Women in leadership training: helping our women achieve a place at the top

The Women@Berkeley Network acts as an enabler to help our women succeed both professionally and personally. It recognises that the challenges women face as they progress through their careers are often different to the experiences of their male counterparts. Therefore, the creation of equitable levers to develop the skills and capabilities to achieve in leadership has been a core focus of the Network. To help our women address some of these challenges, we undertook internal research which highlighted key areas in which our women wanted developmental support: 

• Being their authentic self at work, e.g. assertiveness without aggression
• The opportunity to network and learn from with other female leaders
• Learning what it means to be an empathetic leader 
• Building confidence and fighting imposter syndrome
• Managing their own careers.

LBS Women in Leadership Training Programme

As a result, Berkeley partnered with London Business School to enrol female consultants on their Women in Leadership training programme. The programme is designed to empower women who are in, or are aspiring to be in, senior leadership roles. It focuses on helping women step into substantive leadership, consider how they network more effectively, discuss and reflect on what it means to be authentic at work and improve negotiating for themselves with confidence.

Participants engage in interactive workshops, peer networking, and mentoring to enhance their strategic thinking and leadership abilities. The programme also explores topics like decision-making, building influence, and managing change, with an emphasis on building resilience and unlocking potential for greater impact in leadership positions. It aims to create a supportive community of women leaders and foster career growth through practical tools and new perspectives. The course is designed for women with 7+ years of management experience and participants are often 1– 2 levels away from C-suite. Coming from a range of industries and disciplines, there is huge opportunity to network with a high calibre of female role models. The faculty are truly impressive – from senior business executives to clinical professors, the course provides access to some of the world’s leading thinkers. 

Enduring impact for Berkeley’s women

It is important to Women@Berkeley that the programme is an enduring initiative for not just select individuals, but also the firm’s wider cohort of women. Each woman who joins the course will also run internal training for all of Berkeley’s female consultants to ensure that everyone can learn and grow from the experiences and skills developed through the course.. 

As we continue to make a clear commitment to accelerate action for women, Berkeley is proud to take the next cohort of our women through the programme. Our initiative not only supports the individual growth of participants but also contributes to the broader goal of achieving gender equity within the firm. As participating women advance in their careers, they will be better positioned to drive positive change, mentor others, and inspire future generations of female leaders both within Berkeley and beyond.

Connecting with women beyond Berkeley 

The Women@Berkeley Network is an active organisation within the firm, accelerating the impact of our women. We recognise that some organisations have well-developed women's networks while others are considering establishing their own for the first time. We would love to hear about what is happening in your business. Perhaps we could bring our networks together to share best practice and ideas. We have materials to support others in creating their own groups or women's mentoring programmes. Contact us if this could be of help to you and you would like to know more.