Professional Development: The Secret Sauce to an Effective Leader
Despite the widespread efforts to disrupt gender inequality within leadership roles across industries, women continue to face barriers to securing leadership positions . This is especially true for women of color. The covid pandemic has only exacerbated the barriers women face, with far fewer women in the workplace today when compared to the pre-Covid workforce. The great resignation (awakening) is a result of the unexpected chaos we have all endured in the last few years but also a direct result of poor leadership that can result in toxic workplace cultures that are disempowering and a threat to the well-being and psychological safety of employees. Leaders have a responsibility to empower, mentor, and create an inclusive and supportive environment for their employees. However, sometimes they fail their employees because they lack the knowledge and skills needed to be an effective people leader. As a tenured faculty member with almost twenty years of experience in Higher Education- I