Tessa Assadian, Finance Leader, shares her experience of our Senior Women’s Leadership Development Programme.

When Northumbria University offered colleagues the opportunity to enrol on Advance’s HE Senior Women’s Leadership Development Programme last year, it looked like a great opportunity to spend some focused time looking at a topic I have always been interested in – leadership. I was accepted on the programme and the journey began… 

Theory vs practice 

Many moons ago I studied Business Management as my degree and as such was well versed in management and leadership theory, touching on it again when I sat my Chartered Accountancy qualification.  

I and others on the course found however, once you start to get promoted and move up in your chosen career path, technical ability and knowledge is a given, but it is assumed that the kind of leadership skills you need will just develop over time, often without any training or direction.  

The reality of leadership, and particularly moving into senior leadership and beyond, is far more complex than any textbook would suggest. The Advance HE programme promised to delve into some of the tricker aspects of climbing the ladder including governance, finance, influencing skills and negotiating the politics of senior leadership. 

Small is beautiful 

One the best aspects of the programme was being grouped into smaller cohorts of attendees from different universities across Academic and Professional Services. The commonality of the themes and worries that came out of these smaller group chats was reassuring and helped enable open and honest discussion in a safe space. 

Lots of topics were covered in these smaller groups and this is where a lot of the value gained from the course came from. Common themes came out in abundance – what gets you to Executive level from a Senior position? What if I can’t do this? (Imposter Syndrome was a recurring theme), Can I move up the career ladder and manage all my other life responsibilities? Do I have to sell my soul to become a member of the Executive?! 

The ability to talk openly and freely about experiences and challenges was refreshing and helpful. The dialogue continued after the programme ended too with cohorts keeping in touch, recommending leadership reading and sharing ongoing experiences. 

What to expect 

The programme was delivered over a number of days that were well spread out in order that you weren’t taken away from your ‘day job’ for too long. The days were planned to lead on from each other in a structured way. Some pre-work was set in advance and between the delivery days which helped me focus on what I wanted to achieve from the programme. 

There were a number of exercises to get you thinking about leadership scenarios, how you would deal with different aspects of leadership challenges and what sort of leader you are. Two words that fill me with dread…’role play’ featured too, but as mentioned already, the smaller groups meant you could get into the scenarios without feeling awkward or worrying about whether what you were saying was right or wrong (spoiler alert – there are no wrong answers…). 

Why enrol? 

I would encourage anyone who is interested in leadership and moving through senior leadership levels to get involved in the Senior Women’s Leadership Development Programme. Putting aside the time to focus on yourself and your leadership journey is invaluable. Ask yourself, if you don’t enrol in a structured programme like this, will you realistically put down the ‘to do’ list and focus on yourself and your future for any prolonged period of time? It could pay dividends if you do (and that’s coming from an accountant…!).