purpose, happiness, and core strengths; (2) framing, or self-awareness required to view situations clearly; (3) connecting, or developing collaborative and life-giving relationships; (4) engaging, or taking risks to move forward; and (5) energizing, or the managing of energy reserves to accommodate multiple responsibilities” (Barsh & Cranston, 2009, pp. 10-13).
This women’s leadership academy was launched in the fall of 2016, and it is a personal leadership development program to improve career, mentoring, and service opportunities for participants. Selection of women is through a nomination process (women can also nominate themselves. Women identified for the program have leadership potential, career aspirations, and a commitment to community and servant leadership as a lifetime journey. Each year, the academy accepts 16 women to participate in this experience.
The academy is structured in nine sessions (September to May) and the understanding of leadership through women’s lens is interwoven throughout each of the sessions. The learning objectives for the sessions are as follow:
Session I. Opening Retreat
• Understand leadership through women’s lens
• Explore thinking and behavioral attributes and how they influence individual leadership styles
• Discuss greatest challenges as women leaders
Session II. Meeting Community needs through Servant Leadership and Board Service
• Become familiar with servant leadership key definitions
• Understand the relationship between women’s voice and servant leadership
• Gain knowledge about the nonprofit sector
• Identify a path to service
Session III. Managing Conflict, Building Consensus, and Inclusion
• Understand the nature of conflict and its impact on leadership
• Discuss and reflect on personal conflict styles
• Understand strategies to collaborate with and influence others
• Understand the concepts of diversity & inclusion, cultural competency, and privilege
Session IV. A look at Legislative Leadership
• Learn from lobbyists and congresswomen experiences and leadership lessons
• Tour of the Capitol
Session V. Building Tools and Strategies For Effective Leadership
• Learn the difference between technical and adaptive leadership
• Understand strategies for leading change
• Recognize traits of personal readiness for change
• Identify an adaptive leadership challenge and determine strategies to address it during the rest of the academy
Session VI. Professional Skill Development: Multigenerational Workforce; Exemplary Leadership Practices
• Identify leadership practices for exemplary leaders
• Understand the different ways to apply and practice leadership skills
• Learn the characteristics and behaviors of each generation
• Identify and understand own personal generational influences in partnerships, networks, and collaborations in leadership
Session VII. Life – Work Balance and Legacy Class Project
• Explore Work-Life balance concept and components
• Identify strategies to create more balance
• Explore the Paying it Forward vision
• To learn tools for consensus building and decision making building
• To brainstorm and begin to create consensus on the Class Legacy Project
Session VIII. Closing Session and Graduation
• Reflect on the learning from each session
• Share plans for Paying It Forward
• Evaluate their leadership development experience
• Celebrate their time together

To evaluate the Women’s Leadership Academy program components, assess participants’ reactions, learnings, and impact, as well as to inform future program improvement, the evaluation plan uses different methods to generate data: survey (Likert and open ended questions) at the end of each one of the sessions, self- guided focus groups conducted at the end of the program, a follow up survey a year after the program. Some of the examples of the impact found in the evaluation data are: being able to make difficult choices such as changes in career paths, ending unhealthy relationships, finding their voices to use their leadership to advocate, launching their own practices, and serving on boards.

Presenters

• Carolina Darbisi, University of Georgia

• Maritza Soto Keen, University of Georgia