Saïd Business School, Oxford University
In the hyper-competitive global marketplace we all operate in, women need to stay abreast of the very latest research, business trends and models if they wish to achieve greater parity.
NBWN has always believed leaders need to ensure that they are creating environments where action matches the words from the boardroom so we were delighted to collaborate with Oxford University and their Said Business School to run a series of workshops including Women in Negotiation and Decision Making and Persuasion and Strategies in Negotiation all aimed at women who were having leadership challenges in their business or career.
We believe women needed greater access to role models and sponsors as they navigated their careers. The first step was to look at their existing networks and start networking with more impact and influence.
It was clear that women did not have access to the same tools, resources and sponsors offered in senior professional networks at the calibre of male business leaders. This created a disparity in the level of information and access for women to create networks of influence and impact.
The aim of these events was to look at how organisations and support groups could be more open, collaborative and inclusive when supporting BAME women in order to remove the unconscious bias that hindered progression for all.
WHO TOOK PART?
Women in Negotiation and Decision Making, Persuasion and Strategies in Negotiation attracted a diverse mixture of senior female entrepreneurs and executives looking for something different and an opportunity to share their distinctive leadership styles and insights through interactive workshops, presentations and panel discussion
Saïd Business School also shared their insights about how men and women negotiate differently and how women can become even more effective negotiators.
For example, men negotiate strongly to enhance their positions and may miss opportunities to find creative solutions to complex negotiations. Women negotiate hard on behalf of their teams but may deal themselves out of situations where they could negotiate conditions for their own success, so how can women harness the strengths of both approaches?
Saïd Business School also brought together two of its most successful executive programmes, the Oxford Programme on Negotiation and the Women Transforming Leadership Programme to discover the Oxford approach to transforming women’s thinking.