On Thursday the 15th of September we kicked off this academic year at the art’otel in Amsterdam. Special guest speaker Paul Vanderbroeck, who is not only an executive coach and gender consultant, but also author of the book ‘Leadership Strategies for Women: Lessons from Four Queens on Leadership and Career Development‘, gave an interactive lecture on female leadership.
Our Chairwoman Fien van Rossum opened the evening. She introduced TopFem and spoke briefly about the Mentor&Network Programme and Leadership Programme. After this short introduction she then gave the floor to Paul Vanderbroeck. Paul began his lecture with the four women that inspired his book and their leadership styles. Cleopatra, Isabella of Spain, Elizabeth I of England and Catherine the Great are four queens that can be seen as an inspiration for modern women who aspire to get to the top of an organization amongst mostly male colleagues.
The lecture focused mainly on Cleopatra’s leadership style, and the ‘joint venture’ between Rome and Egypt. Paul showed us how Cleopatra, being a ‘junior partner’, managed to get a promotion from Caesar, the ‘CEO’ of Rome. This perspective was very eye-opening and showed us new ways to deal with male figures in our professional lives. You should be an authentic leader, but being authentic does not automatically mean that you are channeling yourself.
This last thought really opened the discussion – how do you determine your own presence and image? How can you discover your personal brand? Come to our next event on Thursday 29th of September, the Network Event: Personal Branding, and find your personal brand assisted by an expert of the Nelleke Mulder Imago Group!
