Does your company have a programme for women's leadership development? Is this even required? At Seven Levels we think it is (in some organisations, not all) but we are often faced with the opinion that leadership development should be gender neutral and that there is no need for female-focused leadership development.

In an ideal world with gender parity in leadership, we would also agree. But we don't live in an ideal world and with women globally only holding 28% of senior leadership roles, there is a long way to go. Women are still less likely than men to progress into senior leadership roles without affirmative support, and specilaised leadership that addresses their needs is one way to do that.

Some reasons why women's leadership development is needed:

• Women face greater difficulties with creating mentoring relationships and building a network than men do - women focused leadership development can provide a way to create mentoring relationships that wouldn't happen otherwise and build a network of supportive women
  

• Women face different challenges to men when it comes to work-life integration - this is true if they have children or not. Even without children women tend to take on more responsibilities at home and with family.
  

• Women can find it more difficult to 'be themselves' at work due to male-influenced behaviours about what an 'ideal leader' looks like - authenticity isn't the same for everyone, in a female only space women can explore these issues and what authentic leadership looks like for them.
  

• The process of learning for women in the leadership development process can feel more comfortable and psychologically safe in a women's only space.
  

Do:

• Clearly communicate why you believe that women's leadership development is important and how it ties into your inclusion initiatives.
  

• Include men in the process! They should be aware of what is going on, not feel excluded and be invited to participate in the programme to engage in dialogue about issues around gender quality and inclusion.
  

Don't:

• Run the programme in isolation. Connect it to real opportunities for advancement and a commitment to build a more diverse and inclusive leadership team.
  

• Make this an excessive burden on women that takes them away from task execution and places them at a disadvantage compared to their male colleagues.
  

• Forget about the men who may be facing similar and different challenges to the women - let them know what other leadership development opportunities will be available in addition to the female programme.
  

Connect to understand more about women leadership development programmes available at Seven Levels.